A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
By Arthur G. Affleck
“When I was growing up, my parents told me, ‘Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.’ I tell my daughters, ‘Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.’”
— Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
In his best-selling book The World Is Flat, New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman examines the technological and social shifts that have leveled the economic world, now allowing less-developed nations to compete with the United States for corporate investments and jobs. He writes, “Several technological and political forces have converged, and that has produced a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography or distance — or soon, even language.”
American workers are in a fierce competition for jobs with people in India, China, Russia and many other countries. The competition is highly educated, highly motivated and will work for less money. Many CEOs say they are forced to hire engineers and other high-tech workers from abroad because the United States is not graduating enough students in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and math. Combine that with America’s low birth rate and aging population and the result is a shortage of skilled workers that will number in the millions by 2010. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is already reporting shortages in fields such as engineering, teaching, health care and other technology fields.
I believe this challenge to our nation presents an opportunity for American minority-serving institutions. While it may sound simplistic, MSIs could actually provide viable career options for undereducated and underemployed populations, solve a national crisis and enhance the country’s competitiveness at the same time.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who is quoted in Friedman’s book, calls this a “quiet crisis.”
“If we don’t change course now and buckle down in a flat world, the kind of competition our kids will face will be intense and the social implications of not repairing things will be enormous,” she says. Friedman argues that the American education system does not stimulate enough young people to go into the STEM disciplines. The challenge before us is a lack of motivation and preparation. There may also be a lack of vision, a critical component if we are to see beyond the current crisis and develop a long-term strategy institutionally and nationally.
