Chirag participated in the Santa Clara County Science Fair (aka the Synopsis Science & Technology Fair) a few weeks ago and was thrilled to be invited to the awards ceremony at the Great America Park and to have won a spot at the California State Science Fair (CSSF). Congrats, Chirag!
As I looked at the winners on the stage, I was struck by the preponderance of Indians. So, I did some simple checking. Here are the facts:
| Total | Of Asian origin | Of Indian origin | |
| Nominated by Synopsis to attend the CSSF (#) | 77 | 64 | 47 |
| Nominated by Synopsis to attend the CSSF (%) | 100% | 83% | 64% |
| Percentage of the Santa Clara population (%) | 100% | 32% | ~10% |
So, 32% of the population (Asian) won 83% of the spots while 10% (Indian) won 64%! I have my hypotheses… Yours?
Leaves me wondering who is going to pick up a Nobel prize 20-30 years from now… an Indian kid from Bangalore or an Indian-American kid from Silicon Valley. Wager, anyone?
Sources:
- US Census Bureau, 2010. San Jose Mercury News, page A8, Wed, March 9, 2011
- Synopsis winner list, 2011. Synopsis website
Disclosure: My congratulations to Sneha and Vikas Betanabhotla, my niece and nephew, for their impressive performances at multiple Science fairs
