Last week, we discussed how companies are complaining they can’t find qualified employees. When, it’s more like they can’t find qualified employees at the decreased pay scale they offer. But, that’s not true for everyone of those big companies.
Dow Chemical company (you know, the one that advertises that it employs the “Human Element”, along with the Periodic Table, to harness the power of science and technology to innovate new products) is breaking that paradigm. Dow, founded in 1890, with an annual turnover in excess of $ 54 billion, 50K employees, and operating in 35 countries, has come a long way from its Agent Orange days. It wants to make sure it will survive for another century. To do so, it needs qualified chemical engineers (my primary discipline)- a profession that is among the most difficult of all the engineering disciplines, requiring expert knowledge in chemistry, economics, and engineering.
Dow’s starting with the young. It is a supporter of “Change the Equation’, a non-profit entity primarily funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation. This non-partisan, CEO-led initiative is attempting to improve innovation by insuring that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education for every child (particularly girls and students of color, who are underrepresented in these curricula) is improved and strengthened.
And, now, by providing $ 25 million each year for the next 10 years ($ 250 million overall), it is funding Ph.D. candidates at 11 institutions to insure that a universe of qualified chemical engineering doctorates will be available. The 11 institutions include CalTech, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, and Wisconsin. The funding covers stipends for graduate students, facilities, and faculty. The research areas to be included are catalysis, process development, plus the development of new materials for electronics, transportation, energy and consumer applications. (Yes, these are all critical needs for Dow Chemical.) One can expect about a dozen graduate students to be trained each year at each of these institutions.
Kudos to Dow Chemical for stepping up to the plate and making a difference.
Interesting use of the Gates funding. I like this one. One thing for sure, when you invest in what you need, then you have no complaint. I know that one of the reasons so many children study what they study is that no one told them of other avenues and interests. Just saw my grandson find a career path that is exciting him like nothing before. Now funding him….and he is going into Engineering Science
Yes, it is, Roberta!
There’s also data afoot that recommends giving college students several projects during the year to keep them motivated for STEM degrees.
Roy
Having worked for Private Tertiary Training for years, projects and hands on and speed definitely kept the students motivated and they were better prepared employees
Roberta:
The projects and the hands-on techniques is what a whole bunch of universities here in the states are now adopting to keep kids involved in BS STEM programs.
You can see the discussion of this trend on page 3 of this article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/why-science-majors-change-their-mind-its-just-so-darn-hard.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&ref=edlife
Thanks for adding to this discussion. Great comment.
Roy
Dow Chemical has a great culture and I applaud them for this Roy. I had my frist job as a traineed in Tesenderloo Belgium in sales and loved the solidariety and motivation they offered to the new trainees. Thanks for this example of a paradigm of optimism and investment on human capital
Glad to hear that, Patricia. Some of us avoided it in the 60’s and 70’s for the reason I alluded to in my blog.
I worked with Dow about 20 years later (up to 30 years later), with a division that they sold to S.C. Johnson.
Thanks for the addition!!!
Roy
That is a great program! Thanks for the heads up – I hope more Fortune 500 companies follow suit.
Me, too, Tor! Instead of complaining, expecting the Feds to do something, and not paying any Federal taxes (that post is coming soon, too!), do something!
Roy
My ex works for Texas A&M-Kingsville, one of the few NAIT accredited Industrial Technology programs in the country. They are a minority college. I sure wish they could have been considered for some help. They have been running a hands-on bachelor’s program for years. Lot’s of kids start out in the engineering program and when they see IT, they switch.
Cool to know the rest of the country is catching up to little old South Texas, where most great ideas arrive last.
Amazing to me that Kingsville could be leading edge. But, it’s not a college of which I am intimately familiar.
Thanks for sharing that information, Ann.
Roy