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PHOTO: Jeff Swensen for the Wall Street Journal (BIYAN ZHOU)
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No Pain, No Gain
By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN AND JOE LIGHT
Biyan Zhou wanted to major in engineering. Her mother and her academic adviser also wanted her to major in it, given the apparent career opportunities for engineers in a tough job market. But during her sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Zhou switched her major from electrical and computer engineering to a double major in psychology and policy management. Workers who majored in psychology have median earnings that are $38,000 below those of computer engineering majors, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
"My ability level was just not there," says Ms. Zhou of her decision. She now plans to look for jobs in public relations or human resources. Ms. Zhou's dilemma is one that educators, politicians and companies have been trying to solve for decades amid fears that U.S. science and technology training may be trailing other countries. WRONG CHANGE Although the number of college graduates increased about 29% between 2001 and 2009, the number graduating with engineering degrees increased only 19%, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. The number with computer and information-sciences degrees decreased 14%. Research has shown that graduating with these majors provides a good foundation not just for so-called STEM jobs—those in the science, technology, engineering and math fields—but also for For 22-year-old Ms. Zhou, from Miami, the last straw was a project for one of her second-year courses that kept her and her partner in the lab well past midnight for several days. Their task was to program a soda machine. Though she and her partner managed to make it dispense the right items, they couldn't get it to give the correct change. To avoid getting an "incomplete" for the course, Ms. Zhou with drew before the lab ended. Since switching majors, she has earned almost straight A's instead of the B's and C's she took home in engineering. ILL-PREPARED Students who drop out of science majors and professors who study the phenomenon say that introductory courses are often difficult and abstract. Some students, like Ms. Zhou, say their high schools didn't prepare them for the level of rigor in the introductory courses. Overall, only 45% of 2011 U.S. high school graduates who took the ACT test were prepared for college-level math and only 30% of ACT-tested high school graduates were ready for college-level science, according to a 2011 report by the company that develops the test. "If you haven't been given the proper foundation early on, you fall farther and farther behind as the material gets more difficult. It's discouraging, demoralizing," says Claus von Zastrow, the chief operating officer and director of research at Change the Equation, a nonprofit group that seeks to improve science and math education. Science classes may also require more time—something U.S. college students may not be willing to commit. In a recent study, sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia found that math and science students study on average about three hours more per week than other students. Educators have tried to tackle the problem with new programs that they say make engineering more accessible. In 2003, Georgia Institute of Technology split its introductory computer-science class into three separate courses. One was geared toward computer science majors, another to engineering majors, and a third to liberal-arts, architecture and management majors. The liberal-arts course cut down on computer-science theory in favor of practical tasks like using programming to manipulate photographs, says computer-science professor Mark Guzdial. Since the switch, about 85% of students pass, he says. STILL NOT ENOUGH Meanwhile, only a third of science and engineering college graduates actually take jobs in science and tech fields, according to a 2007 study by Georgetown University professor B. Lindsay Lowell and Rutgers University professor Hal Salzman. That may partly be because the jobs don't pay enough to attract or retain top graduates. Science, technology, engineering and math majors who stay in a related profession had average annual earnings of $78,550 in 2009, but those who decided to go into managerial and professional positions made more than $102,000, according to Georgetown's analyis of Census data. Some science and math graduates also say they would rather channel their analytical skills into fields that pay better and seem less tedious. Charles Mokuolu, 23, graduated from Georgia Tech After interning at an engineering firm, "I realized that although I did enjoy learning about all this cool stuff and doing math problems that no one else could solve, it's not something I wanted long term as a career," he says. ADDITIONAL READING "Is an Ivy League Diploma Worth It" looks at why more students are choosing to enroll in public colleges. "Speeding Through College to Save Money" reports on three-year degree programs. "Occupy Protests Trigger Envy, Ire in Generation X" looks at how high college debt and scarce employment opportunities have angered recent graduates. "Average Salary Up for Class of 2011" examines which career fields yielded the highest financial gains for new graduates. "A Recipe for Middle-Class Jobs" looks at how Texas created good jobs for even those who didn't go to college, and what can be learned from its example. WEB RESOURCES SkillsUSA is an organization for high-school and college students who want to pursue a vocational education. "Employment Change by Detailed Occupation" report from the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Outlook Handbook looks at work sectors that are growing and shrinking, also providing some salary data. "A Portrait of STEM Majors" is an article by Inside Higher Ed looking at which students opt to pursue these majors. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition is an organization promoting training in these fields. OBJECTIVE OVERVIEW STANDARDS REVIEW • Review the "Employment Change by Detailed Occupation" report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. What careers are especially in-demand, and what training is required? Then, discuss as a class: How accurately might the government--or anyone--be able to predict future demand in the job market? Given that these predictions are, at best, educated guesses, how do you plan to ensure that you are marketable after you finish high school and college? • Read this month's opinion article "Students Are Getting Ripped Off" (p. 19 in The Classroom Edition). Based on information you learned from this article and from others in this month's Cover Story "Generation Jobless," do you agree or disagree with William McGurn's viewpoint? Write your analysis in a letter to the editor of The Classroom Edition at letters.classroom@wsj.com. ADDITIONAL READING "Speeding Through College to Save Money" reports on three-year degree programs. "Occupy Protests Trigger Envy, Ire in Generation X" looks at how high college debt and scarce employment opportunities have angered recent graduates. "Average Salary Up for Class of 2011" examines which career fields yielded the highest financial gains for new graduates. "A Recipe for Middle-Class Jobs" looks at how Texas created good jobs for even those who didn't go to college, and what can be learned from its example. WEB RESOURCES SkillsUSA is an organization for high-school and college students who want to pursue a vocational education. "Employment Change by Detailed Occupation" report from the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Outlook Handbook looks at work sectors that are growing and shrinking, also providing some salary data. "A Portrait of STEM Majors" is an article by Inside Higher Ed looking at which students opt to pursue these majors. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition is an organization promoting training in these fields.
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