qubelife.com

There was an usual number of posts on EETimes.com over the past couple of days.  Most of them center around a number of debates regarding the US education system and engineering with some surprising discussion.

• Engineering education study draws industry fire
  • According to the report (from the Urban Institute), “available data indicate increases in the absolute numbers of secondary school graduates and increases in their math and science performance levels.” Further, the study found, “there has been growth in the number of undergraduates completing [science and engineering (S&E)] studies and the number of S&E graduates remains high by historical standards.”
• Prosperity 101: Education equity
  • A new study published by the Washington-based Urban Institute challenges those assumptions, arguing that U.S. math and science test scores are in fact better than previously thought. Its most controversial finding, however, is that there are plenty of U.S. engineering graduates but too few jobs.
• Competitiveness debate shifts to U.S. tech priorities

So many of the questions come from:

• Is the USA producing enough engineering (or simply more core Math / Science people)?
• Is engineering still a growth area to attract talent?
• What should US policy makers (ie politicians) do to change this situation?

For me, it’s the last one that seems to be out of sorts.  Why should politicians get involved?  Shouldn’t they be spending their time on something other than telling corporations how to make their jobs more appealing?