Why More Americans Don’t Major in the Math and Science

Parents Forum
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<p>Why</a> More Americans Don’t Major in the Math and Science</p>

<p>I'm a student at a lately as I advance in my credits and years I seldom see any other amrican in my science class. I'm always like 1 out of like 3 women and I'm often the only pre-med. Is this the normal?</p>

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<p>A third of the student body at Smith majors in math, science, and engineering. All women. Almost all American.</p>

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<p>Back in the early 1970s when I went to college, perhaps (when I was only one of 3 women in my organic chem class–but NOT the one pre-med)…times have changed.</p>

<p>Women are 47% of the med school enrollees.</p>

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<p>Where do you go that most of your science classes have 3 women (assuming these are 50+ student classes)? That sounds bizarre. A few I understand, but most?</p>

<p>The “get the best GPA and screw anything else” get’s posted a lot on here and I don’t have much experience with it but I have to believe that it somehow is worth it in the long run to take the academic risks. I’d like to think at least that the “under-educated” person is less productive in the work force, and that employers can actually notice this.</p>

<p>Also, the article doesn’t really match the title…</p>

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<p>Why don’t more Americans major in English?</p>

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<p>Lets get something straight. When they complain not enough students are majoring in STEM, they really mean we are not churning out enough engineers and computer scientists. </p>

<p>There are still a lot of kids majoring in STEM but it is not the majors they want. Lots of biology, chemistry, neurobiology, and math students in college now. </p>

<p>DD would have gotten some more scholarships had she just wanted to be a computer scientists instead of majoring in chemistry.</p>

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<p>Math is just not interesting to a lot of people.</p>

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<p>Why don’t more foreigners major in business or law. This is a very stupid thread. I am an American girl who will major in chemistry and be pre-med and I know a vast number of applicants who are planning to do the same. I don’t know what rock youve been laying under for the past 10 years but it is rude of you to make such generalizations.</p>

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<p>Mango15,</p>

<p>The title of the thread is the same as OP’s linked article, which includes statistics about the decline in math and science majors.</p>

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<p>I think many women go into accounting or finance (as do many men, but maybe less %). Women see this as being able to get into workforce quicker, deal with family issues. PhD route may not be seen as family friendly.</p>

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<p>Not even close, unless you count the social sciences. Math, bio/life sciences, physical sciences and engineering equal ~ 18 percent of the degrees awarded.
<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/SmithCollegeCDS_2011-2012.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/SmithCollegeCDS_2011-2012.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>They don’t “major” in the latter as much for two major reasons:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>It isn’t offered as an undergrad major in the US</p></li>
<li><p>The initial law education is tied to the specific country/region in which one hopes to practice in and the system of laws they use(Anglo-American Common Law vs. Continental Civil Law). </p></li>
</ol>

<p>If you’re from a foreign country…there may be no point in getting a JD degree if that country won’t honor it as the first degree because they use civil law and/or the requirements for sitting their bar exam is a degree from one of their national law schools. In short…doing so in this situation is a big waste of time and money for most foreigners. </p>

<p>Then again, most foreigner lawyers do come to the US to pursue LL.M degrees…but they do that AFTER obtaining their initial law degree and passing the bar exam in their home countries’. More importantly…this is when an American law school education may benefit them in their careers…especially if it involves a better understanding of Anglo-American common law.</p>

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<p>I didn’t realize my words would be dissected and looked at with a microscope. I was simply listing an example that is the equivalent of what the OP was asking. Didn’t read the article.</p>

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<p>"Lets get something straight. When they complain not enough students are majoring in STEM, they really mean we are not churning out enough engineers and computer scientists. "</p>

<p>No, it means we are not churning out enough engineers and computer scientists who can be hired on the cheap. There isn’t a shortage of either, but having more of each makes it possible to hire them more cheaply.</p>

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<p>More Americans don’t major in math / science for the same reason more Americans don’t major in Latin. They obviously don’t want to. If they did, they would. The End.</p>

<p>Signed,
Math Major</p>

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<p>[Smith</a> College: Strategic Planning](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/planning/document/current_academic.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/planning/document/current_academic.php)</p>

<p>“Smith has experienced gradual shifts in majors and course enrollments over the past twenty years, with declines in humanities and social sciences offset by increases in the natural sciences and engineering as well as in interdisciplinary programs. With 30 percent of students majoring in the sciences, Smith far outpaces the national figures for the proportion of undergraduate degrees to women awarded in the sciences (18 percent)”</p>

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<p>Smith is obviously counting the social sciences, can’t add, or the college has been supplying false data to the CDS org. The article is very misleading.</p>

<p>Add the numbers yourself.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/CDS2010_2011_Smith_001.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/CDS2010_2011_Smith_001.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Re: OP</p>

<p>It would be helpful to know whether there is an increase in the number/types of majors offered over the same period, and which ones have proportionately increased while math and science have decreased.</p>

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<p>

Calling someone’s comments “stupid” and “rude” without reading the content they post might not be the greatest idea.

Yes.</p>

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<p>I didn’t say her comments were stupid, I said this thread is stupid. The OP made this illusion that women are still the underdogs in science and pre-med and I have to say that is false. There are more woman than men in some schools that are pre-med/science majors. I don’t know what school she could possibly go to that there are only 3 girls pre-med, but that is not how the rest of the universities are.</p>