This report should be setting off alarm bells.
Haas, the former drug company chemist, has even harsher words. She plans to “get out of Jersey and get out of science” when her daughter graduates from high school in two years. “She’s very good at everything, very smart,” Haas said of her daughter. “She loves chemistry, loves math. I tell her, ‘Don’t go into science.’ I’ve made that very clear to her.”Read it at The Washintgon Post
U.S. pushes for more scientists, but the jobs aren’t there
by Brian Vastag
9 comments:
Scientific research is a high risk investment. No investor in his right mind funds scientific research or education. An investor may fund product development (this is often mistakenly said to be research) - but would rather prefer product development to be finished before investing. Product development nedds tinkers, sometimes engineers, but almost never scientists. The tinkers could be engineers or scientists, but that is not necessary.
The only logical investor in science and education is the community at large - in other words,the government.
My kids are finishing high school. There is a bit of a catch 22 on career choice. If you go for skills wanted In the private sector you get pay and conditions being eroded or outsourcing. Go for public sector jobs and become the pariah of the wealthy elites and conservative groups.
I'm looking for something private sector that can't be outsourced easily. I'm struggling To think of anything. I am just conditioning them to be resilient, flexible and advising them to study what they love.
It's been like this for over a decade, at least. I got my Master's in cosmology and could have gone for a PhD, but the writing was on the wall. I left academia when a side business I was running became profitable.
I still occasionally tutor students in Quantum and Relativity because it would be a shame to let the great education I paid handsomely for go to waste. My advice to these students is: if you don't absolutely love science and engineering, change majors or look for work in another field after graduation.
Close friends who stayed to pursue the tenure track tell me how desperate the situation is. Big name professors at prestigious schools will send lengthy letters practically begging to have their brilliant 4.0 gpa student placed in a lowly postdoc position.
This is one subject which attracts me to MMT. Our nation has many problems which need to be solved and we have many bright people capable of solving these problems. Instead they are hustling espresso beverages or (if they are really lucky) doing quantitative analysis on Wall Street. We are dropping the ball.
Trades can't be outsourced easily. I have several friends that either started in trades or switched to them, later became contractors or otherwise hired workers.
For example, a guy who was a Toyota trained mechanic decided to go on his own when the dealership changed hands. He started a small one-man shop, then added a hired hand a little later. Soon enough, he was in a larger building that expanded to six bays. Then he added a used car division. He's done very well over several decades.
One guy I know supported himself with carpentry while attending Berkeley years ago and went into RE as a career based on his knowledge of construction. He now owns six apartment buildings in Berkeley and is able to retire in comfort.
Another quit his position at ESPN due to some issues and started a roofing business with the assistance of a connection from college days. After a decade and hiring many crews, he is wealthy man.
Several of my friends also did well through importing, which they stumbled into trough travel.
Several younger frield were internet people and built businesses out of that, using outsourcing themselves.
Some younger acquaintances or relatives of friends took positions abroad and were jumped several levels above what they could have expected here in the US. Two went to China, learned Chinese, married and started families there. The sister of another friend is a graphic designer and internet person based in Shanghai.
A lot of positions in health care also cannot be easily automated or outsourced.
Entrepreneurship is also a good choice if one has the aptitude and inclination for it.
The boiler rooms that sell US higher education tout the higher earning power of degreed vs non-degreed individuals over a lifetime. I'm curious if they compared tradesmen to bachelor degrees which would come out on top. It seems academically dishonest to group career oriented blue collar jobs with groups of farm workers and fast food workers when comparing them to earning power of a 4 year college degree. I'm not convinced most 4 year degrees would have a better earning power than some of the examples Tom pointed out in his comment.
A quick look at The BLS stats shows how low wages in farming, food prep, janitorial, and retail would skew the rest of the trade skills that actually have pretty strong earning power relative to most of the degrees being sold to kids by public and private universities with these high pressure sales tactics using misleading statistics. Combine this with the highly leveraged education loans and lack of adequate disclosure about prospects for many degree tracks, no other industry could get away with this behavior without being prosecuted for fraud for selling shady investments.
Here in Australia, trades are well respected and earn good money. A plumber installing my dishwasher, claimed he was earning over $250k pa. Why he was telling me this as he presented me a large bill for average workmanship I couldn't quite figure out though.
Thinking on some of the comments here (thanks btw) Any profession which has the practioning numbers restricted by professional organizations would be my first choice. Dentist, doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, optician etc. These are hellishly competitive though. My girls are pretty smart but it's still going to be hard for them to get over the first education hurdle.
One fallback option we've considered is for them to get a basic university degree in say business studies then do a trade apprenticeship/ craft. They would then have the skills to compete in the small business sphere. I think electrician is a good choice. They are more inclined to fashion, art and baking as their interests though.
Nursing, teaching and hairdresser are my safety net choices. I believe teachers in Australia are treated better than the US. Hairdressers and other (semi skilled?) trades also have an opportunity for an ok lifestyle here. Nobody will be flying to China for a short back and sides..Hair never stops growing.
They could do the lying financial salesman thing. That has paid well over the years. Their Dad would die from shame if they went into finance though.
As for myself...Rather than doing the degree, post grad, corporate cubicle slave thing for 30 years. I probably should have gone against my parents advice and done that apprenticeship in cabinet making. I've still enjoyed my journey though.
I probably should have gone against my parents advice and done that apprenticeship in cabinet making.
The son of a friend was a tenured prof in biology. He quit has position and did what he always wanted to do since he was a kid — restore period houses. His father was an engineer and to pursue his hobby he bought a period piece that he resorted part time with his kids' assistance. The boy never forgot that and in his fifties he decided that that's what he was really interested in.
I also have some friends and acquaintances that do specialty finish work and they are very well paid. One trained in Japan in Japanese hand carpentry. He now works on exclusive properties in the Bay Area, and his services are much in demand.
Another frield was a lit. prof. and she decided she would rather be a landscaper. Another lit prof friend left and entered the seminary after her denomination started ordaining women. She's now a pastor.
It goes on and on.
I am seriously considering turning my hobbies into a job. I'm 90% through our major home renovation as we speak. Just need some more income to get the kids safely on their way and a bit more put aside for really old age. It will take time to hone my skills and build up a client base. My understanding wife only has finite patience.
I'm employed as an avionics tech and while the airlines do outsource heavy maintenance to overseas facilities there is still a lot of maintenance that needs to be done Stateside. Other sectors of aviation like business and general do fluctuate with the economy but aircraft still need periodic inspections to stay airworthy whether or not they fly that often ,so mechanics and technicians are always in demand. Aircraft are too much of a capital investment to let go on maintenance. They don't fly and make the owners money unless there is a mechanic's signature in the logbook. Unlike cars they don't go to the junkyard after so many years unless they've been in a crash. Even then; I've helped rewire aircraft that have been in hard landings and they've been restored. There is always a demand for competent aircraft maintenance. True, during economic downturns the airlines will furlough personell but maintenance types.usually pick up contract work somewhere else. Like everyone on this thread has said, trades are pretty hard to offshore.
Why is an aviation electronics tech reading an economics blog? My interest in econ went up right after the GFC. I came across MMT by way of a commenter, Jeff65, at a blog post titled Money Is Not Real. I googled Bill Mitchell and Warren Mosler and began reading about MMT. As many have mentioned here ,MMT appeals to those with an engineers frame of mind which is what my daily occupation requires. Steve Keen's Circuitist ideas do as well as does Roger Erickson's systems analysis. Now if I could break it down to my coworkers.
John Fremont
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