From Nextgov.com: Scarcity of science students worries military IT officials
The dearth of Americans being trained in science and technology is probably one of the greatest threats to the military's future, several Pentagon information technology officials said during a luncheon on Friday.
COMMENTS
- Why be an engineer (with the rigorous education and training that is required) when you can be a higher grade EEO Specialist/EEO Manager or HR Specialist/HR Manager without a degree? me Posted September 8, 2008 11:47 PM
- You guys hit it on the nose. Science and Technology has been hung out to dry, management is where the $$ is...or more realistically, one of the last places your job won't be outsourced to cheap labor. Europe is facing similar issues. There's a shortage of management skills in China from what I hear, but how long before that's outsourced as well? The only thing working against all this is that a taste of Western culture could drive Chinese and Indian laborers (including those in S&T) to want to work for something more than peanuts in the not too far off future. noman Posted September 8, 2008 2:00 PM
- aI have discussed with career counselors, and engineers the same wicked problem as discussed in the article above. The same conclusion always surfaced. Tacit knowledge, [that is the art of integrating scientific principals into a successful products or systems] especially when derived from “field” type knowledge, is equated with the lower professional tiers of a culture and organization. Organizations understand the value of tacit knowledge, but rarely are they willing to pay for it! Unless you are in a guild profession; e.g, the American Medical Association, a tacit knowledge practitioner can easily be treated like a minority with artificial ceilings keeping one from moving up the ladder. Ironically if you go to Russia or other countries in the world, you will discover that even the medical practitioners with their distinguished tacit knowledge are barely recognized above the blue collar trades. Western cultures through norms and values place more emphasis and status on the business aspects of generating anything complex. Although there are exceptions, I submit that if an audit was perform on all jobs in the universe where both tacit and explicit knowledge can vary within the same peer group, one would discover that generally, the positions requiring more tacit knowledge are also lower in recognition and prestige. From my experience I submit that tacit knowledge is recognized; however, not to the point of being appropriately rewarded. If we as a culture want to promote the recognition and opportunities of tacit knowledge and the careers associated with this type of knowledge, the class structure that is affiliated to tacit knowledge and the commensurate incentive systems must be changed. Knowledge Management Professional Posted September 8, 2008 11:48 AM
