Letter to the editor: The real reasons for our shortage of STEM professionals

Posted 1/22/25

I have a response to Mr. Ray Anderson’s letter of Jan. 15 regarding the shortage of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals.

I earned a bachelor’s …

You've reached your limit of
free articles this month!

Unlock unlimited access for just $1 for your first month

Click here to start a digital subscription

Please log in to continue

Log in

Letter to the editor: The real reasons for our shortage of STEM professionals

Posted

I have a response to Mr. Ray Anderson’s letter of Jan. 15 regarding the shortage of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, held a professional engineer’s license for 30-plus years prior to retiring, and served on a National Safety Standards committee for cranes and lifting apparatus.

I believe I have a right to an opinion.

I do not believe the shortage of engineers is so much due to the difficulty in earning a degree as it is in the misuse on degreed engineers. The universities of America graduate thousands of engineers each year. However, I saw many engineers being used as technicians, such as lab techs and drafters.

I know from first-hand observation that offshore oil drilling and oil refineries use engineers to lead repair teams and to monitor various operations. All of these tasks were more properly assigned to trained technicians.

Also, it is very common to promote the very best engineers into management positions. Accepting that promotion is often the only way to increase one’s salary. However, good engineers do not necessarily make good managers. The jobs require very different skill sets.

To address the STEM shortage, at least in the engineering arena, two things must happen. The corporations need to hire people correctly for the job to be done. Hire technicians or managers instead of engineers. Put the degreed engineers to work doing real engineering.



Secondly, our parents and guidance counsellors need to direct people who are not skilled in high level math to pursue other technical job training. That training would likely be a two-year program that does not “seem to serve little purpose beyond sustaining the institutional budgets.” I worked with many machinists and drafters who were very creative and were valued members of my design teams.

One last thought. When I was in college, the business and accounting majors took the exact same math classes as the engineering majors.

Somehow, we are not complaining about a shortage of business or accounting professionals.

 

Wayne Osborn

Chehalis