[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

It is not likely that, for example, a chip designer or mechanical engineer would learn the required math on the job.

Then why would they need to learn it?

[dinodino]

I should have said, “It is unlikely that a chip designer or mechanical engineer COULD learn the required math on the job.”

I have met many self-taught computer programmers whom are competent for many tasks but lack essential math background and thus fall flat when presented with a project requiring such.

My grandfather was a mechanical engineer in the Forties and I have his engineering texts and slide rule. He did not learn the mathematics on the job—he learned it at university.