<p>No one said that, so stop with the straw man.</p>
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<p>Hmmm…if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, maybe it is a…</p>
<p>My son is a physics major, and this thread is making me depressed. I’m starting to think he’s never going to get a job.</p>
<p>^I’m not sure that many of the posters on this thread are aware of what those with physics undergraduate degrees do, so I wouldn’t worry.</p>
<p>“STEM” is a very broad term; generalized statements about it may not apply to physics or another specific STEM field.</p>
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<p>Only about 45% of high school physics classes are taught by teachers with physics degrees (NCES Staffing Survey, 2008). To me, this clearly fits the definition of “not enough”. Do you think that these positions are highly paid?</p>
<p>Ha, I just hired someone with an undergrad physics degree, who starts on Monday. He’s doing consulting :-)</p>
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<p>What comes to mind when I read this is computer science being a fad major. The number of CS majors peaked during the rise of the dot com bubble, then plummeted after the bubble burst and CS jobs did not seem so lucrative. Now the number of CS majors is rising with the rise of online social media and mobile technologies. This shows that the market isn’t the best way to attract CS majors since many of them will leave the field once social media (or whatever is the new hot field) isn’t as lucrative.</p>
<p>We need computer scientists who are interested in the field’s broad impact on a variety industries and even other academic fields, not just those interested in a quick buck.</p>
<p>MissouriGal: Don’t think that for a second. Physics majors are in great demand and in areas that one might not even think of. Its a great major with lots of potential. Besides, the obvious positions like teaching, and research, investment banks love Physics majors as due hedgefund companies. There’s a huge demand and lots of money for those graduates. You’re son will do fine. Don’t worry…</p>
<p>^^Most require a Ph.D.</p>
<p>Yes, you are right but many companies will take him for his analytical abilities, if nothing else.</p>
<p>To be a good engineer you don’t have to be “extremely social”
In fact, being extremely social may hurt your productivity.</p>
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<p>A lot of people are saying how students are “pressured” into cheating, but the ultimate blame, in my opinion, lies with the student and they should take full responsibility for it. It is their choice, and their choice alone, to cheat.</p>
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<p>Rising and falling enrollments in response to short term labor market conditions is not unique to CS (consider civil engineering and architecture in the most recent economic downturn). Students and parents need to realize that four years is a long time when it comes to economic and industry cycles. One should be aware of job and career prospects associated with one’s choice of major, but use caution to note cyclical trends over time to avoid unpleasant surprises.</p>
<p>Obviously, job and career prospects should not be the only reason to choose a major, but awareness can help avoid unpleasant surprises at graduation time (“$xxx,xxx in debt and no job”). It would not be surprising if biology majors are most likely to encounter this type of letdown, since there seems to be a general assumption that “STEM major => good job at graduation” which is not really safe to assume for biology.</p>
<p>I think CS/computers in general is going to be a good field to take for a long time. I really doubt there’s going to be a fall in demand in those fields any time soon, or at least to the point where supply exceeds demands as we see in most fields today. Besides facebook, computers are responsible for a ton of things these days.</p>
<p>Honestly, thats a ridiculous statement. Being social doesn’t mean that you’re partying while everyone else is working hard. I come from a family of engineers- father, husband and sister, and being social can never hurt your career. If anything it gets you noticed.</p>
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<p>But social engineering enables hitting on the cute interns :)</p>
<p>I’d rather work with a less-than-100% productive socially active engineer who will take the time to help out in a crisis - or fix his bugs on time - and then go have a couple of Buds after work rather than work with a chinchilla-like super engineer that won’t give me the time of day and will happily let his coworkers go down in flame in order to preserve his own ‘value’…</p>
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This sounds logical, but it seems to me that these careers are some of the easiest to send off-shore to be done more cheaply. I’d be looking for a career that isn’t so easy to export.</p>
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<p>CS is hardly unique in this respect (consider manufacturing, some types of medical services, some types of lawyer services, etc.). Actually, will investment bankers and management consultants realize that their own jobs can be done much less expensively elsewhere? Or, more importantly, will the customers of such services realize that? And CEOs and other executive level management cost a lot more in the US than elsewhere… Of course, it is not in their self-interest to mention that to their customers (shareholders).</p>
<p>I wonder if a career as a teacher in K-12 will start to look more attractive–those jobs are not being sent offshore–yet.</p>
<p>^^ That’s what I’m banking on, Hunt. I lost my STEM job several years ago, at the beginning of the pharmaceutical industry’s merge-and-purge cycle, and in another 6 months or so I’ll be looking for a job as a high school chemistry teacher.</p>
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<p>However, if everyone else’s job gets offshored, then there will be less tax money to pay public school teachers, and less tuition money to pay private school teachers.</p>