4 ms·

Meh, I don't buy it. If prices rise then supply will meet the demand and resources will be allocated accordingly. Do you have any numbers to show that as we've

Meh, I don't buy it. If prices rise then supply will meet the demand and resources will be allocated accordingly. Do you have any numbers to show that as we've seen a decrease in wages for STEM professions that we've also benefited from an increase in R&D? And not actually an accumulation of wealth by the wealthy industry stewards with all time high corporate profits? The average CS PhD is what? 36k/yr? That is only attractive to international students who place a lot of value in being on US soil. The smart domestic students will avoid PhD programs and CS altogether, which is precisely what the industry wants, the self full filling prophecy of the "talent shortage".

seanmcdirmid 11y ago
Numbers? America has always been an immigrant country, from its very founding (even the Ameri-indians crossed a bridge to get here). There is nothing to compare against; high-end STEM has never been dominated by American-only talent. So all we have is world supply vs. world demand to go on, and what can we tell from that? I made about $1300/month as a PhD student at the end of the 90s/early 00s. But in exchange, I got to do the research I wanted to, it was a fair exchange for me. If you are in it just for the money, I guess it doesn't make much sense, but then you don't need a PhD anyways. I'm also one of the odd balls who is an American CS PhD graduate working for an American company in...China. Turns out, those high-end research jobs really can move from the US to another country (before China, I was in Switzerland)!
aianus 11y ago
> If prices rise then supply will meet the demand and resources will be allocated accordingly. CS grads already easily make the most money out of all STEM graduates except maybe medicine which requires a much larger time/money investment. Where exactly do you see the extra supply coming from if, say, CS wages went up another 50%? Who would be incentivized to study CS who isn't already sufficiently incentivized today?

seanmcdirmid 11y ago

Numbers? America has always been an immigrant country, from its very founding (even the Ameri-indians crossed a bridge to get here). There is nothing to compare against; high-end STEM has never been dominated by American-only talent. So all we have is world supply vs. world demand to go on, and what can we tell from that? I made about $1300/month as a PhD student at the end of the 90s/early 00s. But in exchange, I got to do the research I wanted to, it was a fair exchange for me. If you are in it just for the money, I guess it doesn't make much sense, but then you don't need a PhD anyways. I'm also one of the odd balls who is an American CS PhD graduate working for an American company in...China. Turns out, those high-end research jobs really can move from the US to another country (before China, I was in Switzerland)!

aianus 11y ago

> If prices rise then supply will meet the demand and resources will be allocated accordingly. CS grads already easily make the most money out of all STEM graduates except maybe medicine which requires a much larger time/money investment. Where exactly do you see the extra supply coming from if, say, CS wages went up another 50%? Who would be incentivized to study CS who isn't already sufficiently incentivized today?