Let’s stem the STEM problem

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The President’s Job Council is meeting right before the start of the college year (very soon) in Portland (OR). The desire is to hear from America’s top engineering colleges to discern issues affecting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curricula. The goal (this is business, as well as political) is to get colleges and universities to produce the world’s brightest workers.

But, I wrote a few weeks ago how we are lowering the bar to engineering education, that, over the past 40 years, the requirements of study dropped by 500 hours to about 2000 (through 4 years of study). The reasons for this are many. However, I fear it’s a reaction to the fact that 40% of the students enrolled in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curricula drop out in their freshman year of college.

But, a high drop-out rate is not a terribly new phenomenon. During my orientation to Brooklyn Poly (less than a day, not a whole week as would be true for other schools), I remember the dean asking us to look to our left and our right. He remarked that one of us would not be here four years from now. That was the attrition rate in the 1960’s. Yet, he was wrong. I entered my chemical engineering program with 22 other students; less than half finished with me four years later. My fraternity pledge class numbered 25 ; less than half had graduated after 4 years, with only 2/3 of them finishing in the curriculum in which they entered.

We do have a shortage of STEM qualified individuals; it’s why many companies want to import foreign workers. So, it’s not surprising that STEM graduates make at least $10,000 more per year for the first ten years than non-STEM graduates. That’s the draw to the field. The desire to make more money when one graduates- especially given the cost of education.

Companies actually work to encourage students to enter STEM curricula. Intel sponsors the science fair competitions on a national level. GE is another big sponsor of STEM curricula. Many companies sponsor interns for summers, providing experience (and cash) to eager-to-learn students.

But, by the time students reach college level, many of them have not learned that education is not just filling in the blanks. That it takes hard work to successfully complete one’s studies. The students are simply not prepared. Most of my freshman class had graduated from the elite high schools of New York City- Brooklyn Tech and Bronx Science. These schools select from the best students in the city, running the equivalent of International Baccalaureate (IB) programs (long before such existed) with plenty of Advanced Placement (AP) courses thrown in. One would think those students were prepared.

So, the 40% drop out rate is a concern- but not something new. And, compared to students entering STEM programs today, the Brooklyn Poly students were prepared. Students entering STEM now have just finished high school, where the questions are reviewed in class, before the exams are administered. Homework is limited (the number of 10 minutes per grade seems to be the standard) and almost all education and review are provided in the classroom.

High school classes last 35 hours a week. College classes then were 18 to 25 hours a week, and now they are 16 to 18 hours. But the same volume of material (actually more) is covered in fewer “class contact hours”. Obviously, this is a rude awakening for most students, who now must spend hours outside of class mastering the materials that were ‘handed’ to them before. That awakening can’t wait to begin during college orientation- we need to have students understand that earlier in their education.

The other difference for my fellow Brooklyn Poly students was that money issues forced most of these students to work part time. For years, tuition at Brooklyn Poly has matched the actual annual family income. That means that students need to work and borrow to cover tuition, even with scholarships. That’s the second issue. Given the state of today’s college tuition, I am fairly certain it applies today to most students.

Mental preparation (we need to work to earn our education) needs to occur during high school, at the latest (I am for making this pervades all 12 years of education).  This is one key to improving STEM graduation rates. Better means for our students to afford their college education is the other key.

I didn’t say there was a simple answer.

Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

NEW:  Weeks after I first wrote this, and hours after I posted this, MIT (another alma mater) posted a great article by a student, who explained how his first semester went.  And, why he needed to relearn how to study for exams.   Click here if you want to see what he had to say.
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9 thoughts on “Let’s stem the STEM problem”

  1. Great article! I went to Stuyvesant and when I went to college in ’84, my counselors actively persuaded me to change my major from Chemistry because they said it was so much “work’. There are many minority students who want to do the hard sciences but are driven away by bad advice.

    1. Simone- you are SO right.
      When I went to Poly, most of the kids were in the lower castes. (Yes, I come from the lower middle class, too.) And, most of them were first generation college attendees. I was lucky that I had many other choices, but I was young and wanted to go to a commuter school, where my age would not be that much of an issue (drinking age was 18, but that was distant future for me).
      Now, Poly has a high degree of minority students. While I have not been intimately involved with their new students, their advisors seemed pretty reasonable to me when I met them. (I was very active in the alumni association UNTIL NYU swallowed them up, via a change in New York State laws.)
      Glad you made it through Chemistry. And, even happier you decided to drop in and comment.
      Please come back often.
      Roy

  2. Why do you think this downward spiral began? I’ve always felt these standardized tests limited the learning of our students because instead of truly learning valuable information, they are just taught certain information in order to pass these tests. It’s scary to think that my kids will not be prepared for college. I have mixed feelings about public education. I know some schools where the students have hours and hours of homework, whereas others, there is much less. My son’s a sophomore and I often wonder if our school is challenging him enough. Thanks for the post!
    ~Suerae
    PS. Do you know that it is not possible for me to make corrections in the comment area, unless I backspace all the way to the portion I want to correct? Thought you should know. I tend to re-read and correct my comments and it makes it difficult! 🙂
    Suerae Stein recently posted..Thoughtful Thursday…Grow Flowers.

    1. Suerae:
      First, the latter: I can backspace. I can move the cursor- but not with IE (only Firefox and Chrome). I have been trying to figure out what setting in IE that is that blocks that.
      Now, the former: I am not sure when this ‘snuck’ into our lives. I am certain it was by the time my middle daughter was in elementary school And, it has gotten worse with this “No child left behind” (NCLB, which I believe is true only if their heads are up their behinds…)
      I fear the year was 1972 or later- when Scantron machines became readily available. That meant that any multiple choice exam could be graded in seconds. No work for the teacher, other than devising the test. (It takes me 20 minutes to grade each student’s science exam and 30 to 40 minutes for each essay exam; if I agreed to provide multiple choice, my entire class load would be graded in under 1 minute.)
      And, the issue with the pressure behind (love that pun) NCLB to pass the exam, we now teach to the test and not to the needs.
      One of the best things I loved about the private school where I sent my son (for four years- primarily because the public school failed to recognize he was a problem because he was bored s…tless) was the first week of school each year was devoted to how to study, how to read a text, how to do homework, and how to research a paper- all age appropriate.
      Thanks for dropping in and fleshing out the thoughts about this complex issue.
      Roy

  3. Hey Roy,

    In the Indian educations system things are a little different but stressful just as much. Though affording tuition is an increasing problem in the country, the greater problem lies in the fact that students don’t know what they are “in for”. Also, with the constant battle to become an engineer (We Indians regard engineering as the “sole profession”) so many colleges have emerged that give you that degree but how may are worth it becomes another issue, quality seriously compromised.

    My brother s doing his engineering and though not many have dropped out, many just plain fail in their exams and stay back, so a 4 year program would take them 5, or maybe 6 years and by the end of it, they hate the field, have lost all their motivation and the creativity and desire to excel is seriously compromised.

    Tuition fees becomes another issue. Repaying the loan, finishing the degree program becomes the primary concern. Opening a zillion colleges isn’t the solution. Working on making good, quality education for all accessible is what the primary fight remains.
    Hajra recently posted..Psychologist… Boo!

    1. Hajra:
      I, unfortunately, am somewhat familiar with that system. And, I fear the American system is being infiltrated by the same- the for profit colleges that offer “education” sans pedigree or accreditation, the schools that offer programs taught by graduate students to save money, etc.
      Your last sentence is the perfect summation! Thanks.
      Roy

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