Today, Intel, in partnership with Newsweek, released the results of a survey on global innovation which can be found in the latest Newsweek issue, on newsstands now.

According to the survey, Americans have doubts about the U.S.’ ability to maintain leadership in technological innovation, and these doubts are based on perceived shortcomings in U.S. education. In fact, eighty-two percent of Americans think the U.S. lags behind other countries in math and science, and nearly half of Americans point to this as a key factor for the U.S. falling behind in technological innovation. These findings are consistent with concerns about the performance of U.S. schools in these areas – which we highlighted in last month’s survey of parents – and also echo the National Assessment of Educational Progress math test findings from last month, which reported that less than 40 percent of American fourth- and eighth-graders are proficient in math.

Also in the survey, we found that the majority of Americans choose math and science over creative thinking, business skills, or knowledge of world cultures as the foundation needed to drive future innovation. Interestingly enough, respondents from China – which views itself as the contender to take tech innovation leadership from the U.S. – put greater emphasis on creative thinking and entrepreneurial skills than math and science.

What skills do you think today’s children need to drive future innovation? Will America’s poor math and science education contribute to the decline of our innovation leadership?

Read the full story here and weigh in on the discussion on the Speak Up page.

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