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Human Capital Initiative (NSF press release)

``` [Do you like being human capital?]

Mary E. Hanson February 14, 1995 (703) 306-1070 NSF PR 95-3

NSF LAUNCHES HUMAN CAPITAL INITIATIVE The National Science Foundation has announced a major new

research agenda to advance fundamental scientific knowledge

about human behavior and to determine the capacity for

productive citizenship. Under the Human Capital Initiative

(HCI), NSF plans to make more than 60 new awards totaling at

least $8 million to social and behavioral scientists during

fiscal year 1995.

"We know that investments in human capital have payoffs

for example, in the areas of health, education, and worker

productivity, explained Cora Marrett, NSF's assistant

director for social, behavioral and economic sciences. "But

we know far less than we should about what kinds of

investments matter, when investments yield the greatest

return, and what inhibits or facilitates those investments.

This initiative seeks a better grasp on the nature and

consequences of investments in people."

HCI is a long-term strategy that results from years of grassroots planning by the research community, and strong support from Congress and the Administration. Begun in 1990 as a behavioral science effort of psychologists representing more than 70 professional associations, it has since been shaped into a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary program. The research agenda is based on a report from working groups of invited experts on human resource issues, convened at NSF in 1994.

The central issue addressed by HCI, according to Marrett, is the underdeveloped potential of many Americans. "For example, why do some of our citizens turn to criminal or abusive behavior, or fail to graduate from high school, or end up in low-paying jobs? The answer to these kinds of questions hinges on our ability to answer one central scientific question: What determines the capacity for productive citizenship? That is the issue that HCI strives to address."

The initiative also answers the need to anchor public policy in a base of sound fundamental research, said Marrett. "HCI provides a scientific framework to better understand a myriad of social concerns," she said.

HCI is organized into six social contexts that can influence the development of human capital: workplace, education, discrimination, families, neighborhoods, and poverty. A common need for productive research within these areas is a shared human capital data base. One major HCI project goal is to develop a longitudinal data base that tracks how people develop skills over time. Research on these data would have implications for success in the labor force. Another is to expand the existing data base on immigrants. "We have insufficient data to get scientifically valid answers to the key questions about immigration," said Marrett.

HCI proposals are expected from a range of disciplines - from psychologists, sociologists and economists to political scientists, geographers and anthropologists. HCI is expected to be expanded next year to include the physical and biological sciences as well as engineering and education.

The broadest perspective on the Human Capital Initiative is a global one. As stated in the 1994 working group's report to NSF, "only if the United States invests wisely in its human resources will it be able to maintain its place in a global economy where human creativity and human skill are increasingly more important than raw materials or physical infrastructure."

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