Since at least the 1980s, politicians and businesspeople have complained that America’s schools were not producing enough “STEMs” graduates – those in science, technology, engineering, and math-related “fields” (areas of work). They say that schools are “failing us” (hurting us by not doing their job), that if only teachers would do a better job at teaching students in these subjects, all of our problems would be solved.
至少從1980年代起,政治家和商人們就抱怨美國的學校沒有培養出足夠的“STEMs”畢業生——那些在科學、技術、工程和數學相關“領域”(工作領域)的人。他們說,學校正在“辜負我們”(沒有做好他們的工作而對我們造成傷害),如果教師能更好地教導學生這些科目,我們所有的問題都將得到解決。
A 2010 study by researchers at Georgetown University analyzed the number of STEMs workers the U.S. will need in the next few years, as well as the situation of the students who study STEMs in college. Here are some of the things they report, along with some numbers from a few other sources:
喬治城大學的研究人員在2010年的一項研究分析了未來幾年美國需要的STEMs工作人數,以及在大學學習STEMs的學生的情況。以下是他們報告的一些內容,以及來自其他幾個來源的一些數據:
Why do so few STEMs graduates work in STEMs fields? Part of the answer is “job satisfaction” (how happy you are with something). Many say they want to do other kinds of work that they find more enjoyable. But a big reason is probably related to money.
為什麼這麼少的STEMs畢業生在STEMs領域工作?部分原因是“工作滿意度”(你對某事物的滿意程度)。許多人表示他們想從事其他類型的工作,因為他們覺得這樣更有趣。但一個重要原因可能與金錢有關。
According to a 2010 article in the Wall Street Journal, STEMs graduates who decide to “go into” (work in) engineering, for example, will “make” (earn) around $78,000 a year, which is a good “salary” (money one gets for working). But consider this: the average salary for STEMs graduates who work in other professional areas, such as “finance” (work related to managing money) and as managers is $102,000. If you “do the math” (perform the calculations), you can understand why many college graduates in STEMs – almost half – are not taking jobs in those areas.
根據《華爾街日報》2010年的一篇文章,選擇從事工程工作的STEMs畢業生每年可以賺取約78,000美元,這是一個不錯的“薪水”(工作所得的金錢)。但考慮一下:在其他專業領域(如“金融”(與資金管理相關的工作)和管理者)工作的STEMs畢業生的平均年薪為102,000美元。如果你“算一下”(進行計算),你就能理解為什麼STEMs畢業生中將近一半的人沒有選擇這些領域的工作。