Posted on 03/29/2005 4:25:33 AM PST by samsonite
Vinod Dham is among a growing number of technology executives warning that the U.S. faces an engineer shortage. To stay globally competitive, he says, the nation must do better at steering its youth toward engineering careers. Mr. Dham knows how hard that is: He can't persuade his own kids to go into engineering.
The 54-year-old Mr. Dham would seem to be a prime role model. His engineering degree lifted him from his humble origins in India into a 16-year career at Intel Corp., where he became well-known for helping create the Pentium chip. His older son, 22-year-old Ankush, is studying economics, and that's fine with Mr. Dham, who says he couldn't get him interested enough to develop the rigor required for engineering. But ever since his younger son, 19-year-old Rajeev, was a boy, Mr. Dham has been urging him to pursue engineering -- and he, too, is going into economics. Rajeev "doesn't want to do electrical engineering," the elder Mr. Dham laments. "He tells me the job will be outsourced."
Silicon Valley is doing a lot of hand-wringing these days about a coming engineer shortage. Tech leaders such as Cisco Systems Inc.'s John Chambers and Stanford University President John Hennessey warn that the U.S. will lose its edge without homegrown talent. The U.S. now ranks 17th world-wide in the number of undergraduate engineers and natural scientists it produces, they point out; that's down from 1975, when the U.S. was No. 3 (after Japan and Finland).
For Mr. Dham's younger son, the California lifestyle that an engineering career brought the family is one reason he is spurning engineering. "One of my older cousins is an engineer, and he was shipped out to Cleveland, where it's snowing and stuff," he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Well, I'm not so sure about him. But his kids are DEFINATELY AMERICANS!
What is the incentive for a U.S. student to go to the time, trouble, and expense of getting an engineering degree when he or she will then spend their entire career battling for opportunities against lower cost foreign engineers?
I teach at a midwestern Catholic school, and since I have freshman classes, I see a pretty good cross-section. I ask "how many are in sciences?" (out of 30, maybe 1); "How many in engineering?" (Again, maybe 1 out of the remaining). Although the number is declining slightly, those who want to go into "law" are usually in the majority (maybe 3-4).
Well, one of my clients is preparing a matrix which identifies the role, and whether the role is High in Strategy, High in Collaboration, Low in Collaboration.
The Low in Collaboration would be the candidates to offshore. Quite effective, considering that most of the low collaboration jobs were filled by H1Bs from India/China anyway.
But, it is only a matter of time before some Strategy jobs start being outsourced. A graduate from one of the top 10 B-Schools in India would bring more analytical expertise than a grad from B-tier B-Schools in the US.
Well, my two cents.
I have a kid who's leaning toward engineering.
He's about to get his AA and has to decide on a major. He's leaning toward Mechanical Engineering.
But a friend, who is a Mechanical Engineering Prof at a top ranked university has not been optimistic about the future of engineering grads.
So many H1B visas, plus work shipped overseas, all add up to fewer jobs, plus lower salary for the jobs.
You need 3 Calc courses and Differential Equations, plus Chemistry and a couple physics just to get into the program. If kids don't think there's going to be a job around after they get out, it's hard to rationalize putting in the "hard work."
My kid is starting young, so we've assured him he can't go wrong with an engineering degree because he'll have time to get a Master's, but if my prof friend is right, they are going to have a hard time recruiting kids for engineering majors.
end gender and racial bias in education and employment. suppressing white males = engineering shortages.
I'm an EE with 17 years of experience. I work for a tier 1 auto supplier. I have 2 sons - I don't want to sentence them to the misery of an engineering career.
Decrease Cost of Education!!!
Start more Community Collages for IT Diplomas.
Invest in new Undergrad/Grad Schools.
Collages=Colleges...talking of education ;-)
bttt
Yippee! That means a good job for my 4 y.o. in 15-20 years!
A grossly overlooked factor in this entire equation, second only to the fact that government K-12 schools are incapable of preparing kids for this major - without significant math remediation, that is.
Exactly.
As an electrical engineer, I can truthfully say that an engineering degree is the LAST thing I want my two kids to pursue.
This article missed the point entirely. It is not the quantity of engineers it is the quality. Over 20 years in the profession has taught me that: 1) Never, ever stop learning, I shock my protégées when I tell them that I study harder now than when I was in college. 2) American engineers are the most inventive and innovative on the planet. I have has many engineers from around the world work for me. The Chinese work hard but are not innovative, I think it is a cultural insure in that they typically do not ask the question ”is there a better way”. 3) The raw products that I used today are made in Germany, Israel, China, Taiwan, Japan and here in the USA. It truly is a world-wide network.
Today I am one of the top Engineers in the country and recognized around the world, not bad for a guy who’s father was an appliance repairman. Only In America!
My wife and I are both Science teachers at the middle school level. We have raised two sons. One is a microbiologist and the other has a degree in mechanical engineering . Both are doing fine ..WHAT DID WE DO RIGHT ?? ( Right is the key word , far right !)
The answer lies in whom this society is making famous and whom they are paying the most.
Right now it is sports and movie stars.
Bet you couldn’t find any kid who could name (3) famous scientists.
– heck probably 99% of adults can’t list (3).
Tell me about it. I am a mechanical engineer and I cannot get any of my 4 kids excited about math and science. None of them have any desire to be an engineer. Too much work! And these are kids who have not gone through the public school system.
Engineering is a great way to climb out of the ghetto. I grew up in "the projects". Somehow I decided I wanted to be an engineer. Surprising since I did not know anyone who was an engineer. I was good in math and science, though.
Anyway, I still remember to this day one of the teachers who asked what I wanted to be. I told her and she said, "You have to go to college for that and you can't afford it. Be a mechanic. Anyone who can rebuild a carburator will never be out of work." How many carburators do you see out there nowadays? Anyway, I earned my way through college and have been working as a Civil Engineer for 35 years.
Engineering is not the ticket to a rich, easy life and an early retirement, but it is a good job with reasonable pay and a sense of accomplishment when you see your designs being built.
Aside from dumbing down the entire curriculum, the emphasis on GPA encourages kids to take basket weaving to ensure access to college.
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