"Yeah....I make more than you.....snicker......snort."
Posted on 03/13/2010 5:59:10 AM PST by reaganaut1
If you're going to attend college for 4 years, you might as well learn something useful. There's also a limit to how much PC crap professors can smuggle into math, science, and engineering classes. (And the professors keenest to do this will be teaching subjects like sociology.)
As an Anglophile, I’ve spent the last 10 years with a degree in English netting me over $60K per year. Working on my Master’s degree, I see there’s an entire field of English that could use some attention, as many of these engineering students couldn’t complete an RFP, RFI or technical manual to save their lives.
To be fair, I have 15 years of enterprise-class IT experience (data center mgmt, HVAC, networking, servers, storage) that goes hand-in-hand with my BA in English (Comp) and will fit perfectly with my MA in English, Technical Communication when I graduate in a year.
While the applied sciences are great for those with directed studies in the fields, there are myriad professional paths that would welcome effective written communication skills.
Trust me, English communication is on the wane in the US!
"Yeah....I make more than you.....snicker......snort."
bttt
True, but how long can you be an engineer? The carrer path can be very short.
You beat me too it. I had a great picture of a pocket protector all lined up. LMAO!
I, too, have a degree in English, with minors in the arts, and share your concern about literacy.
However, you are unfairly critical of engineering students and their writing ability. As the parent of three young engineers (who are, indeed, drawing high salaries), I can assure you of their literacy and ability to write well, and they are not alone among their peers.
These kids have to be excellent students in order to even be considered by good engineering program, and even more is required to succeed in it.
Engineering is a highly demanding field of study, and it’s not all facts and figures. The curriculum demands a significant amount of writing. Engineers graduate well-versed in how to communicate clearly and effectively.
“True, but how long can you be an engineer? The carrer path can be very short.”
why?
I've noticed that a lot of English/Humanities majors have a complex concerning Engineering. Nobody ever dropped out of English to study Engineering....
Liberal Arts is basically just 4 more years of high school and these days a liberal arts degree and $5 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
“as many of these engineering students couldn’t complete an RFP, RFI or technical manual to save their lives.”
And why should they, when you have so many starving English majors? (Ok, I kid)
There is no excuse for not having proper communication skills. In the end that is what separates “good” engineers from the rest.
Unfortunately, I think it is true that there are probably just as many English majors with poor communication skills as there are Engineers.
The fact is Engineering is harder, so there are fewer Engineers than Liberal Arts majors. Companies that hire Engineers will generally be industrious in nature and add value - with the cash flow that follows that allows them to compete for the comparatively few engineers coming out of school.
The good news is that in the long run, bright people will prosper, no matter what they study.
“H1-B”
So, can you just put that through your decoder wheel for me, i seem to have misplaced mine.
If there's any Petroleum Engr. jobs open, I'd sure like to know.
Isn’t it funny? These four-year graduates earn more money staright out of college than most people dream of, and you think some evil H1-B will keep them from earning even more.
Oh, and the problem with getting an Engineering degree, is that you have to become an engineer. In their analyses and logical thinking, some engineers can become amoral. It wouldn’t surprise me if you could fool a bunch of Engineers into attending a class (hey, 3 pdh’s!) on the efficiency of the Nazi gas chambers and how they could’ve made them more efficient.
What do graduating community organizers make?
By the time I finished at University of Michigan, certain English classes were being advertised in the bulletin as "no papers, no final."
Let me assure you that your children are the exception, not the norm. In my graduate field of study, one of the overarching concerns for technical communication is that technically-inclined students, esp. those seeking their first post-collegiate full-time jobs, are horribly incapable of documenting their work or effectively communicating.
I’ll also grant you that this will differ around the country and the world, but I’ve actually gone through numerous engineering these and dissertations only to find confusing technical information and poorly-written prose for critical processes.
In addition, remember that while many students coming out of college now are capable of effective prose, many of the existing engineers and IT workers are abject failures with documentation. Having worked in IT for so long, I can personally attest to the abhorrent documentation skills in many IT shops. I’ve been the go-to guy for most documentation needs; something upon which I pride myself and rely for future job hunts.
English is one of the humanities that gets a bad rap. Just because someone majored in it doesn’t make them worthless. Quite the contrary, we are the communicators for the world, and even if we’ve fallen on hard times, at least there’s teaching.
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