Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Do You Want Fries with that BSc?

It would seem that the concerns on the job market for chemists and the migration of jobs traditionally held by the comfortable technocrats that made up the bulk of the ACS is not discipline specific.





I like Garrison Keillor and I like this response to his cutting remarks about unemployed graduates. Cognitive dissonance has always been the wayward child of delusion.

"According to one major study produced by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the median income for English majors with a bachelor’s but no additional degree is $48,000. This figure is just slightly lower than that for bachelor’s degree holders in biology ($50,000), and slightly higher than for those in molecular biology or physiology (both $45,000). It’s the same for students who received their bachelor’s in public policy or criminology (both $48,000), slightly lower than for those who received their bachelor’s in criminal justice and fire protection ($50,000) and slightly higher than for those who received it in psychology ($45,000)."

In the spirit of Ricoeur I say:

In the light of all that I know I choose to believe that my discipline is not only a benefit to society and a salve to my curiosity but also a viable career path for the generation that will follow me. They will find a way and society will need us, keep calm and chemistry on.

2 comments:

Chemjobber said...

I posted on this without crediting you (because I forgot). I am a terrible person. #ack

Liberal Arts Chemist said...

Chemjobber I like what you had to say on the article better than what I wrote. It takes time to be thoughtful and my post was rather off the cuff.

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For a while it was all about research and then it was all about teaching and now it's all about trying to find a balance while teaching at a small liberal arts and science university.