Some statistics from the May 2006 issue of Popular Science:
- 68% of American fourth-graders perform below math-proficiency levels for their grade
- American 15-year-olds rank 21st out of 30 industrialized countries in math
- American 15-year-olds rank 19th out of 29 industrialized countries in science
- 42% of American middle school science teachers lack certification in their field
- 23% of undergraduate degrees are awarded in science, technology and engineering in the United States
- 64% of undergraduate degrees are awarded in science, technology and engineering in Japan
It’s stuff like this that makes me consider teaching high school instead of going into industry, etc…or at the very least, teaching high school around retirement time rather than at a college somewhere…
Brooke and I are both reading a book now titled “The World is Flat,” by Thomas Friedman, which is about rapid globalization in the 21st century…how the U.S. is quickly falling behind other countries like India and China in technology, etc…? He points out how it can be a good thing for the U.S., since we as Americans tend to do well when we’re challenged (i.e. World War II, the Space Race, etc.), but we’ve gotta start getting in gear unless we want to be left behind.
In any case, it makes me wonder what everyone’s doing with their lives, then. If we’ve got so many people going to college nowadays, why aren’t more of them majoring in “pure” sciences or engineering? It’s not like getting degrees in physics or chemical engineering are going to leave you without a lucrative job when you get out… Maybe it’s because you really need a graduate education before you get a money-making job (not in all cases, of course)?
I dunno…I still find it sad, though…especially sad that the American public is more preoccupied with their own wealth and with Tom and Katie’s new baby rather than with trying to figure out how the world works and, therefore, how to fix its problems.
“23% of undergraduate degrees are awarded in science, technology and engineering in the United States”
And the other 77% are degrees in English.
We are America. So what if we don’t know what the hell we are doing and are falling behind? Gosh darn it. Most of us are God-fearing Christians who are patriotic and blah blah blah. Yeah, I didn’t believe me for a second either….
I think most people go to college with an ideal like “I’ll do something that I’m good at.” And, obviously, according to the stats you posted, math and science are not the strong points of most ‘merkins. I think part of the reason they’re bad at a sciencey things is that you can’t _really_ get partial credit. Either (normal) water is H2O or it’s not. You can’t bullshit water.
It’s also important to remember that we push for compulsary education and making sure that there’s “no child left behind,” (an ok concept but terrible recent implementations) while other countries only educate and only test the best of the best, inflating their test scores and averages. I’ve also made it a little farther into The World is Flat and I think that the author is also trying to say that since lots of Indians and Chinese people are doing what we used to consider elite science and math jobs, that opens us up for even better and more sophisticated discoveries and innovations, and not necessarily that we’re falling behind (at this point, anyway…).
The other thing that must be considered is the fact that China and India are the two most highly populated and poverty stricken countries in the world. I think they’re due a little education and technology, don’t you think? Maybe then they can earn a little money and pull their countries out of the shit-hole. So I guess what I’m saying is who really cares if America is falling behind? Why are Americans so arrogant that they think they always need to be the leaders of the world in EVERYTHING? We should be proud that these countries are doing so well.