Students want India to lead in science

Updated on: Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The number of Indian scientists may be on the low side, but 82 per cent of Indian students believe that it is very important for the country to lead the world in science.

A multi-country survey to understand the response to science, both on the academic front as well as for adventure, conducted by Lenovo, revealed that more students in emerging nations such as India are prioritising and pursuing science-related careers and aspired to become scientists than their counterparts in developed countries, which included the USA, UK and Japan.

Some 89 per cent of students in developing countries felt that science was cool.

“The results are eye-opening in calling attention to the differences in how students around the world view science as a career aspiration,” said Shailendra Katyal, director-marketing for the firm in India.

What appeared to also influence students’ choice of science as a career was the number of scientists in the country.

While 73 per cent of the students surveyed overall felt this factor influenced their career choice, 65 per cent stated that it motivated them to pursue science. But in India, this belief factored into the decisions of more than 80 per cent of students.

India was one of two countries where 74 per cent of students said that they thought science is more important than literature or the creative arts. And 62 per cent of Indian students said they preferred a trip to the moon over any place on Earth.

The online survey covered 4,800 students under two categories - high school (14-17 years of age) and full and part-time university students (18-22 years of age). There were 800 responses each from USA, UK and Canada, and 600 each from India, Japan, Mexico and Russia.

Fact file

82% Indians believe it is very important for the country to lead the world in science

55% of Britons believed that it was important to lead globally in science

62% students in India preferred a trip to the moon over any place on Earth

80% students want to pursue science influenced by the lack of scientists in India

74% students in India felt science is more important than the creative arts

62%students in India plan to pursue science or a related career

Students want India to lead in science

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