WhipperSnapper
Lifer
- Oct 30, 2004
- 11,442
- 32
- 91
Originally posted by: Acanthus
Without the fundamentals in high school, a career in engineering can be a 5 or even 6 year program if you leave it to the colleges...
College Algebra, College Trig, Calc I, II, III, Linear Alg, Differential Equations... the list goes on.
Science is even worse, Physics, Chem, Bio, and all combinations thereof require math skills that many of our students dont get from high school. So for them to START their science tracks they have to wait on the math fundamentals they didnt get.
The solution? Students take non-science/eng Majors.
You're missing something...the students who go on to major in engineering and the sciences are the types who will take those courses. It's not like they aren't being offered today.
Did you ever stop to ask what percentage of the employment force needs that knowledge? Most jobs don't make any use of a college degree, even jobs where the employers only hire people with college degrees (using it as a proxy for evidence of responsibility, work ethic, discipline, and/or IQ).
Also, are you aware that a huge percentage of the "new jobs" being created today are low-wage service jobs that don't make any use of science or advanced math?
Is it really necessary for the truck driver to know linear algebra? Does the waitress really need a knowledge of quantum mechanics? Does the grocery store manager need to know about chemistry? Does the factory worker need to know calculus? Does the mailman need to know about molecular biology?
Of course, it would be nice if people had that kind of knowledge so they could enjoy interesting mental ruminations as they labored in their low-wage service jobs. The Walmart stocker whose formerly middle class factory or computer programming job was shipped to China or India might enjoy contemplating the intricacies of quantum mechanics as he stocks the shelves, but does he really need to use that knowledge?
Education is like anything else in a relatively free market economy. If it is profitable to obtain that knowledge and if it makes economic sense to do it--people will do it. It's amazing how few people understand that. Ever wondered why so many people apply to medical school? However, when the supply of jobs that make use of scientific and mathematical knowledge is low relative to the number of people trained to do that kind of work, perhaps due to offshoring or due to the jobs being filled by imported labor on H-1B or L-1 visas, then people really don't want to invest their time, money, and lives on such affected fields.
Duh!
Keep drinking the politicians' and the media's Kool-Aid. Our politicians, backed by corporations that want cheap labor, are using claims that Americans need better education as an opiate of the masses instead of addressing the real issues that affect the American economy and quality of life, such as global labor arbitrage, mass immigration, and population explosion.