It’s common knowledge that the United States is miles behind other developed countries in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, and that our economy suffers from, as Bill Gates has put it, “a severe shortfall of scientists and engineers with expertise to develop the next generation of breakthroughs.” And we also know that the humanities are in a downward slide, in part because they’ve been eclipsed by the dire need to focus on STEM. In the towers of higher education and the annals of our culture, we debate which discipline needs our hand-wringing the most.
If a recent feature in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ magazine, Spectrum, is to be believed, there’s no debate to be had: “The STEM Crisis Is a Myth” advances a convincing case that the U.S. is graduating more than enough scientists and mathematicians to satisfy the demands of its workforce. If this is true, it undermines the arms-race rhetoric pouring out of universities–and, more importantly, out of the federal government–about STEM education. In a speech this April, President Barack Obama said our future depends on “lifting up these subjects for the respect that they deserve,” and his proposed 2014 budget pledged another $3.1 billion to STEM schooling. If the sciences are not “in crisis,” but are in fact doing just fine, it begs the question: Why are we spending so much to revive them?
One thought on “New Evidence: There is No Science-Education Crisis”
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The BIG STEM Spending is taking place because:
#1 the STEM myth is necessary for Microsoft et al. To continue flooding the labor pool with H1B visa recipients to keep labor costs depressed. (See IEEE data)
#2 Obama Ed is serious about funneling $$$ to Vendors… Race to the Bank and No Vendor Left Behind are the current initiatives.
#3. The STEM thrust fits the top down decision making approach so favored by current “Ed Elite” know-it-alls. (include the Gates Foundation, SBAC and PARC with beloved Common Core State Standards and many politicians in this know-it-all group)
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The Education world is now upside down.
To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data.
John Hattie in his books Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers makes it very clear that in the USA:
#1 effective instructional practices are ignored and
#2 the most effective way to improve a school’s performance is not through top down directives but rather through bottom up decision making and responsibility.
— Dan Dempsey. In Lund, NV