Re: "Starter Villain" by John Scalzi

On Mon, 12 May 2025 08:38:01 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
Dorsey) wrote:
 

Lynn McGuire  <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>
When I got into grad school in Mechanical Engineering at TAMU in 1982, I
was the only USA citizen.  The rot has been going on that long.  I
dropped out when I found a job that spring when I got my undergraduate
degree.

>
That's a different problem.  That's the lack of interested and qualified
American students for engineering programs.  Also... when
I was an undergrad I heard a lot of freshman engineering students talking
about how they had picked their major entirely because they expected to
make big money as engineers.  This is not the way to get good engineering
graduates.
>
I blame this on a lot of things, not just middle and high school math
programs being pretty terrible, but also on stuff like the disappearance
of shop classes in school.  I deal with a lot of fresh-outs who have an
engineering degree but don't know how to pick the right size screwdriver
for a screw... but worse are the kids who never got interested in mechanical
stuff enough to consider engineering in the first place.
>
If anything I am pleased at the number of foreign students in engineering
programs, because a lot of them decide to stay in the US and become
well-educated Americans.  But then, I think of engineering as a calling like
the priesthood and not just a fast-money job.  (It's true that I would
probably make a lot more money if I didn't.)

 IIRC, something called "STEM" exists to ameliorate that problem.
 Of course, since it isn't restricted to White Males it will shortly be
halted as being part of DEI.
 BTW, it was known in the 60s that there simply weren't enough White
Males to fill all of the positions requiring something other than a
Liberal Arts degree that would have to be filled. Ultimately, it is
sheer economic necessity that is driving STEM and DEI.