Focus on STEM education only, good or bad?

[pmangels17]

Firstly, it is imperative that we give students a well-rounded education. In my college education (albeit only one year so far), though I am an engineer by declaration, the most rewarding classes I have taken have been those that have challenged me to think in a new way about our world, and reconsider my personal stances. Those courses are economics, philosophy, and theology, not physics and math.

There is, however, an important note to make. These courses and types of experiences are not auxiliary to a STEM education, but rather central to becoming an engineer, scientist, mathematician, etc. Engineering isn't only about knowing what equation to plug in, it is about creative adaptations of known principles, and solving problems in interesting new ways. And then, once we have created something, as engineers we MUST be able to communicate our ideas clearly to others, and justify our means and motivations. STEM education is and will be central to our nation's growth for decades, but it is not the only discipline we need.

[JesseK]

As the population grows beyond what has been traditionally sustained on this planet, there is an ever noticeable gap between the quantity/quality of problem-solvers and problem-makers. The problems are well documented in Art, Literature and the like. However, the problems don't go away just by communicating about them. Moving forward we will need more problem solvers with work ethic than people who talk about the problems, which is what STEM programs like FIRST specifically address.

There will always be plenty of artists & writers. It takes effort and investment to make a problem solver.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by JesseK

As the population grows beyond what has been traditionally sustained on this planet, there is an ever noticeable gap between the quantity/quality of problem-solvers and problem-makers. The problems are well documented in Art, Literature and the like. However, the problems don't go away just by communicating about them. Moving forward we will need more problem solvers with work ethic than people who talk about the problems, which is what STEM programs like FIRST specifically address.

There will always be plenty of artists & writers. It takes effort and investment to make a problem solver.

Rather than write an essay on my feelings on this topic, I think JesseK nails a central part of my argument. We have initiatives pushing towards more STEM education because we need more people capable of understanding STEM issues. It's not about "deemphasizing the arts" but rather increasing the portion of the population capable of working directly with STEM and comprehending STEM problems. Increasing the portion of the population that is functional in STEM is not going to destroy the arts, and we definitely need more people who are capable STEM thinkers.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Foster

I think we should teach METALS - Math, Engineering, Technology, Arts, Literature, Science. (or Language for Literature)

As someone with a "STEM" degree working as a "STEM Professional" I like this.

I put those in quotes because so much of my job is outside of the STEM wheel house. Presentations to customers, writing project proposals, user interface design... I'd say well over half of my job has little to do with STEM.

STEAM gets us closer, but I don't think it really does justice to just how important communication is. I like METALS, it covers things that are important.

(this comment ensures at least one major spelling or grammar error in this post)

One of my personal pet peeves is engineers who can't spell or communicate. If you can't communicate your idea in a professional manner it's not going anywhere.


The bigger issue with STEM education isn't that we aren't doing it. It's that people just flat out don't give a crap about education. Being smart isn't cool. That is what we need to change if we want to compete in the new economy, education needs to be valued.

Full Disclosure - I haven't read the article... yet.

[Foster]

Lots of good comments.

I can see how you could make writing classes more towards tech writing classes than fiction. OTOH I'm not sure that I want to see the CD of 2020 with nothing but dry tech writing posts.

I'm also on the fence about the STEM job market. I know that there is a huge push for H1B visa's to fill these jobs. As someone that will soon be looking for a new STEM job (my boat trip is coming to an end), I'm pretty sure while I have the skill set for these jobs, the much lower salary will be a issue. My email is looking for people with a huge range of skills for about 3-4 times min wage rates.

I do know that large companies are moving engineering team jobs to overseas locations to take advantage of the lower pay. I know of one company that has hired about 7,000 new engineers, all of them in Asia while reducing their US workforce.

But I do see that what were the mfg jobs of my early career are starting to be more higher tech in areas like bio-science / medical than anything else. So this may be just a transition time. We'll have to wait and see.

I do think that we are not doing a good job of funding our schools and that is a real problem, STEM school or traditional school. I've watched state after state lower budgets.

[Hot_Copper_Frog]

I have so many conflicting feelings about the topics surrounding STEM education and FIRST. I went all the way up through the progression of programs -- starting in FLL, moving through FRC, graduated with a STEM degree, and now serve as an FRC mentor while working as a STEM professional.

To be honest, I've never had much interest in the robot end of things. I've always been a Chairman's and scouting/strategy student through and through, and that's mainly what I mentor now. The skills that I learned through these activities were incredibly important to my academic success while in college, and serve me well now in my career. I learned how to speak eloquently, write clearly, work with groups of very different and/or difficult people, and keep an upbeat attitude in the face of frustration.

FIRST proclaims that the Chairman's Award is the most important award in FIRST -- because it teaches us that it isn't all about the robots. In order to earn this award, the team is required to apply technical and persuasive writing skills, effective public speaking skills, the ability to improvise, marketing and imagery design, video editing skills, etc. All of these are what many people might categorize as "soft skills", but they're things that as an engineering consultant I use all the time.

I think the question we should be asking ourselves is not "are we emphasizing STEM too much?", but rather "Do we include the right subjects and skills in STEM education?".