> http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2007/sb20071025_827398.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story
>
> Interesting article about the quality and lack of jobs for our technical
> workers. This rather shows the lack of need for more H1B visa workers.
Meh. This article is poorly written. For one thing, the only Urban
Institute "report" I can find similar to the one the author references
(and, of course, doesn't link to or provide any relevant statistics
from) was actually a debate[1].
The article is also lacking in hard, relevant facts. For example, the
author states that US test scores are up, somehow tries to support
that assertion with some high school class enrollment statistics, then
reasserts that test scores are up.
He goes on to paraphrase some vague hand-waving that the tests are
biased, the results misinterpreted, and anyway, the US is "in a
second-ranked /group/" (emphasis mine), so that should be good enough
anyway.
Amusingly, he continues /further/ to take 7-22 year-old statistics on
new job creation and graduation rates, subtract them, and wrongly
conclude that the difference means that 2/3 of new engineering
graduates are taking jobs outside of engineering.
Finally, he winds up by citing a couple of other BusinessWeek articles
that state that there are lots of engineers around and there just
aren't enough darn opportunities in engineering professions.
=========
I am a software engineer. At every employer I've had since the
resurgence from the .com bubble burst, there have been continually
open developer positions. Why? Not from lack of willingness to hire
qualified American engineers, I assure you, but because the
competition for the small set of engineers who, at a given time, are
both available and qualified is intense.
My last employer, in particular, interviewed dozens of applicants.
The pool was basically polarized between two sets: extremely
unqualified applicants, and adequately qualified applicants who had
more job opportunities than they could collectively shake a stick at.
Joel Spolsky seems to have noticed the same phenomenon.[2]
The problem, in my opinion, isn't that US colleges aren't churning out
science and engineering graduates as quickly as they can print
diplomas, but rather that they *are*. I agree with the statement that
we're not lacking in engineering graduates; however, I posit that we
are lacking in actual engineers. I recently had opportunity to
observe a graduating (bachelor's) class of computer science students.
The experience left me mildly appalled, and removed any remaining
illusions I might have had about our colleges and universities. I'd
estimate that only 10-20% of the students I observed were remotely
hirable, yet at the slightest hint of a possibility of failing,
immediate action was taken to involve department chairs and deans.
Academically, we've (for the most part) become a nation of whiny,
assuming nonachievers. Parents are outraged at the idea of their
children being failed in primary and secondary schools, then the kids
carry that same sense of entitlement along to college and beyond. "I
sat through every single lecture, therefore I deserve to pass!" "I
have a BS that I earned by daydreaming through four years of lectures,
and #{CertificateOfTheMonth}; I deserve to be hired for top dollar!"
Boo hoo.
1. http://www.urban.org/pressroom/firsttuesdays/
2. http://joelonsoftware.com/articles/FindingGreatDevelopers.html
-- "Tak does not require that we think of Him, only that we think." --Grag Bashfullsson http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/shouldbefree.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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