People who study STEM know a bunch of stuff about science and technology. There may be science and tech firms out there that feel that's what they need, but what they actually need is people who can learn how to do the work in their businesses.
The connection is that the kid who takes his time to learn how transistors work is more likely than most candidates to be able to figure out how your swaption contracts work. He's more likely to be interested, and he's more likely to be motivated than say the kid who studied French poetry. Or so we think, naturally there are type-O people who just love learning all sorts of things. But neither of those kids knows enough to actually do the job out of college. There's a small head start if you've studied CS and you want to be a coder, or if you studied finance and you want to be a swap trader. But it's actually quite small, and more of an indication of interest than actual competence.
The problem is we're now creating a narrative that STEM degrees cause competence in technical fields. It's not true, it's a correlation caused by people who like taking shit apart going to take-shit-apart classes so that they can indulge their curiosity for a bit. That metaskill is then used to get into whatever comes next. Software, solar cell manufacturing, whatever.
Look back at your degree. How much if it was actually useful, directly? How much was just exam cramming wastage (formulas, derivations)? I think the only time anything ever happened that I found useful, it was implementing a Bessel function in an option pricing library. So basically a few minutes saved, because everything else in that project (compiling the C lib, studying the option theory, calculating the model params) was of the "I'm gonna learn that now" type.
The danger here is we tell a generation of kids that if you study organic chemistry or quantum physics, you'll find a job. What they really need is that get-to-the-bottom attitude that will lead them to more satisfaction both intellectually and professionally. And just so we don't forget, that attitude is just as useful in non-STEM fields. Being able to thoroughly learn something is a universal skill.
The connection is that the kid who takes his time to learn how transistors work is more likely than most candidates to be able to figure out how your swaption contracts work. He's more likely to be interested, and he's more likely to be motivated than say the kid who studied French poetry. Or so we think, naturally there are type-O people who just love learning all sorts of things. But neither of those kids knows enough to actually do the job out of college. There's a small head start if you've studied CS and you want to be a coder, or if you studied finance and you want to be a swap trader. But it's actually quite small, and more of an indication of interest than actual competence.
The problem is we're now creating a narrative that STEM degrees cause competence in technical fields. It's not true, it's a correlation caused by people who like taking shit apart going to take-shit-apart classes so that they can indulge their curiosity for a bit. That metaskill is then used to get into whatever comes next. Software, solar cell manufacturing, whatever.
Look back at your degree. How much if it was actually useful, directly? How much was just exam cramming wastage (formulas, derivations)? I think the only time anything ever happened that I found useful, it was implementing a Bessel function in an option pricing library. So basically a few minutes saved, because everything else in that project (compiling the C lib, studying the option theory, calculating the model params) was of the "I'm gonna learn that now" type.
The danger here is we tell a generation of kids that if you study organic chemistry or quantum physics, you'll find a job. What they really need is that get-to-the-bottom attitude that will lead them to more satisfaction both intellectually and professionally. And just so we don't forget, that attitude is just as useful in non-STEM fields. Being able to thoroughly learn something is a universal skill.