Abstract
The United States is losing its global dominance in the fields of science and engineering largely because of underinvestment in research and development and the shift toward more knowledge-intensive industries that have greater emphasis on intellectual capital, science, and technology. Critical thinking skills, complex reasoning, and writing skills are lacking in undergraduates and recent college graduates in the United States. Scientific literacy is necessary for the U.S. to maintain its global competiveness and to also enable citizens to participate as more informed members in a pluralistic society. National survey data on scientific literacy in America collected by the National Science Foundation and General Social Survey indicates a deficit in factual scientific knowledge and understanding by the American public. National cross-sectional data from the 2008 General Social Survey was used in an Ordinary Least Squares regression to see if socioeconomic, political, and religious factors were significantly associated with scientific literacy, defined as the percentage of correct responses to 26 science and technology questions. Statistically significant regression coefficients were found on independent variables representing education level, generational cohort, income, gender, ethnicity, religiosity, and population size. Graduate, bachelor, and associate degrees had the largest positive association with scientific literacy. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian ethnic groups had the largest negative association with scientific literacy. A gender gap was also found with females showing lower scientific literacy. Policy interventions to assist ethnic groups and female K-12 students to stay in school, earn their high school diplomas, and improve their readiness for college are warranted.