4 ms·

But compare the number of undergraduate American students in STEM vs number of students in BBA/pre-med/law/dance/arts/humanities? There in lies the problem.

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
The number of Americans in Comp Sci versus English doesn't matter. What matters is supply of Americans with BSc Comp Sci versus demand for Americans with BSc Comp Sci.
- ashwinaj 14y ago
  There is always a demand for software engineers/designers/programmers. According to recent reports there are 3 million open tech jobs in the US. Assuming a pessimistic 50% variation in that number, you still have 1.5 million jobs. The popular dislike for "geek/nerd" STEM subjects in American schools doesn't help. That's unfortunately a societal problem that needs to be overcomed ("I don't know math", "that's for nerds" etc. fine flip my burger then).
  - eli_gottlieb 14y ago
    According to recent reports there are 3 million open tech jobs in the US. Really? Source? ("I don't know math", "that's for nerds" etc. fine flip my burger then). Not everyone can or should be a programmer.
    - ashwinaj 14y ago
      Sure not everyone can or should become a programmer/software engineer. But you would expect a progressive forward thinking society like the United States, who has pioneered most of the technological advances in the 20th century to have a steady flow of STEM graduates, wouldn't you? I believe there was 60 minutes episode for this. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/companies-say-3-million-unfilled-positions-in-skill-crisis-jobs.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/companies-say-3-mil... This story includes all open jobs which require "high-tech skills", not necessarily being software engineers/programmers, and they don't have a breakdown by job function, unfortunately. Maybe I was misled by the over use of IT and high-tech that led me to believe they meant IT jobs only. This snippet is from Obama's Google+ Hangout: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps the most notable exchange during the Hangout was when participant Jennifer Wedel of Texas, whose husband has had trouble finding permanent employment for the past three years, interrupted the president. Obama had said he had a list of folks looking to hire engineers, her husband's specialty. "There's a huge demand for engineers around the country right now," he added, when Wedel jumped in. "Um, I understand that, but how — given the list that you're getting, I mean we're not getting that — You said in the State of the Union address that business leaders should ask themselves what can they do to bring jobs to America," she said. The president had a very personal response which Wedel seemed satisfied with. "If you send me your husband's resume, I'd be interested to find out what's happening," Obama said. "But the word we're getting is somebody in that high tech field should be able to find something right away." "I'll have to take you up on that," she replied. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although he was getting calls from companies he couldn't move away from North Texas: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/09/144558/texas-engineer-who-sent-obama.html http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/09/144558/texas-engineer-... And in typical brain-dead, southern conservative fashion his wife blames H1B's for his inability to get a job (I lived in Texas for over seven years, I know these things first hand).

eli_gottlieb 14y ago

The number of Americans in Comp Sci versus English doesn't matter. What matters is supply of Americans with BSc Comp Sci versus demand for Americans with BSc Comp Sci.

ashwinaj 14y ago
There is always a demand for software engineers/designers/programmers. According to recent reports there are 3 million open tech jobs in the US. Assuming a pessimistic 50% variation in that number, you still have 1.5 million jobs. The popular dislike for "geek/nerd" STEM subjects in American schools doesn't help. That's unfortunately a societal problem that needs to be overcomed ("I don't know math", "that's for nerds" etc. fine flip my burger then).
- eli_gottlieb 14y ago
  According to recent reports there are 3 million open tech jobs in the US. Really? Source? ("I don't know math", "that's for nerds" etc. fine flip my burger then). Not everyone can or should be a programmer.
  - ashwinaj 14y ago
    Sure not everyone can or should become a programmer/software engineer. But you would expect a progressive forward thinking society like the United States, who has pioneered most of the technological advances in the 20th century to have a steady flow of STEM graduates, wouldn't you? I believe there was 60 minutes episode for this. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/companies-say-3-million-unfilled-positions-in-skill-crisis-jobs.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/companies-say-3-mil... This story includes all open jobs which require "high-tech skills", not necessarily being software engineers/programmers, and they don't have a breakdown by job function, unfortunately. Maybe I was misled by the over use of IT and high-tech that led me to believe they meant IT jobs only. This snippet is from Obama's Google+ Hangout: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps the most notable exchange during the Hangout was when participant Jennifer Wedel of Texas, whose husband has had trouble finding permanent employment for the past three years, interrupted the president. Obama had said he had a list of folks looking to hire engineers, her husband's specialty. "There's a huge demand for engineers around the country right now," he added, when Wedel jumped in. "Um, I understand that, but how — given the list that you're getting, I mean we're not getting that — You said in the State of the Union address that business leaders should ask themselves what can they do to bring jobs to America," she said. The president had a very personal response which Wedel seemed satisfied with. "If you send me your husband's resume, I'd be interested to find out what's happening," Obama said. "But the word we're getting is somebody in that high tech field should be able to find something right away." "I'll have to take you up on that," she replied. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although he was getting calls from companies he couldn't move away from North Texas: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/09/144558/texas-engineer-who-sent-obama.html http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/09/144558/texas-engineer-... And in typical brain-dead, southern conservative fashion his wife blames H1B's for his inability to get a job (I lived in Texas for over seven years, I know these things first hand).