Found these charts and maps interesting from the National Science Foundation.
From the article.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140515154138.htm"R&D and human capital are major drivers of innovation and the economy," said Dan Arvizu, chairman of the National Science Board. "This is a valuable resource for those who wish to see how their state is doing. Whether it's educational achievement, your state's workforce, or R&D investments, it's an excellent tool to see how your state stacks up. And it will inform debates over state policies and programs."
The state data tool includes indicators on:
Elementary and secondary education -- achievement and expenditures.
Higher education -- degrees, spending, and costs.
Workforce -- higher education credentials and science and engineering workers.
Financial R&D inputs -- levels of R&D activities and public support.
R&D outputs -- new doctorates and research activities.
Science and technology in the economy -- business activities and capital investments.
State policymakers and other users can consider such factors as how their state compares with neighboring or similar states, as well as with the national average. They can see whether their state is following national trends, such as conducting more R&D over the last decade, or moving in the opposite direction.
The link to the study and maps…
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/index.cfm/state-data/map.htm?table=13I started going through the quartile maps and at first thought I couldn't really see any info comparisons that were giving me much insight. But then as I continued on (clicking the "next indicator") through the maps started to notice some interesting things.
For example,
Seems our early grade school education in science and engineering isn't so well. But then saw that we graduate a lot of science and engineering students in college. So thought "well we sucked at first but things came out well in the end" but continued on and noticed that as a percentage of population of science and engineering grads living in the state, and percentage of science and engineering jobs, start up's, venture capital, etc. we sucked again lol. So it appears that we graduate a lot of science and engineering students as compared to other states, and spend a fair amount on our universities and have affordable schools for our students, but then apparently the graduates leave the state and work elsewhere, start companies elsewhere, etc.
We are creating educated young people, but perhaps are not creating places where they want to stay and live, or can have or create tech/science and engineering jobs.