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Knowing your child will soon enter the same job market as his classmates, would you be concerned? Would you work with him to improve? Would you begin to question the way math is taught in school?
The United States got such a report card in December, when an international test ranked our 15-year-olds 24th in math out of 29 industrialized nations that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Science skills of U.S. 15-year-olds fell below the 29-nation average, as well. These scores are a wake-up call to anyone concerned about America's economic future.
Highly skilled workers, trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, are the ones who generate breakthrough innovations that lead to productivity gains,
Consider what has happened over the last generation. In 1975, the United States ranked among the top three industrialized nations for the percentage of 24-year-olds holding bachelor's degrees in sciences and engineering. Since then, 12 countries from Ireland to South Korea have leapfrogged the United States on this score.
Increasingly, America relies on foreign scientists and engineers to make their way to our shores, to the land of opportunity, to work in our labs and contribute to U.S. economic growth. By 2000, close to half of the engineers, computer scientists and life scientists with Ph.D.s earned in the United States were foreign born, according to the National Science Board.
Attracting the world's top talent can be good for our economy. Consider An Wang, who arrived in this country in 1945 as a 25-year-old from Shanghai. He quickly earned a Ph.D. from Harvard before starting a company (Wang Laboratories) that grew into one of the leading technology innovators and job creators of his lifetime.
Now, however, other nations are working feverishly to reverse their brain drain. More foreign graduates are taking their U.S. educations home. Others are choosing to study in countries perceived to be more welcoming in the post-9/11 world.
In spite of the recent recession or fears that engineering jobs are migrating overseas, the long-term job outlook for Americans with strong math and science skills is promising. Research shows that the more mathematics beyond Algebra II a person has, the better chances of landing a job in the top 25 percent of earnings.
The U.S. higher-education system is envied around the world, but we do not have the right K-12 education system in place to supply all the brainpower needed for innovative industries to flourish here in the United States.
One of my colleagues in the technology industry, Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel, explained why in an interview with USA Today last April: "25 percent to 30 percent who teach math or science in K-12 are not educated in the math and science they teach. If you are going to be an engineering major, you are going to need 12 years of solid math. What are the odds of getting 12 consecutive good teachers in a row if 30 percent of them are not qualified?"
To reverse these trends, we need a national commitment to math and science. We in the private sector should expand partnerships to improve K-12 math and science education and encourage more students to pursue technical degrees and careers. The public sector should revamp training, recruitment and retention efforts to raise the effectiveness of math and science teachers. Foundations should make math and science education a higher priority. And parents can do more, too. Every caring parent knows that reading to a young child promotes literacy. But how many parents know how to pass on the fundamental building blocks of math?
America should treat this international report card as a wake-up call to do better. Let's raise expectations. Coming in near-last is not nearly good enough.
Biography
Joe Tucci chairs the Business Roundtable's Task Force on Education and the Workforce and is CEO of EMC.
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are driving dollars away from public education by supporting
people like George Bush.
Whipple and Channel One, vouchers and the magic of the market
are supposed to save education. That sort of thinking (along
with the absolutely stupid method of funding public schools
with property tax dollars - hey, let's keep the inner city kids in
the inner city!) instead of doing the real work of studying public
education in a fundamental way is what's keeping us from
succeeding at educating our youth.
Stop whinging about your corporate tax burden, and start
supporting this country.
Federal funding. Home owners tax provides the biggest tax
dollars. Hoem ownership is around 69% in America.
Unfortunately, I must agree with your assessment of the US educational system. I also must agree with the fact that reading to your child will help aid in literacy, and further I feel that I must point out that the responsibility to educate a child ultimately falls upon the parent(s).
It's unfortunate; the foundation of our educational system has changed within a generation, it has left my generation reeling in shock. I can say that because I was a child in the 70's, and during my childhood there was an unsurpassed effort invested in the educational system. I grew up in that system and like so many other people of generation X, I expected that same system to be there for my children, but times change. The educational system that I expected for my children has evaporated, but what remains consistent is that the burden of a child's education is on no one but the parent(s).
Best regards,
Sean Gahan
I visited a junior high (7th grade) in California (near Santa Cruz) for a year. It was a very positive experience and I can especially commend the emphasis based on developing social skills. Math and sciences were too easy though, although I thought that the teachers were very good. In the first quarter I got 3.5 grade point average (after studying only 3 years of English) and my GPA was 4.0 afterwards. Although I think they gave me some slack in English (obviously) I believe other grades were well earned (I did very well in the tests, A+ sorts, and also surprisingly well in spelling bees). The experience for many exchange students going to US high schools has been identical. So I think that the subjects should just be harder. This was a very good school so I think that the teachers were mostly qualified (and more sociable than teachers in Finland, maybe because they were less demanding).
So US schools should be better funded and teachers should be afforded more respect (and perhaps better salaries). Subjects should be harder and perhaps more homework should be given. Also I think that people start learning languages too late (although that does not seem to be a priority anyway). Howevewr a long as salaries in the US are much higher than in Europe for instance (for high tech jobs that is) I suppose brain drain will continue to happen.
Posted on: March 4, 2005, 5:25 AM PST
Story: A nation of dunces in the making?
USA schools began a gradual decline shortly after ending school segregation.
Personally, I think that Segregation should never have existed.
Segregation did exist, and when segregation ended, tests were gradually 'dumbed down' to avoid hurting self esteem of students newly immursed in general curriculum.
Deterioation became such that a contemporary of mine, after becoming a High School Science teacher was told not to assign Homework to his students because they had never been assigned Homework and their frustration in dealing with Homework would just wreck their self-esteem.
Currently, in Arizona schools, the bar on our 'AIMS' (general proficiency measurement) test has been lowered for the above reason.
I have hephews that can neither read nor write!
Currently in the USA, we have a massive influx of Hispanics. Originally Hispanics performed only the most menial of tasks, and while virtually all produce is farmed, cultivated, harvested, and packed by Hispanics; Hispanics have steadily advanced 'up the job chain', now having replaced almost all 'Anglos' in the Building Construction trades.
Point: My Nephews are qualified for only menial jobs, even basic Construction Labor. There are no jobs for them in these catagories, abecause the Hispanics will gladly work harder for reduced wages.
Factory jobs have collapsed! IT jobs have been out-sourced to India, as have multitudes of PR and/or customer service call centers. Employers grew frustrated with US 'graduates' who could not even perform basic telephone tasks.
Roy Stewart
Phoenix AZ
Math, I can understand. To do business analysis.
But the science aspect of it, big deal, largely a waste of time in my book.
Not to mention that these days it seems many companies seem to patent the obvious in order to create the spectre of litigation with any competition that arises.
Perhaps I'm jaded (entirely possible) but the missive featured in this article is falling on deaf ears here.
-M
PS: Someone with a BS in comp sci and 10+ years of experience.
"He received a B.A. in Marketing from Manhattan College in 1968 and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University in 1984."
Great American high-tech companies of the caliber of Apple, Microsoft and Dell existed way before these suddenly-glorified foreign workers with ?strong? Math/CS academic backgrounds came onshore (and then offshore) in masses. In case you?ve been under a rock all these years, the American companies above were founded by people with no CS or Math degrees.
I?ve had the pleasure to work with a car mechanic-turned-techie with only a High School diploma that could beat any Math/CS in troubleshooting anytime. In contrast, I?ve also worked with PHDs in Mathematics (Operations Research to be more specific) from India who could never turn academic babble into a real solution, and even less communicate these ideas down to those who could.
Some of our youths are quite capable and have the aptitude for these specialized skills, and we should concentrate on them to fill the gap?which I bet is a lot smaller than we tend to think.
BTW, I have a BA in business and have US patents from the technology sector and make 3 figures designing and writing software --I hate Math.
I have seen too many PHD's, MSCS, BSCS come through, and because they have no passion produce mediocre work, quit or are fired.
We don't need sand baggers in software.
There are 2 billion people in India and China, these countries are going to have more people passionate about the subjects they are studying. And we in the U.S. also have people passionate here about software as well.
Education is a meaningless statistic in computer science (Bill Gates prime example) as most of the education is really on-the-job-training.
It is an unproven myth that an advanced degree makes you a better programmer. Passion for the work is the key ingredient and then seek the knowledge (which you can easily google for, take part-time classes on, or self-study).
Most business applications do not require Differential Equations. A little Calculus is okay, but most of it is statistics, algebra, and basic math.
For other engineering areas, where lives are on the line, I can see the value of a good ethical education (Morton Thiakol prime example).
While I'm sure there is more to be invented in the R/D front, the mainstream (those that get outsourced) developers have no need to reinvent the wheel. Most algorithms and data structures, which are mostly "logical" than mathematical are already invented. Learning how to use these correctly is more important and you can do this OJT.
So, remove this myth, make the passionate thrive and see how our youth follows suit.
IT was DERIVED from math and science! What some of you are suggesting is that it?s alright to lack in math and science, the very foundation that created your IT occupations. It?s almost like saying, ?I don?t need to study History 101. Those events already happened, so why worry about it?? Remember that IT is not a top-tier level industry. IT is all about applying information technologies to industries that already exist, such as writing scientific software to manage a nuclear reactor, or design a rotating polygon algorithm in Maya for computer animation.
About outsourcing? Outsourcing is an EFFECT, not a cause. Maybe Bush had to give the outsourcing power to U.S. industries in order to obtain people that develop better products and services?
And last, I find it funny how some people write about not needing math and science. Though that may be true in their situations, maybe they should think about taking some writing and grammar lessons.
-- From a person, U.S. citizen, with an MS in EE, and 15 years in the IT and medical fields
We can choose and pick about grammar on anyone's statements, including the one you wrote above. But this isn't about writing, and your argument about Math and Science in IT is weak at best.
>>IT was DERIVED from math and science!
Sure, but so is the pencil, the stickshift of your car and cereal. They're all tools that allow humans to create greater things not an end in and of itself.
>>writing scientific software to manage a nuclear reactor, or design a rotating polygon algorithm in Maya for computer animation.
These are mainstream Math/CS jobs that get outsourced?...please! Actually, I would never say that Math isn't important in IT, only that it's over emphasized. Apparently, you write more than read, but read my response to Drake on this.
Yes, IT is derived from Math and Sciences, but so are the instruments that the most prominent surgeons use, yet they don't need to know the underlying algorithms that make them tick. Btw, pencils have a lot of Math/science behind them too!
The real funny thing is the fact that these academic-types are usually shown-the-ropes by a pragmatic self-taught...the former will spend half their time defending why they went to school for 4+ years to learn stuff they will never use.
Btw, I have a BA in business and I often get to train those with academic Math/CS background about programming as a tool to solve real business problems. And I didn't earn my US patents by writing web pages or managing user accounts. Math and CS are only a small piece of the pie and I stand strong with my statement that in the big scheme of things, there are other aspects that are MORE important.
You're right about one thing. Writing IS important. Unfortunately, communication isn't strong in Math/CS...
You don't need to understand the mathematics of a trasmission to drive a car, but that is not the same thing as writing code.
To write code, efficiently, you use math. Sure you can use the data structure provided by the library, but that is often not the most efficient way to do things. You might need to create one specifically for your data, and if you are knowlegable in DS and math, you can create one that is faster then the one in the library.
Without a solid background in math, much of the IT world is closed off to you. You can't work for a company to work on a language, library and compiler. You shouldn't be writing drivers either. It goes on and on. Sure, if all you want to do is write web sites, you really don't need much math. But getting a CS degree for that is like getting an MBA to be a Mcdonalds manager. Massive overkill.
You do the math.
I hear all this bunk about balance of payments being caused by interest rates and goverment policy. Bull doody - the US is making less innovative stuff the rest of the world wants.
Lack of math skills. Plain and simple.
Executives of corporations are outsourcing coding/development to places like India and Russia due to personal greed and, for many years, have not considered coding/development resources to have much value within their companies. These are FACTS ascertained through almost 30 years in the heart of the industry.
None the less, to address some of the off topic subjects:
I would have to agree that passion is the root of success, not a pedigree. I would also give my kudos to the individuals that have chosen software development as a profession without having a formal education; this is a great example of passion and perseverance, this type of desire is what made America the industrial leader. There also seems to be some confusion as to what the requirements are for software development; let us precise the definition by our piers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development#What_is_the_nature_of_SE.3F
First Paragraph: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming
Lastly, outsourcing is a result of the competitive nature of business. The bottom line is the bottom line, and if some one can provide the same service for less, businesses will ultimately move in that direction. It's not personal, it's business.
Regards,
Sean Gahan
when I was starting college in the late 80's. Chemists and other
basic scientists were in shortage compared to the need we were
told. I completed a B.S. in chemistry only to find that suddenly,
the need for this had been overestimated. Many with Ph.D.'s
could not find a job anywhere. Did I blindly continue my
education in chemistry? Of course not. People go where they
feel their personal investment of time is best rewarded -- either
ecnomically or otherwise. Industry looks for the cheapest deal
-- in the U.S. this is exclusive of all else. No long term
repercussions seem to be involved.
If the U.S. really cared about this problem (including any pious
CEO's that may be writing this drivel), they would participate in
incentives that would correct the problem. Correcting a hiring
problem by hiring someone from India or Russia for half the U.S.
salary is not very encouraging for somewhat about to embark on
5 - 7 years of training with the incumbent debt in most cases. If
it's not in MY interest to invest years in education --> i.e. this
personal investment gets short circuited by outsourcing of one
kind or another, I would be stupid not to look for something
more in my own favor. Corporations show little loyalty or long
term investment in their employees -- no wonder employees
feel the same about their corporations. It's all about supply and
demand. If the local pool is diluted, pricing and therefore
earning power is diluted. The only way to defend yourself is to
make yourself somehow unique or otherwise irreplaceable to
your employer. These may require constant re-evaluation.
This isn't about just IT or chemistry or any other particular
sector of the economy. It's about poor policy from top to
bottom. Self interest rules the day in the end. Failure to take
this into account will always lead to failed policy as it continues
to do in the U.S. If you really want more basic science grads in
the U.S. in chemistry, engineering, or goat herding for that
matter, than there must be an incentive for people to move in
that direction. Anything else is just a bunch of overpaid analysts
patting themselves on the back for saying the sky is falling and
running around in circles.
I do agree that pursuing a career that is no longer fruitful is a waste of time. Of course, those who have no foresight will continue to pursue the hot job that will land them the biggest paycheck and then gripe and moan about their job being "outsourced" instead of admitting that they no longer serve a purpose. At this point, it is the evil, greedy corporate types that have sold "their" jobs away.
When ITT is bilking people out of money for its crappy certification and degree programs it's sad, but buyer beware--it's ITT. When prestigous schools like Worcester Polytech start offering the same type of crap it's deplorable. If these cash-cow schools continue to offer these woefully inadequate programs to unsuspecting students we're going to continue to see other countries outpace the U.S. in supplying skilled developers and IT workers.
Learning too much mathematics, physics, chemistry, history and geography may lead you to want to take over. Keeping Americans like this and subcontracting smart work elsewhere is a nice compromise today. Money flow..., but not for you.
Sorry guys. As long as you keep buying big cars, borrow more than you can afford and pay ten times more than worth for your house you won't learn any math.
Start by opening you eyes and being curious. Math will come by itself after...
Have fun!
As long as we continue to trust the gov't for everything, we will always just be mediocre.
And who is the target for being outsourced. The ones who make the most. In other words, the most productive, the smartest, most skilled jobs go first. That is the way it has transpired at every place I have been where outsourcing occurred. I was at one company where one day I was given a 10% raise out of the blue. As it happened they told me I had saved the company more than three times what they had paid me during the two years I had worked there. They had asked to give me a larger raise but was turned down. A month later my job was outsourced to India to a much less skilled but cheaper programmer. The dept. head was mad as hell but corporate picked the people solely by how much they make. Why would any young person put themselves in debt going to college and venture into the 'flavor of the day' technology whirlpool only to know the better they do the more there are jeopardy of losing their job? If was young I sure wouldn't. BTW, the India workers are just as bad at math and science the difference being I cannot understand a damn thing they say most of the time.
- If Jonny can't code...
-
by b2bhandshake
April 16, 2005 10:00 PM PDT
- can he at least get coders across the globe to code for him? A blend of technical and entrepreneurial skills will make Jonny and us globally competitive
-
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See all 42 Comments >>Mohan Babu, Author/Consultant
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