During my time in college, I spent countless hours pouring over practice problems in organic chemistry, physics, calculus and other subjects. I worked diligently, thinking that these might come in handy one day. However, I graduated and then started working in the real-world (read: not the government or in academia) and realized that nobody cared about most of what I learned in college. Though I figured out why STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degrees command such a high wage; it’s for the meta-skills they impart onto those who pursue these fields. When I use the term meta-skills, I’m referring to the skills that the study of STEM fields self-select for over the course of your academic career. These skills have come in handy far more than knowing the mechanics of a Diels-Alder reaction or being able to calculate a triple integral.
Don’t get me wrong, some scientific knowledge is necessary to work in the private sector; knowing how to quickly and accurately calculate dilutions came in handy during my first year of having an ink-wet Bachelor’s degree. I had a chemistry professor (no, not that one) who once quipped that knowing pH, concentrations, and thermodynamics would mean that your tuition was well spent-and he was right. However, one flaw of STEM programs is the systemic failure to understand the Law of Diminishing Returns; learning the fundamentals of epigenetics has been useful, though the graduate-level stem cell course I took in college hasn’t helped me at all in the workforce. Truthfully, most of the coursework in my final two years as an undergrad hasn’t had much utility in the industry I work in (one that is directly related to what I studied). Therefore, we ought to be propping up Associate’s degrees far more than we currently do.
STEM students often have heavy workloads; Calculus and Organic Chemistry both require an absolute ton of outside-of-class time dedicated to mastering treading water in these courses. Therefore, time efficiency is an absolute must. Thus, students absolutely cannot afford to squander what precious limited time they have on ineffective study strategies. The paramount need for time-efficiency requires a level of prioritization that Sociology majors rarely develop. I’ve often sacrificed my Western Civilization studying in favor of cramming for Calculus-I could pass the former in my sleep, while the latter commanded nothing less than my full effort. This assuredly carries over to the working world; time spent dilly-dallying at the water cooler or printing cat memes is time that isn’t spent making continuous improvements.
As I just touched on with Western Civ vs Calculus, the ability to be objective with yourself and know exactly where you excel and where you fall short in is crucial. Underwater Basket Weaving students might be able to get by without having to ruthlessly look themselves in the mirror, however it takes only one failed quiz on Biochemistry for one to realize that one’s understanding of substrate-enzyme regulation needs improvement, and needs improvement now. While absolutely none of my bosses have cared about my knowledge of glycolysis, nearly all of them have cared if I’m able to be objective and self-aware. STEM degrees breed this meta-skill in droves.
Being able to shift gears between tasks, re-gain focus quickly, and maintain focus is another important set of meta-skills that the workplace values, and they come from being a STEM major. A full-time student will have five classes at once, and usually a lab-related component as well. Shifting from practicing problem sets in Biochemistry to pouring over Stem Cell notes, then over to Crystallography homework was key. This wasn’t because I’d use a vast majority of the material-of course not-but the agility it forced was vital. Not being able to quickly shift gears between these areas after completion of your To Do list can mean falling ever-further behind. Today’s business world loves to the around the buzzword agile. If you want to learn to be truly agile in today’s business world, then drop all of your Clay Pottery classes and pick up Physiology, Statistics and Cancer Biology.
While this is more of a personality trait than a meta-skill, the tendency to figure out the solution to a problem on your own before asking for help is drilled into you as well in STEM fields. The tutors are underpaid, outnumbered, and over-whelmed; they don’t have either the time or interest to hold your hand, nor will they solve the problem for you if you show no effort. Guess what; neither will your boss when you get booted out graduate. Come to think of it, the ability to figure things out for yourself is pretty helpful in many aspects of life-those with STEM degrees usually aren’t wasting money on life coaches.
As you can see, employers still highly value STEM graduates, though it’s silently for these meta-skills and far less so for their ability to calculate the area under a curve.
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