We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » The STEM debate
big picture

The STEM debate

May 7, 2013
Peter Bradley
No Comments

On several occasions in the past couple of years, I've had conversations with executives from material handling equipment makers and integrators during which they've mentioned the number of openings their companies have for engineers. I often hear of large companies having 100 or more open slots.

Another common topic these days across industries is that we're producing far too few engineers to meet future demand. Observers point to China and India, nations that purport to graduate by an order of magnitude many times more engineers than the U.S. does. That those numbers are highly suspect is a topic for another time. The issue here is the widespread worry that we don't have enough students pursuing degrees in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and math—to ensure our future competitiveness.

Yet a number of economists now argue that while many employers see a dearth of STEM professionals, the nation actually doesn't have enough jobs for the graduates we are producing. Paul Beaudry, an economist from the University of British Columbia, argued in a paper he and colleagues published in January that the demand for skilled workers in the U.S. began to decline in about the year 2000—not coincidentally at the time of the big dot-com bust.

Why the contradiction? If Beaudry and his co-authors are correct, the decline has been hidden from view by the peculiar way it has played out. In their paper, "The great reversal in the demand for skill and cognitive tasks," they wrote, "In response to this demand reversal, high-skilled workers have moved down the occupational ladder and have begun to perform jobs traditionally performed by lower-skilled workers. This de-skilling process, in turn, results in high-skilled workers' pushing low-skilled workers even further down the occupational ladder and, to some degree, out of the labor force altogether." Or, as he recently said during an interview on the superb radio program Marketplace, "I wouldn't want to exaggerate—it's not like everyone is getting a barista job, but that's exactly the feeling. It's kind of like this pushing down." So the lack of good jobs for the mostly highly trained STEM professionals plays out in under- or unemployment for those with the fewest skills.

This is important to material handling, logistics, and supply chain management. Jobs in these professions are becoming increasingly technical, and the tools that support them are becoming increasingly complex. If the next generation of potential STEM graduates perceives—accurately or not—that job prospects in those areas aren't promising and turn to management consulting or, heaven forfend, Wall Street, we have a problem.

Material Handling Business Management & Finance
  • Related Articles

    Streamlining the floral supply chain ... one stem at a time

    The Great Logistics Software Debate: Build or Buy?

    more fuel for the debate

Peterbradley
Peter Bradley is an award-winning career journalist with more than three decades of experience in both newspapers and national business magazines. His credentials include seven years as the transportation and supply chain editor at Purchasing Magazine and six years as the chief editor of Logistics Management.

Recent Articles by Peter Bradley

From temp to management: interview with Diane Garforth

Watching over intermodal's interests: interview with Joni Casey

Building resilience into the supply chain: interview with Yossi Sheffi

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • FedEx agrees to buy 10% stake in Berkshire Grey

  • No vacancy at the warehouse

  • Investment group pays $5.2 billion to buy Amazon air freight contractor Atlas Air

  • The key to successful digital transformation? Your people

  • Rakuten Super Logistics acquired by executive of firm it once bought

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Raymond energy youtube thumbnails 01

Power your future with Raymond energy solutions.

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
At The Raymond Corporation, we design energy solutions that take your facility from today’s needs to tomorrow’s goals, with a full portfolio of material handling equipment and power sources that are engineered to work together, sharing data so they can be optimized over time. And from identifying the right solutions...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Choose the Best Auto ID Technology for Tracking RTIs

  • 8 ways your facility can benefit from Hyster Reaction

  • Why Use RFID to Track RTIs

  • THE NEW WAY TO WAREHOUSE: 4 Innovations in Automation & Robotics to Boost Warehouse Productivity

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2022. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing