Preface

The National Science Board (Board, NSB) is required under the National Science Foundation (NSF) Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1863 (j) (1) to prepare the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators (Indicators) report for and transmit it to the president and Congress every even-numbered year. The report is prepared by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within NSF under the guidance of the Board.

Indicators provides information on the state of the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) enterprise over time and within a global context. The report is a policy-relevant, policy-neutral source of high-quality U.S. and international data. The indicators presented in the report are quantitative representations relevant to the scope, quality, and vitality of the S&E enterprise.

This report, The State of U.S. Science and Engineering, summarizes key findings from the thematic reports that make up Indicators and presents new findings, providing in-depth data and information on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all degree levels; the STEM workforce; U.S. and international research and development performance; technology transfer, invention and innovation, and business dynamics; and U.S. competitiveness in high-technology industries. Indicators also includes the State Indicators data tool that enables state comparisons on a variety of S&E indicators. This report, the thematic reports, and the online data tool together make up the full Indicators suite of products.