BCPB Home > Benchmarks > Rankings > Performance Indicator 13: Science Employment

Performance Indicator 13: Science Employment

Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison

  
Year

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Rank

3

4

4

5

4

5

4

4

5

4

Performance Indicator Thirteen shows the proportion of a jurisdiction's employment which is comprised of persons working in natural and applied sciences and related occupations. Included in this category are occupations in the physical sciences, engineers, architects, mathematicians, systems analysts, and programmers and associated technical occupations.

British Columbia ranked fourth in the proportion of scientists and engineers to total employment in 2008.

British Columbia had strong growth in this ratio in the 1990s and as of 1999, had closed two thirds of the distance to the top-ranked province (-21% vs. -7%). Results in this decade have been mixed and BC's distance to the top ranked province doubled as of 2008 (to -13%).




Why It's Important
The number of scientists and engineers relative to total employment is one indication of a jurisdiction's success in attracting people who possess knowledge and skills essential to the process of innovation and wealth creation.






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