High Demand for Science Graduates Enables Them to Pick Their Jobs

[thundley4]

FarCenter (1000+ posts)         Mon Oct-24-11 04:54 PM
Original message
High Demand for Science Graduates Enables Them to Pick Their Jobs, Report Says
   
The 2009 study by Mr. Salzman, a professor of public policy on Rutgers's New Brunswick campus, and Mr. Lowell, director of policy studies at Georgetown's Institute for the Study of International Migration, used 30 years of federal job data to show that American colleges produce far more talented graduates in the sciences than is required by the industry for which they've been specifically trained. But there is a labor shortfall, the professors said, because so many science graduates take jobs in areas such as sales, marketing, and health care.

The training and expertise of science graduates give them that flexibility, Mr. Carnevale found in his study. Sixty-five percent of students earning bachelor's degrees in science or engineering fields earn more than master's-degree holders in nonscience fields do, the report says. And 47 percent of bachelor's-degree holders in science fields earn more than do those holding doctorates in other fields.

A liberal-arts education is often regarded as giving a graduate a wide degree of flexibility in a fast-changing job market. The wage data may now be showing that a narrower education in a scientific field offers similar benefits, Mr. Carnevale said. "The technical foundation," he said, "is worth even more than we thought."

http://chronicle.com/article/High-Demand-for-Science/12...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2177685

Only one reply so far.

XemaSab   (1000+ posts)             Mon Oct-24-11 05:09 PM
Response to Original message
1. I'm going to get jumped on for this
   
but I think it's easier to bullshit your way to a BA in English, history, anthropology, religious studies, or another non-science discipline than it is to bullshit your way to a BS in chemistry, physics, biology, math, or another science IN MANY UNIVERSITIES IN THE US.

Will the DUmmies come out and defend their liberal courses of study?

[jukin]

I received my BSME in 1980 and even then I had no idea what a BA in anything was good for other than going to graduate school or going into government. 31 years later a BA has become good for NGOs, political jobs, and camping out in metropolitan areas.

Of course, the thing with a BS is that you have to work hard to get one, be smart, and motivated. this explains why liberals are, in general, are not in the sciences fields unless in education or grant grabbing (BRIM).

[JohnnyReb]

XemaSab   (1000+ posts)             Mon Oct-24-11 05:09 PM
Response to Original message
1. I'm going to get jumped on for this
   
but I think it's easier to bullshit your way to a BA in English, history, anthropology, religious studies, or another non-science discipline than it is to bullshit your way to a BS in chemistry, physics, biology, math, or another science IN MANY UNIVERSITIES IN THE US.

Yes, it's much harder to convince someone that 2+2 = 5.78523....

Yes kiddies, in science you have to color within the lines....sometimes you may be able to move the lines but B.S. won't do it.

[NHSparky]

Sixty-five percent of students earning bachelor's degrees in science or engineering fields earn more than master's-degree holders in nonscience fields do, the report says. And 47 percent of bachelor's-degree holders in science fields earn more than do those holding doctorates in other fields.

And some of us have the paystubs to prove it.