TBers,

Copy and pasted from Slashdot....

"Michael Teitelbaum, a senior research associate in the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School who has been writing a book on the subject of the current state of employment in science and technology fields, recently spoke at an Education Writers Association Conference about the 'STEM Worker Shortage: Does It Exist and Is Education to Blame?<http://www.ewa.org/post/stem-and-beyond-agenda>' The National Science Board's biennial book, Science and Engineering Indicators<http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/> , consistently finds that the U.S. produces many more STEM graduates than the workforce can absorb. Meanwhile, employers say managers are struggling to find qualified workers in STEM fields. What explains these apparently contradictory trends? And as the shortage debate rages, what do we know about the pipeline of STEM-talented students from kindergarten to college, and what happens to them in the job market? An article LA Times summarizes his findings of his findings on the STEM hype: '...some of it comes from the country's longtime cycle of waxing and waning interest in science; attention seems to focus on science every 10 to 15 years before slacking off. The only forces pushing the idea of STEM doom, he said, are those that have something to gain from it<http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-stem-science-math-shortage-20140224,0,6706502.story#axzz2uInrF5JA>. Mostly those are STEM employers ... that want to pack the labor force with people to suppress wages ... Joining the chorus are universities that want more funding for science programs...'"

A link to the LA Times article is here:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-stem-science-math-shortage-20140224,0,6706502.story#axzz2uInrF5JA

Back in Nov. of 2013 The Chronicle of Higher Ed also did a piece on this.  It is by Michael Anft and can be found here:

http://www.rit.edu/news/pdfs/CHE_Hira.pdf


Mr. James B.Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY  13820

Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 607-436-2701
Twitter:  greenbjb
Blog: http://ctlaltpause.blogspot.com/