I was't able to find any stats for other countries so far, which is a shame as I'd be interested to know but I'm guessing your right Steve in that even if the numbers don't line up the trends probably do and I'd also assume that the growth in the computer sciences have taken students out of more traditional fields more than adding students who otherwise wouldn't have entered the sciences at all.
It's an interesting point that in the majority of cases the scientists that are put in a positive light are 'maverick' but also in the age of
Star Trek you had the earlier space missions and the moon landing, that's got to have inspired people. Today there's still alot of interesting science, in some ways more relevant just less dramatic, like the mars rovers, Galileo mission etc but you really have to already have an interest in science to take more than a passing notice of it.
So what is out there today? The increasing availibility of Manga may help inspire people, particuarly in entering computer science and robotics and that may not be as far fetched as it sounds. While children were being inspired by
Star Trek in the western world
Astroboy in particular was inspiring children throughout Japan and Asia, with what appears to be pretty good results.
Also to bring it back on topic a bit (sorry
) even though the current SF shows and movies (Men in Black, Dr Who, Matrix, Ben10, the superhero revival etc keep in mind I'm trying to think of things that would interest kids and they're probably better examples) may not be the best advertisment for entering science they may still be effective in developing an interest in science fiction?