We're so Unprepared
STEM.
According to the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), there were about 9 million STEM workers in 2015, and that number is steadily on the rise. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that out of these workers, computer occupations accounted for 45 percent of them and engineering accounted for another 19 percent. Many parents want their kids to be in either the fields of medicine or computer engineering, and while the number of doctors graduating from medical schools has been roughly the same over the past 5 years, the number of people going into computer science courses is increasing, and it’s increasing insanely quick. However, this doesn’t mean those people are going into professions related to computer science.
In fact, there’s been a decline in the overall talent, creativity, and well-preparedness in computer engineer graduates over the past couple of years. The question that many universities are asking themselves is not how can we limit people from going into the field, but how can universities and high schools prepare these students better?
What can we do about it?
Recently, there has been a movement going on in the United States. Dubbed the STEM to STEAM movement, the people’s goal is to incorporate the arts subjects into the traditional STEM subjects; that is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
There are many reasons why people want to incorporate the arts into the STEM curriculum. For one thing, the arts are said to provide some skills that are extremely useful outside the classroom. For example, almost all forms of art allow children and teens to express their creative streaks. This can help them in the future, where they are easily able to think of creative solutions to problems occurring in the workplace. This is something which, as stated previously, is lacking in many of today’s graduates, especially computer science graduates.
Another reason why the arts should be incorporated into STEM is that some forms of art can help children to learn to problem-solve quickly. According to a report by Americans for the Arts, “art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills,'' which are both traits that the current batches of graduates are also lacking.
There is one final reason why the arts should be incorporated into STEM. It’s the most fundamental reason for doing anything anyone does because it’s fun. Having the arts be, at the very least, present in a school or college would be a great relief from the pile of work that needs to be done. The arts could be used as a stress reliever, as a way to help the students rewind after a tough day. Also, according to the “Yerkes-Dodson law”, too much stress negatively impacts a person’s performance. Although it is normal to experience some stress in one’s day-to-day life, too much can lead to many health problems as one gets older, such as fatigue, chronic headaches, and an increased risk of acquiring serious heart problems.
STEAM matters!
The STEM to STEAM movement may actually be able to help change the types of people exiting university. In the future, if STEM does get changed to STEAM, then there would be an increase in many traits that many of the recent graduates are lacking, which would greatly help the economy and prepare students better for the real world.
Astral Cognition
Student-run Non-Profit Organization
Contact: astralcognition@gmail.com
"Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones."
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