Wasted education : how we fail our graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math
Skrentny, John David2023
Book
"We are living in an era of veritable STEM obsession. Not only do tech companies dominate our cultural imagination of American enterprise and financial growth, we urgently need science-based solutions to impending crises. As a society, we have poured enormous resources into cultivating young minds for STEM careers. The US sponsors 209 distinct STEM education programs in 13 different federal agencies at a cost of more than $3 billion. This spending is on top of countless initiatives from philanthropic foundations and corporate giving. And yet, we are facing a STEM worker crisis. In this project, sociologist John D. Skrentny asks, if we're investing so much in STEM education, why are as many as 75% of graduates with STEM degrees opting out of STEM careers? The problem is not education, he argues, but the available jobs. Skrentny aims to bring a reality check to America's growing dedication to STEM education. Each chapter highlights an aspect of STEM work culture that drives away bright minds, ranging from workplace culture and "burn and churn" management practices, to lack of job security, to the constant need for training on new innovations, to the racism and sexism that exclude non-white and Asian people and women. Skrentny shows that if we have any hope of crafting science-based solutions to many of our most urgent societal issues, we have to change the way we're treating these workers on whom our future depends"-- Provided by publisher.
Main title:
Author:
Skrentny, John David, author
Imprint:
Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2023.©2024
Collation:
242 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Introduction : the great investment in STEM educationThe exodus from STEM jobsBurn and churn : how management strategies can drive away STEM workersThe precariousness of the STEM jobTraining and the STEM-skills treadmillHow STEM employers contribute to their own diversity problemsSTEM education for what? : investors, employers, and the purpose of STEM work.
ISBN:
9780226825793 (hbk)9780226825793 (hardback)
Dewey class:
331.110973331.11
LC class:
HD5724
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
824287
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Syme Carlton | -Business and IT | BUSIN 331.11 SKRE | On loan - Due: 10 Jul 2026 |