STEM and Languages

We’ve all heard about the importance of improving education in the STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math. 

In fact, languages really are as much a part of STEM as biology, engineering, information technology, and many other fields.

Language teaching is also increasingly technologized, Innovative technologies have significant improved the way languages are taught and learned, allowing students to learn languages faster and retain them longer.

In sum, the findings of several surveys found that STEM graduates (computer science and engineering, to be precise) do have an income advantage early in their careers due to the high demand for those skills in our current tech-driven economy. However, over time, that advantage fades, and liberal arts majors catch up by age 40.

This shift occurs for two reasons. One, the technical skills that are so desired now become outdated, and the new skills that emerge 20 years into a tech career are better suited for younger people whose tech skills are up-to-date and just acquired in school. In turn, the “older” workers (40 really isn’t very old at all!) must be constantly retrained to keep up with the steady flow of advances that are constantly occurring in technology.

Two, liberal arts graduates don’t have specific skill sets that result immediately in well-paying jobs. Instead, they receive what are commonly referred to as “soft skills,” such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal skills, time management, problem solving, work ethic, and decision making, that can be applied to any career path and become more important than specific skill sets later in a career trajectory. I’m not suggesting that STEM graduates are devoid of soft skills, but let’s be realistic: They are often not held in the highest regard among the STEM community.