Posted on 07/26/2016 11:08:51 AM PDT by Kaslin
One third of USA STEM graduates are not employed in a STEM job.
The wages paid in many STEM jobs - specifically the biological sciences and Information Technology - have been stagnant for almost 20 years.
The influx of millions of foreign high tech H-1B workers (many obtain Green Cards) has displaced millions of home grown American STEMs (most of them over age 40) and suppressed natural wage growth in most STEM occupations.
About 80% of completely “average” STEM PhD candidates from Russia, India, China, and Eastern Europe are still working in the USA five years after they graduate.
This has effectively wiped out demand for “average” American STEM PhDs, and crushed the wage scale.
It sounds more like diversity problem than a workforce shortage problem.
Start your own business. You will never strike it rich by working for anyone else, in or out of STEM.
Looks like West was PAID by Masergy to put his name on their article.
It is my daily experience that there are many companies needing stem grads that have no significant foreign competition and will continue to manufacture here.
Curiously that applies to foreign firms with large facilities here as well
Demand is growing fast- for foreign workers. Most recent US STEM grads are having a tough time.finding jobs in their field.
Re: “Start your own business. You will never strike it rich by working for anyone else, in or out of STEM.”
Words of Wisdom!
I come from 5 generations of small business owners.
The good news is that the greatest problem in business ownership - finding, managing, and retaining employees - is slowly but surely being eliminated by business software, engineering software, and labor saving machines.
I think we are within a couple decades of being able to say that all sole proprietors or family staffed businesses will have the potential to generate an upper middle class income.
Which engineering? My son just graduated with a B.S in EE ... his starting salary is more than my starting salary was 20 years ago ... and I started my career having attained a PhD in EE.
Starting salaries in EE have at least doubled in the last 20 years.
Why knock yourself out studying hard science and engineering for 5, 6, 7 years when so many of jobs go to communist Chinese, Indian, and other foreigners. Either by our “American” corporations exporting the jobs or importing the workers.
I’m a Chemical Engineer. We have the average highest starting salary for decades. When I graduated in 97 the average was around $60K, now it is about $68K-$70K on average. If you look at starting salaries across the engineering disciplines, the data curves look almost unchanged over the last 20 years. Of course certain areas and specialties have considerable variance, but the general trends stand. An individual is simply a single data point. 1/3 of engineering grads never work as an engineer. With in 10 years of graduating, some 80% are no longer practicing engineers. If you are over 50, and laid off, the odds are that you will never work as an engineer ever again. If knowledge is worth, then why is it almost impossible for the more seasoned engineers to reengage? All we here is how we don’t have enough, but senior engineers are being replaced by kids or cheaper foreign workers every day. Just post an engineering job and you will get 100s of foreign engineers looking for sponsorship and willing to do anything for it. Brilliant PhDs working for $40K or $50K as line engineers but doing PhD level research.
Bummer ... my middle son in a junior in Chem E ...
Bummer ... my middle son in a junior in Chem E ...
The point is, an education is for your personal edification, not getting a job. Armed with drive and cunning, one can build a career of choice. I learned little in college that was applicable to my career: I grew in knowledge and experience through time.
The single biggest mistake people are making with their education is mistaking it for a trade school.
And being redundantly redundant.
Yes. But I know where top grads of top ranked schools can’t even get interviews and — even can’t get acknowledgements of their job apps sometimes. A LOT of jobs are being given to foreigners — a LOT.
Grad school, brother...maybe an MBA.
Foreigners actually work very hard in order to gain the privilege to come here to work. Many American students are more party animal than student. I had trouble finding American born students who had taken appropriate course work in school for truly technical jobs. Sometimes the schools don't offer appropriate curriculum any longer. For example, few schools these days offer classes in C and C++, which are fundamental for "down to the metal" engineering. We either had to train newbies in C/C++ or hire the ones from abroad who already knew it.
Sure, it is not fair to paint with a broad brush. That being said, many American kids are more into playing video games and social media than about actual learning or experiences. They are Halo warriors, if you will. That is easily detected with a simple programming or electronics engineering test.
I think a big problem is inummerate teachers. There was a story about half the teachers in Chicago being functionally illiterate. I can imagine its only worse when it comes to math.
My limited experience is that most USA students with MS Engineering from good schools have learned a lot of what is needed to work
not all of course
the party animals seem to concentrate in the liberal arts...
its damn hard to be a party animal when you got 100 pages of highly technical/mathematical homework to do each week, ha!
but yes, there are some MSE grads I wouldn’t hire, indeed have not hired.
I have knowledge of number 1 or 2 graduates of best engineering school(s) in USA...not even being able to get interviwed by local major engineering corporations that ARE hiring (but mostly from overseas)
and if you go out to SillyCon Valley (Palo Alto region) you will see half or more foreign workers in many of the firms there
even though they are right next door (some are right on the property of) major leading school of engineering
so... there IS a serious reason why many USA students decide against serious STEM studies..... when all is said and done, why knock yourself out for 5 or 6 or 7 years with the hardest study programs on campus.... only to wind up begging for some sort of sales agent or paper-pushing job (IF you can get one, even that can be difficult in Obama’s Great Depression)
but at any event, if you get a job it likely won’t use your training much... and will pay low too.....so you could have been a campus party animal taking sociology and ethinic studies!!!!!!!!!
so why not do that from the git-go, and save yourself 6 years maybe of strenuous STEM studies?
You should do what makes you happy. STEM is a lot more interesting than that other crap. I'd "do it" just for the pleasure of learning it.
Then I'd go setup my own company, hire the sons-of-bitches HR people from those nasty firms, and then fire them after a few months.
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