Sunday, May 22, 2016

All of this has been shilled before and will be shilled again

I'm looking at a bunch of things I read a few years ago.  Here's a fascinating infographic from the Brookings Institution:

I don't have any problem with the basic concept of parsing out different segments of the STEM job market,m and I certainly do NOT object to  people who note that not all STEM jobs need a 4-year degree.  At the same time, I have this nasty feeling that definition creep can easily lead to even more inflated estimates of our country's alleged "need" for STEM graduates.  You start with a broad definition, one that isn't just about 4-year grads, and get a large number of jobs.  Then you point to the large number while arguing for the importance of a particular segment, without noting any of the crucial context or caveats.

All of this has been hyped before and will be hyped again

This is a fascinating survey of hype over educational technology.  Naturally, though, I must remind the reader that this time it's different!