Albemarle Tradewinds February 2016 Final Web
February 2016
February 2016
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S.T.E.M. and Charter Schools - Good for the country, or a scam?<br />
By: Centinel<br />
This month we look at the STEM job shortage. The proponents of STEM say that we have an acute<br />
shortage of STEM graduates. Is that true? One indicator is employment numbers. Let’s take 2012. In<br />
that year we had twice as many people with STEM degrees (immigrants and native born) than STEM<br />
jobs available. 5.3 million STEM jobs vs. 12.1 million people with STEM degrees. With less than<br />
half of the immigrants with STEM degrees working in STEM jobs. Wages are good measure of labor<br />
demand. If STEM graduates were in short suppy, wages would increase. Real hourly wages grew<br />
from 2000 to 2012 .7 percent and annual wages grew at .4% per year. Modest. Why do we hear that<br />
we need more STEM graduates? Greed and politics.<br />
Big businesses want a perceived STEM shortage. They can make their case to the politicians (and the<br />
public) for an increase in guest worker visas. This allows them to keep worker costs down. Politicians<br />
like it because immigration eventually equates to votes. Acadamia wants it because it keeps them in<br />
demand. Look how big the education industry is - and the cost. What of low high school test scores?<br />
Of course, we want the scores better, who in their right mind wouldn’t.<br />
Consider this: America is a huge country and the STEM workforce is small. This country graduates<br />
more than enough students to fit the need. As the numbers show.<br />
So why is the pro STEM argument taken as gospel?<br />
Many high profile people want STEM, for example: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. They have a<br />
vested interest in keeping wages low. One last thing. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was a<br />
psychology major. He has stated that Facebook is more psychology than programming. Zuckerberg is<br />
a good software engineer. His success is attributed to hard work, persistence, some luck, and timing.<br />
Entrepreneurial traits. As we stated last month, a well rounded education is best. Not enough room for<br />
charter schools this month. Next month we will touch on that subject.<br />
Due to space limitations references are on the online blog http://terrancemannalone.blogspot.com/<br />
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