Math is Power Ad Campaign

The AdCouncil ^ | 12/31/01

[SBeck]

For a real hoot that will make a lot of folks laugh with a little nervousness click on the following links:

• Coffee
• Intercom
• Lunch
• Mensroom

[SBeck]

Fire away. (No snide remarks from you engineers out there :-))

[ArcLight]

These ads are GREAT!

[Satadru]

It is funny how they make these commercials with black folks who seriously lack math skills. They probably think that if they show enough black folks studying math, there will probably be more black math majors. Yeah right! The funny thing is kids whe become math majors, are probably not watching afternoon TV at all. If all problems can be solved by pretending the opposite, then life would be so much easier.

[SBeck]

Actually, the senior VP and project manager are both black. I think the point is pretty clear though, study math and you'll go places.

[SBeck]

ping

[Phantom Lord]

Bump for later

[Incorrigible]

There are multiple ironies to these ads.

One:  The math wizes rarely are running the show.  They typically lack the social skills.  It's usually the "salesman" type personality that makes it to the top.  They may or may not have good math skills but are at least cunning.

Two:  It's all well and good to advertise that studying math will help you with your career.  The problem is who the kids are learning from.  There is a severe lack of educational fortitude when it comes to teaching math and sciences so kids usually lose interest.

Three:  Students who become lawyers are not typically mathematically inclined (I've known quite a few!).  However, if you ask a sophomore in high school, what profession he wants to enter and why, he'll tell you "law and money".

Four:  I bet if the commercial showed the math and engineering majors sitting in the science library until midnight on a Friday night while the liberal arts and business majors were getting sloshed at a party, they wouldn't be too convincing.  Yet that is what it takes to understand Calculus and such.

Now, I say all this as an Electrical Engineering major with a minor in Math.  Later I got an MBA and breezed through Economics, Statistics and other classes compared to those who did not have a mathematical foundation.  Engineers make a good salary but unless they figure out the business they're in and how to market themselves, they tend towards dead end careers themselves.  Albeit not minimum wage, but enough to be dissatisfied when the know-nothing, young MBA comes in and starts telling him what to do.

[SBeck]

I think the career enhancement is inferred by the ads. The study of math, because it develops good linear thinking skills, allows folks to progress naturally through the project management, line management, excutive career path. The lack of math skills, especially in our specialized world, is a road block.

[Dialup Llama]

Shout it!

Show another sequence of a tech graduate getting laid off every 9 to 18 months (this even during the boom years). Then show an interview scene where supplicant gets told that his technical skills aren't relevant or that his 2,3 or 5 years of experience dont contain enough of the technical fad du jour.

[Dialup Llama]

There are plenty of unemployed math majors who suddenly are trying to pass themselves off as UNIX admin types.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Four: I bet if the commercial showed the math and engineering majors sitting in the science library until midnight on a Friday night while the liberal arts and business majors were getting sloshed at a party, they wouldn't be too convincing. Yet that is what it takes to understand Calculus and such.

That's no joke. I'm a mechanical engineer. I got my bachelor's two years ago. My freshman Engineering 101 (Intro to Engineering) class had literally 400 people in it. The class was in a decent sized auditorium and there was a butt in almost every seat. By the end of sophomore year, about 3/4 of them were gone. By graduation, there was only about 50 of us left.

Most of the students drop during sophomore year when the classes start getting hard. They're stuck in the sci-tech library till midnight every night doing 4 homework problems that take 5 hours and then working on a computer program in FORTRAN that has to numerically solve a system of differential equations. Then they take a look around at their buddies who are poly-sci and business majors. They all crank out their homework between classes. They're going to parties every night getting lucky while the engineering students are stuck in the dungeon every night. Is it any wonder so many sophomore engineering students say 'To hell with this!'?

Engineers make a good salary but unless they figure out the business they're in and how to market themselves, they tend towards dead end careers themselves.

I'm already seeing that. I'm glad I finished my engineering degree and I like my job but I can see that engineers hit the glass ceiling and stop unless they are able to step up into administration.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

At the university that I graduated from, most of the engineering faculty had their resumes linked from the university web pages. These older people with doctorates all had 4-page resumes. It's ironic when a guy gets an education in order to get a good steady job then winds up moving around and getting a new job every 3 or 4 years.

[fogarty]

Good points. The main benefit, for me, of having an engineering degree (EE) is that it has shown me PROBLEM-SOLVING skills, based upon rational and logical thought. It is not so much the math talent and how many differential equations I can throw at you - it is the benefit and discipline of having been through the worst an engineering curriculum can throw at you.

A successful engineering student generally will have MORE discipline and more capability to tackle other degrees and jobs than a political science or other liberal arts student. As with everything though, it depends on how much you put into it. I've known engineers who failed for lack of effort and motivation as well as pol-sci students.

[litehaus]

SON = PhD, Math = 1st Year $160k----Yep Math Works!

[SBeck]

Most of the students drop during sophomore year when the classes start getting hard. They're stuck in the sci-tech library till midnight every night doing 4 homework problems that take 5 hours and then working on a computer program in FORTRAN that has to numerically solve a system of differential equations. Then they take a look around at their buddies who are poly-sci and business majors. They all crank out their homework between classes. They're going to parties every night getting lucky while the engineering students are stuck in the dungeon every night. Is it any wonder so many sophomore engineering students say 'To hell with this!'?

Point taken, however, I believe that those who perservere and focus through four to five years worth of hardship end up getting what they want in the end.

[karatemom]

I am but a humble algebra teacher... I loved the ads!!

[Satadru]

If you dont mind, what does he do? I am sure he probably works in a different field, consulting or finance. I am not aware of any job in mathematics that pays that much. Most mathematicians are more interested in proving theorems than earning money. I am a math major myself. I chose to go into economics partly because of the higher payoffs, but mostly because I am more interested in practical problems.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I agree. I feel really good that I did what was required to get my engineering degree. I made it through a program that 90% of the entrants couldn't hack.

I didn't have much of a social life in college but I sure have some open doors that I didn't have before and I can't gripe about the starting salary!

[SBeck]

LOL