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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: Students not selecting chemistry Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 05:31:15 EST Author: Jim Kaufman |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: Students not selecting chemistry Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 17:29:05 EST Author: IEHC**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM |
The reason why students are not going into chemistry has nothing to do with the safety rules etc. It is supply and demand in the marketplace. All of the chemistry jobs are going overseas. The US chemical industry is losing 1000 jobs every single month and has been since 1999. We are now closing 5 chemical plants in the US EVERY SINGLE MONTH on average as production goes overseas. Pay has been stagnant and in some cases dropped in the real world of chemistry over the last 5 years. The ACS has its head in the sand and cannot really do anything. The chemical industry in the US will never be the same again. I have a PhD in chemistry, but there is no way I would recommend to my kids to go into it. Does not make any economic sense at all. Chemists have been downsized, moved and abused for about 10 years. I do not feel sorry for the industry. In terms of the University scene as a college professor I see all of the experiments being made safer etc. That results in less of a hands on experience for the students. The fun of chemistry has been removed to a certain extent. Best Regards, Steven J. Burks Steven J. Burks, PhD CEO Sanford Rose Associates - Crystal Lake Executive Search Consultants Professionals for the Food Manufacturing, Specialty Chemicals, Plastics Packaging, and Legal Industries Phone 815-444-8382 Fax 815-444-8390 Email steve**At_Symbol_Here**careerfasttrack.com Please visit our website at http://www.careerfasttrack.com Sanford Rose Associates - Crystal Lake 44 North Virginia Street, Suite 3B Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Phone: 815-444-8382 Fax: 815-444-8390 email: info**At_Symbol_Here**careerfasttrack.com Please Note: Sanford Rose Associates does not participate in spamming and makes every reasonable effort to comply with current anti-spam legislation. If you would prefer not to receive our e-mails, please send a letter to the address listed above or send an email to remove**At_Symbol_Here**careerfasttrack.com with "REMOVE" and include your "Original Email Address/Addresses" in the subject heading. We will update our records accordingly. -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU]On Behalf Of Jim Kaufman Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 4:31 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Students not selecting chemistry What does the ACS data show for the last 10, 20, 30, 40 years on the number of chemistry major grads, masters, and PhDs? ... Jim In a message dated 11/11/2005 12:02:43 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, LISTSERV**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU writes: Further back on the education chain, though, the worry is that young people are not being attracted to chemistry because of the draconian application of Health and Safety rules. The sort of experiments that we did in labs with Bunsen burners and mixing things and hoping for bangs and liking to see fermentation and bubbling and grizzling, has now been banned. A teacher stands behind a glass screen and demonstrates. In other words, all the three of them agreed, it seems to be no fun at all for students who are peeling away from chemistry en masse. The worry is not only that fewer students are taking up chemistry, but that even those who are taking it up cannot be hands on and, therefore, cannot begin to be innovative at the start of their careers. There was worry that this would lead to a drop off of real interest in pushing chemistry forward into areas where it is now so important, to do with research into fuels into the atmosphere and so on. It seems that, again and again, when we bandage people against reality we save some things but seem to lose at least as much and perhaps far more important things. As this country has been so fantastically effective in its studies of chemistry over the past two centuries, it would be a pity if over-fierce regulation were to crush the life out of it, which seems to be the case. James A. Kaufman, Ph.D. President/CEO jimkaufman**At_Symbol_Here**labsafety.org The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) A Nonprofit International Organization for Safety in Science and Science Education 192 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760-2252 508-647-1900 Fax: 508-647-0062 Cell: 508-574-6264 Res: 781-237-1335 info**At_Symbol_Here**labsafety.org www.labsafety.org
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