Posted on 10/24/2009 11:44:00 AM PDT by george76
I had a somewhat disturbing conversation yesterday with Steve Fussell, the senior VP of human resources at pharmaceutical maker Abbott. His basic message, which I may pursue in a column down the road, was that Abbott is going to be hiring tons of people for high-paying jobs over the next decade, but not many of them will be Americans because we study the wrong things in college and we're not willing to work overseas.
The key quotes:
1) "I hate to say we don't have the world's best universities. We may have the best minds, the best liberal arts education. The problem is it doesn't match the work anymore." (That is to say, not enough students are getting science and math degrees.)
2) "I don't have these graduates in Europe and Asia telling us they want to live with mom and dad or they don't want to relocate to Asia."
(Excerpt) Read more at curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com ...
“I wouldn’t give back a second of my education, and am considering going back and getting a bit more.”
Go for it. I’ve got two Master’s degrees and I am contemplating going for my Ph.d in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. You can never learn enough.
The whole group/team thing tends to be a problem for the really smart people. My husband and now my 4 kids hate the group/team work in school. Mainly cos they do all the work. And sometimes, because they HAVE to do all the work to get the A.
Now me, I loved group work in high school and college. Because the smartest one did all the work.
Groups and teams have a purpose of course. But it’s always intersting to see who does the most work while the rest in the “group/team” benefit.
Really?
LOL!
This is true also. Life is like that sometimes. Those that care will succeed.
I had the same idea-ish to go into economics or political science, but I'm so glad I chose metallurgy. I talked with someone a few weeks ago that graduated last May in Econ. and he is a cook at a restaurant.
The metallurgy shortage is severe, as most of those in our field are nearing retirement in the next 5 years; this makes my life easier in a recession...
If you are employed, you are doing better than most of the RE agents now.
As for engineering, I have to turn many unsolicited offers away. Life is good for engineers.
+1
It doesn’t really matter either way, imo. My husband changed jobs/company to locate in this area because it was important to me to be close to my aging parents and my family. He could have and would have lived anywhere as long as I was with him. And once our children were born, all that mattered to him was our little family and my parents.
We were living in the area when my Dad died and during his illness so I was able to help care for him. And, being a half hour or less from my parents home, the home I grew up in, made things easier and also kept the bond my parents had with our kids. And then when my Mom needed 24/7 care, she moved in with us and we cared for her until her death. That’s what families, imo, do.
I’m in my 40s, and I lived at home until I was married 20 yrs ago. I had no reason to move out after college when my job was local. Saved me a ton of money too. Of course my Mother charged me for room/board (but she cooked all my meals and did my laundry too, lol).
It’s just the way it was in my family and in the region. Then again, I got married in my 20’s so it may be different in the 30s and 40s to still live at home.
There are plenty of high-skilled, scientific/technically degreed Americans.
The problem with them is that they have illusions about being middle class or that they are no longer 25 years old. Corporations talk about “entry-level” positions requiring at least 5 years of solid experience and pay not much more than unskilled labor.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
BTTT!
Um, young minds, at the college level, and hell at the high school level, should be able to not be so weak and thus influenced by liberal thought.
No one has to tow the line and conform, there are ways, and the smart kids learn them, to pass the non-scientific and non- math courses. IOW, the gen ed courses that are required. A college student, or at least one that belongs in college, understands this and succeeds.
LOL! Excellent post.
BTW, I think every teacher should spend at least a year in the hellholes ;) It’s a great experience on so many levels.
Excellent post and well said.
I disagree.
However if stating that most degrees conferred on anyone over the past ten to fifteen years are tainted, I would be more supportive.
The entire education system in this country has fallen apart due to the people who are in charge of the system.
Life is very good for engineers. My husband is one and his job allowed me to be a stay at home mom for 14 years. His job is the reason we can live where we live and how we live.
I had to go back to work full time (one kid in college and a senior in high school going to college next year, and two more going after that). Plus, it’s difficult to live on one income now for many reasons.
There seem to be three tiers in engineering. The Ph.D./ company lead level, the middle level and the entry level. Businesses seem to really interested in the top and the bottom. They like having as many low paid, entry level engineers as they can keep. But once you start getting older, if you don’t have a really far advanced degree and can use your knowledge to start companies or be the lead engineer for a company, you have to go into management to advance at all. In many cases when the layoffs come, as in the defense industry, the engineers who have 15 years experience plus are the ones most likely to be asked to move on.
But there are so few going into engineering now that I can see a time when even the middle will be kept on because they can’t be replaced with entry level engineers.
a human services director telling students to get better degrees.....hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
tell that to a number of black doctors that I know......
agree that a lot of degrees are meaningless...both white and black students....
but as far as black students, there is a sub segment that is very intellectual and accomplished and knowledgeable...kudos to them......you can't fake your way thru med school...(I don't think)
isn't America very different from most of the world in that young adults don't live at home?....most of the world has entire families living together for the greater good..
how wonderful to live with your parents as an adult.....its a whole different attitude.....
She has no idea. She really has no interest in the subject. It's just a Major, that's all.
Makes me really sad. I guess she's not really as bright as I thought.
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