"Science has lost the 'cool factor' and kids have no 'science heroes'"

[sakky]

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Heros, schmeros. I personally do not think we need to ramp up the numbers of STEM majors, anyway. I speak as one of those mid-career scientists who was downsized out of a lucrative job, whose field (synthetic organic chemistry) and whose industry (the American pharmaceutical industry) may never completely recover. ucb is correct - there are certain STEM fields, including organic chemistry and biology, who grim job prospects do not warrant all this hand-wringing.</p>

<p>On the other hand - I think what we DO need is more people who are science-savvy. We don’t need a ton of future chemists and biologists who will be post-docing into their forties;

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<p>Then how’s this. Instead of producing more bio/chem PhD’s who will be post-doc-ing into their 40’s, how about we have more bio/chem bachelor’s degree graduates who will become high school science teachers. Our nation’s high schools run a shortage of thousands of qualified science teachers, hence forcing some numerous science classes to be taught by somebody lacking a degree in that subject. That was certainly true in my high school - not every chemistry teacher actually had a degree in chemistry. </p>

<p>High school teaching is not a bad career, as you have the entire summer off, usually a whole week off for Christmas, and many school distrincts offer the opportunity for tenure after a few years which renders you effectively unfireable. Frankly, that’s better than the low-level, low-paying lab tech jobs to which bio/chem college graduates are often times relegated. That would kill two birds with one stone: providing gainful employment for science graduates, while also improving the science literacy knowledge of high school students through more knowledgeable teaching.</p>