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True Or False: America Desperately Needs More STEM Workers
Forbes ^ | June 6, 2014 | George Leef

Posted on 06/06/2014 9:38:59 AM PDT by reaganaut1

...

In his recent book Falling Behind: Boom, Bust & the Global Race for Scientific Talent, Michael Teitelbaum (Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School) shows that the U.S. has been through at least five STEM-related cycles since World War II. In each instance, alarms about a perceived shortage of STEM workers led to federal action to stimulate STEM research and education. But after the government’s stimulus ended, we were left with a surfeit of people with STEM degrees but no work commensurate with their training.

Far from “falling behind,” Teitelbaum shows that the U.S. currently has a surplus of people with STEM education. After surveying the research, he writes that America “produces far more science and engineering graduates annually than there are S&E job openings—the only disagreement is whether it is 100 percent or 200 percent more.”

Nevertheless, many Americans instinctively believe that there is something special about science, engineering and technology. They drive progress. We might have too many lawyers or baristas or interior designers, but we can’t have too many STEM workers.

Furthermore, interest groups that want more STEM education, research funding and workers know how to capitalize on that belief to get politicians to enact the policies they want. Even through there is nothing approaching a crisis, they keep lobbying as if we have a dire one.

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
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1 posted on 06/06/2014 9:38:59 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1

They only need a few million more H1B1 slaves a year to compete with India and China. I heard that myself from Mark Zuckerberg. ‘We just don’t have qualified, as in people who will work for 80 hours a week for 2/3rds the normal pay for 40 hours and be afraid to leave or complain for fear of being sent back to Calcutta or Chongqing, programmers and professionals to remain competitive.’


2 posted on 06/06/2014 9:45:00 AM PDT by Jim from C-Town (The government is rarely benevolent, often malevolent and never benign!)
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To: reaganaut1

This is a contrived shortage to try to force “comprehensive immigration reform” with its sharp increase in the number of H-1B visas. In other words, continued wage suppression for American STEM workers. I’m speaking as someone who spent a 35 year career in manufacturing and engineering and witnessed a lot of dirty dealing.


3 posted on 06/06/2014 9:46:49 AM PDT by Menehune56 ("Let them hate so long as they fear" (Oderint Dum Metuant), Lucius Accius (170 BC - 86 BC))
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To: reaganaut1
Like everything else it touches, the government screws up supply and demand and distorts the economy into cycles of feast or famine, surplus or shortage.

Remind us again how many jobs the emergency 2009 Porkulus trillion dollars was supposed to create or save. How did that work out?

4 posted on 06/06/2014 9:46:54 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: reaganaut1

STEM is an acronym referring to the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Why do we need more when we have more than can fill the jobs we have or are likely to have in the coming years? We even import them from overseas. The laws of supply and demand will make those degrees less lucrative. We need more manufacturing jobs in heavy industry. We cannot survive as a nation on a service economy...................


5 posted on 06/06/2014 9:50:38 AM PDT by Red Badger (Soon there will be another American Civil War. Will make the first one seem like a Tea Party........)
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To: reaganaut1

I will use this as an illustration.

My company had an opening for a summer intern. The majority of those who applied had already graduated, some up to two years ago, in engineering.

Yet we keep importing more and more H1B’s.

Sorry, we have way to many in the STEM fields here to be doing that, but it is what the companies want. New engineers (who can find jobs, a majority can not) are working for less than I started at in 1998. They also have hundreds of thousands more in debt that I ever did.


6 posted on 06/06/2014 9:58:42 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: reaganaut1

In a forum that discusses employee concerns at a large US high-tech employer where I once worked, a manger described how they were coached by the company’s legal consultants to create a bogus employment posting containing a job description that is based entirely on the education and resume of a selected foreign national that the manager wants to hire. In this way there is only one person can possibly meet the job requirements. HR would then provide the paperwork to the government to prove that since on one else applied for the job the employer is forced to hire the foreign national.

Based on my experience, I believe this account to be accurate.


7 posted on 06/06/2014 10:00:19 AM PDT by poindexters brother
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To: Red Badger

We as a country are actively pushing manufacturing overseas. It is all the rage in the MBA schools to do so.

Of course, those same people are starting to realize that Vietnam and China have plenty of managers also, and little incentive to honor contracts once they have the physical means of production.


8 posted on 06/06/2014 10:01:10 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: redgolum

Did you know that when a company wants to use Chinese labor to produce their product, China demands that the company give them all drawings, parts lists, technical data, test procedures, about every aspect of the item to be produced?

IOW, you can’t just hire a Chinese company to assemble your product with cheap labor, you essentially give them the product in its entirety. They will make the ones you want, but then they will make ones for themselves to sell under another name...........................


9 posted on 06/06/2014 10:06:15 AM PDT by Red Badger (Soon there will be another American Civil War. Will make the first one seem like a Tea Party........)
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To: redgolum

New petroleum engineers have no trouble finding jobs.


10 posted on 06/06/2014 10:14:24 AM PDT by SVTCobra03 (You can never have enough friends, horsepower or ammunition.)
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To: Menehune56
STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

All for of these are hard, they require maths to do well.

Children are not taught maths in grade school so they can not do them. This is also why it takes so long to check out a MacDonald's if you pay in cash.

So when they get to college all the childrens that can not do maths go into “studies”. Studding is part of the process of learning, so if you get a degree in “studies” that means you have been credentialed in learning. This of course entitles you to a $1,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 a year job, because you have a degree and are real smart. You know this because you were told this by your professor, all though you are a little confused about what a donkey has to do with being smart.

Because all these students are going to the arts instead of the sciences, all of the science professors (who run all the science organizations) are scared for their jobs. Most of them know the english speaking student by name. This also bothers the science professors, because the ADMINISTRATORS are asking about student teacher ratios and graduation rates. Since we all know that administrators (who all have arts degrees) sit on the right hand of the god, the grants committee, this is worrying. Therefore we need more students in STEM and since the professors run the professional organizations (the real professionals are out there working for a living and do not have time to attend meetings) they get the professional organizations to lobby for more money for stem training.

11 posted on 06/06/2014 10:27:41 AM PDT by fireforeffect (A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)
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To: Red Badger
Thankyew vera much!!! This ignorant old schooler musta fergot what STEM stood for. I still despise that damnabel Democrat that was POTUS when I was born (FDR) and all his dizzying initials for everything from soup to nuts!!!

Went to a concert featuring one of my grand nephews in Sparks, NV last week and the pubic school called it'self a "STEM ACADEMY." Pulled out my "DUMB PHONE," and did a "GOOGLE SEARCH" for "STEM ACADEMY." Couldn't make the connectshun (I'm still hooked on phonics) because of too many selectshuns!

So, I really perked up when I saw this thread, but was STILL frustrated till I finally got all the way down to your reply #5!!! Now my soul is finally at peace, once again. That is except for my unmitigated disgust with Demonicrats!!! (aka Lieburrals)(just a little more phonics lingo for ya)(grin)

12 posted on 06/06/2014 11:15:57 AM PDT by SierraWasp (Obama is mad! He's getting madder with each crisis and now he's a real MADMAN with no temper left!!!)
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To: SierraWasp

Apparently there are millions and millions of STEM degrees not being used. Maybe they don’t pay enough because there are too many of them?


13 posted on 06/06/2014 11:18:02 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: reaganaut1

It’s embarrassing for our educational institutions to teach things that require raw genetic intellectual capacity. You can’t fake it. It goes against the liberal redistribution of “opportunity”.


14 posted on 06/06/2014 11:21:18 AM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: SierraWasp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STEM_fields


15 posted on 06/06/2014 11:23:36 AM PDT by Red Badger (Soon there will be another American Civil War. Will make the first one seem like a Tea Party........)
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To: reaganaut1; Grampa Dave

Any enlightening comments/rants, Grampa Dave???


16 posted on 06/06/2014 11:24:25 AM PDT by SierraWasp (Obama is mad! He's getting madder with each crisis and now he's a real MADMAN with no temper left!!!)
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To: Menehune56

What is the quota on H1B visas? Is it relatively high or low to other times?


17 posted on 06/06/2014 11:26:52 AM PDT by Ben Ficklin
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To: Red Badger
Wull, either I wuz too dumb to think of Wicked Pedia, or thought it was a cool drink for infants and children (kinda like "WIC").

I never thought that site was to be trusted since any Tom, Dick or Harry can spam any subject with their stupid subjective opinions that can't hold a candle to my own, anyways!!!

18 posted on 06/06/2014 11:31:02 AM PDT by SierraWasp (Obama is mad! He's getting madder with each crisis and now he's a real MADMAN with no temper left!!!)
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To: GeronL

No, the pay is only part of it; the reason is that it is easier to manipulate the H1Bs and the H1B program to get a cut-rate deal.

If all of the H1Bs went away today there are enough qualified STEM grads and students in the pipeline to fill the needs. The H1B program has been an ongoing fraud by companies since the run up to Y2K.

There are not too many STEM degrees out there; and the excuse/lie being pushed is that there are not enough.


19 posted on 06/06/2014 11:32:20 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: Ben Ficklin

It’s been increasing for 20 years.


20 posted on 06/06/2014 11:33:03 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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