Chapter: 2 Science & Engineering Indicators 93
Europe
Like Asia, the Central European countries--until recently--had very high ratios of NS& E degrees to total first university degrees. When
those economies were under Soviet influence, science and engineering in higher education was emphasized as a way to build the communist state. Before its collapse, the Soviet Union had the highest ratio in
the world of 22-year-olds with NS& E degrees--9 percent.(Click here for footnote 3.) As countries such as Poland and Hungary continue to evolve toward more open economies, their universities are providing
more opportunities to study non-S&E fields: Consequently, their ratios of NS& E degrees to total first university degrees are declining.
Among Western European countries, Germany has the highest percentage of college-age population with NS& E degrees--5 percent if Fachhochschulen (4-year degrees) are included, and 3.5 percent if only 5-year university degrees are considered.
Spain has the highest university participation rate in all of Europe--19 percent of its college-age cohort. Spain's University Reform Law in 1983 and subsequent curriculum reforms increased university graduates in science and engineering (Education Newsletter 1992). Between 1975 and 1990, NS& E degrees in Spain increased from 1 to 3 percent of the college-age cohort.
Footnote 3:
Many of these were in engineering technology.
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