tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post8164318596612766232..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: "Loose coupling" and seminary educationEvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-32157608423578637042013-05-18T19:54:09.869-04:002013-05-18T19:54:09.869-04:00I get cynical in my old age. Let's agree that...I get cynical in my old age. Let's agree that to some extent, the "need" for STEM workers is related to economic factors, at least in some areas, as when the increase in Internet usage creates opportunities for web page designers and Java programmers. On the other hand, particularly in the US, STEM employment in some areas is clearly driven by social/governmental concerns completely unconnected to the economy or any recognizable market -- nuclear engineering for example, ship building, manned space programs, defense spending. <br /><br />On yet another hand, it's hard to avoid the impression that our "need" for STEM workers is being determined by business men and politicians who aren't interested so much in the artifacts that a STEM workforce might create as they are in maintaining a preferred social organization. I.e., General Electric doesn't need engineers to invent new toasters as much as it needs engineers in low level management and white collar positions to separate C-Suite executives from workers on the factory floor and to "justify" differential levels of income and status. Which is to say, we pay our CEO 400 times what we pay janitors because there are these guys with white shirts and college degrees from famous universities who get paid 10 times what we pay janitors.<br /><br />It would be interesting to see if your tools and methods of explanation work as well for describing the recruitment and employment history of other specialized labor segments, not generally categorized as STEM fields. Examples might include mill wrights, finishing carpenters, book editors, commercial illustrators, professional divers, etc.<br /><br />It would also be interesting to see how STEM employment varies in and out of the Anglosphere. Some societies are noteworthy for the high percentage of college graduates with STEM degrees (e.g., the late USSR, Saudi Arabia, China); is this as beneficial as say a Republican congressman with a law degree might claim? What are the numbers and opportunities for theoretical physicists in Germany, or mechanical engineers in Denmark. etc.? (My thought is these might be much simpler environments for the study of STEM recruitment and career progress.)mike shupphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08383379836883992742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-11032822764452264402013-05-18T14:00:22.071-04:002013-05-18T14:00:22.071-04:00A lot of majors have little use other than as a ba...A lot of majors have little use other than as a basis for graduate school and since not all go to graduate school, their likelihood of using it is small. Simply looking at the number of jobs requiring such education versus the number graduated with it shows how oversupplied we are with them. In part this is because education lags the economy and for many new jobs no relevant education exists so some general education with learning on the job is considered acceptable. Meanwhile the jobs and their needs will change and become obsolete faster than education can support them so education focuses on generalities that may be applicable in the future. Lordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06747994571555237739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-83232113851001811082013-05-18T11:21:19.500-04:002013-05-18T11:21:19.500-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Absalonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09131268683451462949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-82178365656245832722013-05-18T11:21:19.268-04:002013-05-18T11:21:19.268-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Absalonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09131268683451462949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-59517278293495351282013-05-18T11:21:19.080-04:002013-05-18T11:21:19.080-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Absalonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09131268683451462949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-84466328661435922842013-05-18T11:09:02.096-04:002013-05-18T11:09:02.096-04:00My personal experience was that I started universi...My personal experience was that I started university with strong math/physics skills and I did well. By fourth year I was second in my class with a scholarship for grad school. I concluded that being second was not going to put me on a university tenure track so I switched over to law. The guy who was first in my class got a PhD in particle physics from a leading school but wound up becoming a computer programmer. Students try to be economically rational. If society wants more STEM graduates all it has to do is offer better employment prospects and then educate students about those prospects. Absalonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09131268683451462949noreply@blogger.com