According to data released by the National Science Foundation a few weeks ago, Florida ranks near the bottom of the nation in the percentage of its workforce that is employed in knowledge- and technology-intensive industry.
Only 5.18% of our state’s workers were employed in such industries in 2022, the year for which the NSF released data on May 23. Nationally, 8.39% of the workforce was employed in such industries.
The leading states were Michigan (14.01%), Massachusetts (12.15%), Washington (12.14%), Indiana (11.95%), New Hampshire (11.65%) and California (10.19%).
The ranking of all states is shown below.
There is plenty of evidence that math and science are blind spots for Florida’s educational leaders. Florida’s math SAT scores are weak even while the state’s English Reading and Writing (ERW) scores are fairly strong. The high school physics enrollment rate in Florida is less than half the national rate, and it is declining. Knowledge- and technology-intensive industries might be incentivized to advocate for improving math and science education in Florida, but because they account for such a small percentage of the workforce they likely do not have much clout – at least not compared to states like Michigan and Massachusetts.
Bridge to Tomorrow 