E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Lemelson-MIT Program
The 2011 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index includes a national survey sample of 1,000 young Americans, ages 16 to 25. Survey participants were asked which countries are leading the way in innovation. Japan significantly outranked the United States.
Nearly 70 percent of Americans aged 16 to 25 view themselves as creative, but only about a third think they're inventive, according a new survey on perceptions about invention and innovation.
"They are checking off all the right boxes. They like science, they like math, they like solving problems for others, they think they are creative," Josh Schuler, the executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, told me today. "But they don't, for some reason, take that leap from creative to inventive."
The finding points to a disconnect that threatens to hobble efforts to nurture a new generation of innovators who can help keep American society prosperous and strong.
"The way to be competitive for the U.S. is through innovation," Schuler added. "It is a long-term investment that we have to make."
Gender gap
Results from the 2011 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index show that the perception gap affects both genders, but is wider for women. According to the index, 71 percent of women indicate they are creative, the characteristic they most associate with inventors, but just 27 percent describe themselves as inventive. Among the men, 66 percent say they are creative and 39 percent say they are inventive.
Further demonstrating inventive traits, 42 percent of young women rated math or science as their favorite subject in school. That compares with a 53 percent figure for young men.
Here's the rub: Less than 10 percent of women earn college degrees in technical majors such as computer and information sciences. This highlights a need to educate women about translating their skills and academic interests into inventive careers, the Lemelson-MIT Program reported.
One way to bridge the gap is to give young Americans opportunities to invent something, Schuler noted. "In order for them to really understand it and catch the bug, they gotta do it. You have to make it relevant to them. You have to give them an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and realize in very tangible terms that science matters," he said.
Other steps include providing more government funding and space to develop inventions. These steps all cost money in a world with dwindling budgets, but Schuler insisted making the investment is the "only way" to spur the innovation required for the U.S. to claw its way out of the financial crisis.
World standing
Such investment could also make American youth think more like world leaders in innovation. In the current survey, they ranked the U.S. behind Japan as leading the way in invention.
When young people go down the path of invention and innovation, they are most interested in using their creativity to improve the lives of others with better consumer and health science products, according to the survey. Males were more interested in inventing consumer products such as mobile devices (32 vs. 28 percent), while females favored health science inventions (30 vs. 15 percent). Inventions having to do with the environment, the Web and the performing arts were farther down the wish list.
The next generation of inventors may be motivated by old-fashioned youthful idealism, or by a new sense that information technology is making the world seem smaller and more connected. In any case, Schuler said, "it seems like there are a lot more opportunities for youth to be engaged in giving back."
Other findings from the survey include:
- 39 percent of men and 36 percent of women think that inventors are people who most often work at home or in their garage (rather than in labs or start-ups), illustrating a misperception of inventors and their careers.
- Young adults show a preference for working in groups or with mentors (73 percent), the style typically associated with professionals in technical fields.
- Young women are most interested in thinking of and designing a solution (57 percent) when it comes to the inventive process; men are also interested in those steps, but they express more interest in building the solution (84 percent).
- And while many American youth seem reluctant to unleash their creative sides into the world of innovation and invention, more than half (57 percent) think that the word "creativity" best describes an inventor. That outranks other terms, such as intelligent, problem solver, works in a technical field, nerdy or quirky.
More stories on innovation in America:
- How America might invent the future
- Closing the innovation gap
- Inventors take the prize
- An insatiable hunger to create, create, create
John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).
Leave a Comment:
Necessity is the mother of all invention. I think giving people opportunities and space to invent would be far more productive then simply throwing money at it. I always wanted to invent, but I had no idea how to go about doing it. Now, I know somewhat, but I have no space. Since hacker and maker spaces are popping up in cities around the country why don't we invest in them? It doesn't have to be money, if locals help provide materials, mentors and space, advertise and we'll come. Give us a chance.
Necessity should then be the Father of invention.
Because Furby's, cell phones and PEZ Dispensers were all necessary? It is more the environment and circumstances that mother invention. Few inventions, if any, come out of third world countries because they are not in the proper environment to do so. Were as, people in more economically stable countries have the extra time and resources to come up with new ideas. No one anywhere really needs any of those things but were invented anyhow.
Tell me about it. I get ideas for things all the time, but I have not the means to explore those possibilities. To make it worse, these are real world ideas with real world applications and benifits. Not just some new gimmick.
I can't help but notice that the solution pitched for ALL apparent problems over the last 30+ years is to through more money at it-- especially for more "education". I am now extremely skeptical of this. At what point will spending be high enough?
Well considering education in public schools is largely underfunded to begin with, I would think the mark is quite high, however just throwing money at the problem is not going to solve it, because funding is only one part of a larger whole of the problem. Out school system is designed specifically for general education only, it does not culture, it does not nurture specialties, no you would have to attend secondary schools for that(elective course do not count in this, as you only have that option if you doing well enough with required courses, that is if the school has sufficient funding to have elective courses in the first place). I think that is where a large part of the problem is. I think our entire education system needs to be overhauled to something that more accurately gauges a students learning level, and knowledge capacity, rather than sit and useless drill into them information the already know(as was my problem in school). Aptitude testing is a good start, but the tests that we have currently are not being used in the manner that they could, to accelerate more advanced students, and to aid struggling students. Couple that with tailored education at later stages, say 7th or 8th grade, to a specialization, or skill(dependant on both the students and parents wishes) we could be enabling a very inventive, and creative generation. As it stands, we stagnate that creativity and inventivness by saying that those dreams and goals are unrealistic and unnattainable.
I think the Federal approach to the increases in education spending are backwards. I do feel it is incredibly important to give everyone an opportunity for an education, however the idea of "No Child Left Behind," is backwards. It doesn't take into account that some parents just don't actively try to encourage their children and therefore the kids don't care. No amount of money will help poor parenting.
On that note it would be nicer to see some of that money going toward developing programs to help our brightest students across the country. It is very competitive to get into top rank science and engineering colleges. If you want more of our children to fill up the roll calls then we need to help middle and high school students learn what is needed to even attempt to apply for an MIT. Right now it is only the people that can afford the private education system that have that luxury.
Japan is not more inventative than U.S. They are more persevering and determined and concerned about a job done right and the best way possible. They excell at r+d and we have an under matched concern and determination in our schools.We also may not have enough emphasis on classes related to becoming invention developers. My memory has been one of inventing everything of significance since my birth in 1953 Trying to find honest investors developers and startup persons has been so far impossible. We still have the greatest asset in the world of invention however were not utilizing it in any correct manor.
Yeah, Japan's kids are hardly more inventive than ours. They have a lost generation over there. Only the very best of the best will get jobs that would actually put them in a position to invent something groundbreaking. There's too many old people who won't leave their jobs and the country has been in decline since 1989. The US has had somewhat of a lost decade recently, but the prospects for our kids are significantly better than Japans.
The concept that the Japanese are at all inventive is simply wrong. As an American, living in Japan for more than 5 years, I can safely say that there is absolutely no "inventiveness" at all here. The education system is such that people are simply unable to think in new ways, or anything "outside the box". All of life is extremely rigid in Japan. Everything is pre-programmed and already decided, and people are totally unable to deal with anything unexpected. Japanese industry does things extremely well in terms of production and engineering but the last great consumer item to come out of Japan was the Sony Walkman over 30 years ago.
Why is this a surprise? From a generation that had everything 'imagined' for them. Instead of 'going out to play', and using imagination to create fun, everything was pre-designed and handed to them on a platter. The Steve Jobs type grew up having to 'imagine', and being creative led to the toys that made the pre-programmed kids of today, that can't dream of 'thinking outside the box'. Actually, it was the parents of these spoiled mindless robots. Send the kids out to play, turn off the PC, TV, and video games, push them out the door, let them use their imagination. This is why there are no more Einsteins, or Tesla's. imaginative thinking is discouraged. I've witnessed it, seen kids turned away because they wanted to imagine. SAD!
Why is what a surprise? Its a survey of kids. Most don't see themselves as inventive. That doesn't mean they won't invent anything. This whole article is basically useless hyperbole.
I have heard so many people call the future Generations Stupid.. A article just today says that the kids today don't learn anything for the first 2 years of college.... And most of all about three months ago they raised tuition almost 16%....
Then I hear we have a National Debt of 14 Trillion dollars in 31 Years, and a Major melt down of a Economy all perpetrated by the banking system running a muck....
And then Claim the YOUTH are MATH deficient.... LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!!
I think it is the generations from the Past that has a little Problem with ADDING UP BASIC Numbers!!!!
Young people today don't even differentiate between creativity and innovation. Creativity ranges from art to music and literature, as well as the self-important three year old who manages to poop in the toilet for a change. Innovation, by definition, means a new way of doing things. This means new knowledge, which yes, the Japanese pretty much suck at.
The whole Japanese teamwork myth is based on collaboration, and America foolishly pretends the same. The innovator is an iconoclast, which is why so many geniuses rise young. These kids are not going to Future Innovators of America meetings. At the same time, they are a small minority, more so in Japan than the States.
Lucius is right. Innovators are iconoclasts. This makes it unlikely that they will do well at high school or obtain scholarships. This in turn will make it very hard for them to obtain any start up capital to pursue their ideas independently. The best they can hope for is to get intellectual property rights or a patent, but the money ultimately will be made by the developers and the manufacturers in China, with crumbs from the table for the inventor (if they don't steal his ideas wholesale). Very few inventors died as wealthy as they should have been. They spent too much time with their heads in the clouds working away for the sheer enjoyment of it. They should have been a bit more business savy.
I guess it has nothing to do with the patent system in the US does it? <sarcasm>
That and who is going to make the money off the "idea".
You missed the Playstation 1, 2 and 3, the PSP and many apon many models of Sony LCD/Plasma Tv's. These are all great consumer items as well. I've never been to Japan, but I can imagine it is exactly how you say.
How can we possibly cultivate innovation while we're encouraging entitlement?
The American Society has put too many restraints on the entrepreneural spirit. Donald Trump while in China viewing a 5 mile square island being made in the ocean asked his counter part how long it took to get the permits to do this project. The answer: the guy didn't need any permits. They just do it. In America, it would take years to just do an environmental impact statement on the project.
America is allowing the rest of the world to get ahead of us by tying our hands behind our backs. This is no way to win a fighting war nor the way to win the race for new ideas.
If Americans and Europeans are so bad at inventing, then were is the Asian equivalent of hackaday.com?
People should realize that marketable invention comes from nowhere except one source myself. Fantastic opertunities now exist for investors developers startuups and assosiates of The Inventing Consultant .