[lit-ideas] Re: education

  • From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:29:15 -0700

    Andy wrote


    A major thing, probably the major thing, that drives most people
    today is money, how to get more of everything.
    [snip]
    Wall Street was such a big draw until the crash that there was a
    visible drain in the sciences, and the slack was picked up by
    foreign students.

    *[How] did you find this out?...

    Andy:  I didn't reason this, I read it, and not just once.  Math
    and science is not our strong point, at least at the high school
level. Graduate science is being taken over by foreign students. Their (sic) own systems are catching up, and they're here in great
    numbers, in the MIT's and other places.


*On the value of foreign students coming to the US to study science:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11500/


    In the meantime, we're not cranking out scientists.  If anything,
    we're still chomping at the bit to teach creationism instead of
    evolution.  However, Wall Street was a magnet.  That's just a fact.


*When you say that 'we' are chomping at the bit to teach Creationism, to whom does 'we' refer? Certainly not to the same 'we' who are not 'cranking out scientists.'

Andy: This might be true, I can't speak from experience. However, businesses still want MBA's, not liberal arts graduates
    per se.  If someone isn't going on to get an MBA, they'll major in
    business, which happens a lot.  If an employer has a choice
    between an English major and a business major, which one do you
    think he'll probably hire for his marketing department?  That
    business as a major has proliferated speaks for itself.


Well, you might want to browse these sites and see whether they confirm your view that there has been a proliferation of business majors.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/21/freshmen

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/12/13/business

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/the_decline_of_the_business_ma.php

http://daniellesayz.com/2011/02/poor-economy-triggers-a-decline-in-business-majors/

http://daniellesayz.com/2011/02/poor-economy-triggers-a-decline-in-business-majors/

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/09/14/the-decline-of-the-mba&view=comments <http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/09/14/the-decline-of-the-mba&view=comments>

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2011/09/16/applications-for-mbas-decrease/


Robert Paul

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