The unfortunate phenomenon of elementary-aged girls becoming interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) subjects, going off to college intending to major in and then pursue a career in one of those fields, and ultimately veering off somewhat sharply into less science-and-math rich majors and careers is common.

Fortunately, it has not gone unnoticed by the chicks who have gone on to work in their dream STEM fields, and several entities have started working to foster girls’ education and career paths in STEM subjects.

Michelle Obama, not a STEM girl herself (what with being a lawyer and all), is all for supporting girls in math and science and gave a little talk about it recently. My favorite bits from the transcript:

And if we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, then we have to open doors to everyone. We can’t afford to leave anyone out. We need all hands on deck. And that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

And it starts with lighting the spark for science and math in elementary school and grade school. We talk about this all the time. I know for me, I’m a lawyer because I was bad at these subjects. (Laughter.) All lawyers in the room, you know it’s true. We can’t add and subtract, so we argue. (Laughter.)

And so encouraging girls early not to lose heart in those fields, and encouraging them through high school is important. But it also means making sure that these young women can keep pursuing their dreams in college and beyond.

Further Reading:

Why So Few Women In Science, Technology, Engineering and Math?
Dual Academic Careers
First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks to the Dept. of Education

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Forbes contributor Robert W. Wood gives advice about which forms of higher education qualify for tax breaks. Wood lists the following articles for even more information on how to get a break from the IRS for funding one’s higher education pursuits:

Ten Rules for Deducting Career Education
Who benefits from student loans and educational tax benefits?
Two Tax Credits for Higher Education
IRS Publication 970: Business Deduction for Work Related Education
IRS Tax Topic 513: Educational Expenses
Deductibility of Work Related Educational Expenses
IRS: Tax Incentives for Higher Education

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(image: taxes)

Along the lines of my previous post regarding the much abhorred Epic Fail, Emily Chapman at Hack College wrote a piece advising one to Refuse to Dwell, Move On, Kick Ass. Well put.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(photo: kick-ass)

UC Berkeley has a cool page on their site that allows you to click on any of their given majors and get a write-up of what you can do with said major (i.e., grad school, job). It’s fun to check out everything from underwater basket weaving (poli sci, psych, philosophy, etc.) to bioengineering and see the possible trajectories, especially if your parents are demanding proof that a degree in philosophy will lead to a prosperous future. Good luck with that.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(photo: bioengineering)

Oh, Epic Failure, how I despise you. The more massive you are, the deeper you are burned into my psyche. My head can’t forget no matter how much denial and bloody-kneed begging I shovel over you.

When I bear witness to the fails of others, I am slammed with the adrenaline force of two emotions battling it out in my chest: Empathy for the poor bastard, and blatant, raw relief that it wasn’t me. Seriously, every time I think about the Titanic I thank all that is holy that not only was it not my fault, but that I wasn’t even born yet so my alibi is rock solid and no one can ever pin that shit on me.

So far, I’ve not experienced a personal failure of Titanic proportions (fingers crossed I don’t decide to captain a ship through iceburg-y waters or become an engineer of constructs large enough to hold massive numbers of living things, all of whom would perish horribly should my awesome engineering math suck real bad).

Massive mistakes have been avoided, but plenty of small and medium fails loiter horizons of my past. Stupid rusting hulking things, just sitting there mocking me. God how I hate them.

The best way to smite those bitches down with my almighty fury? Learn all I can from them, then just let them go and move the hell on. Continuing to focus on past founderings keeps them good and shiny in your head and your heart, which allows them full access for continued cutting away at your awesomeness. Do not let those bastards grind you down.

Learn and go, people. Learn and go.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

According to the Associated Press, American public colleges and universities have managed to spend their way through the $10 billion-pile of government stimulus money. Insanely large tuition fees and class sizes along with decreased course offerings are still front and center on American campuses, but at least the stimulus money helped to prevent (or maybe only slow) the shutting down of degree programs and entire schools. Now that the money’s gone, I predict more and deeper tribulation.

Is it too obvious to suggest that keeping higher education a viable option for Americans should be among the highest priorities? An ever-expanding cohort of young, energetic, jobless and uneducated Americans sounds like the crappiest American Dream ever.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(photo: ed andrieski)

When you’re a fresh-faced newbie trying to make your way through this harsh and unkind world, it helps to have an older, wiser, more experienced hand to hold onto. Standing on the shoulders of giants makes the machete-hacking stumble through the jungle go a lot more smoothly.

Those giants are called mentors, and every chucklehead youngin’ like yourself wants one. The more awesome a mentor, the more sought out they are. This has the unfortunate effect of making them ignore most of the tweedle-dums who come begging for their priceless advice and knowledge. If you want to be mentored by the best, you’re going to have to be better than all the other chuckleheads at asking. Ramit Sethi has some advice for you.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(standing on the shoulders of giants)

The NY Times has the newest studies and infographics on how new college graduates are faring in this wicked-fun economy. Basically, the higher-educated are working for pennies in jobs totally unrelated to their fields of study.

Debt resulting from all that higher-ed tuition and all those textbooks is insane ($20,000 is standard), and must sting quite a bit for the delivery-truck-driving bio-chem majors who can barely afford rent, let alone visibly diminish their debt pile.

It’s no wonder some of the extra-pissed grads have headed back for PhDs—this tactic puts off the wretchedness of having to accept a job one is totally overqualified for and keeps the student loan debt collectors at bay. In a few years these super grads will be overqualified beyond all reason and will have enough debt to last them a lifetime. It’s a way to survive, yes. But the wrongness of that particular higher education life cycle hurts to witness. Whose brilliant idea was it to start charging for education? Stupid humans.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

According to The Guardian, UK, Wikipedia has realized the lack of academic contributions to its massive heap of information and is making an effort to get smartypants specialists to contribute some well-informed knowledgey bits on the site.

Whether it’s a site-able source (it’s absolutely not, according to many professorial types) or not, everyone uses Wikipedia as a quick way to satisfy some burning question (what in the hell does “the whole nine yards” mean, anyway?*) or as a starting point on some quest for reams of information on almost any subject one can think of. It’s like a Twinkie or Oscar Meyer baloney: I don’t trust it, I would never serve it at a dinner party, but I’m still gonna eat it.

Wikipedia’s reputation as a less-than accurate source for information stems from the fact that any chucklehead with access to the Internet can edit and add information to the site. It’s funny that that trips people up, as the entire ethereal mass of binary perfection that is the online universe is all subject to bastards hosing down the suckers with false information. I’m just saying.

*Wikipedia is no help on this one. It gives a laundry list of what the phrase doesn’t refer to. I’d always thought it referred to the length of cloth required for a traditional kilt and the across-the-chest portion of said garment. See Braveheart if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

I’ve been a fan of Ramit Sethi for a long time. He’s smart and I like the way he thinks—simple and logical and rarely what I’m expecting. He comes from a money/business/finance direction, so reading what Ramit has to say about higher education, graduate degrees, necessity and money had to be done. As always, different and it made me think.

Ramit’s friend Josh Kaufman, a business teacher and author, had his own ideas to add about Unbundling College: How to Avoid Spending $100,000 (or more) on a Credential You Don’t Really Need. If you can pull the hook of Society’s Set of Standard Beliefs With Regard to Education out of your head long enough to read what Ramit and Josh have to say, your mind and its thought processes will be improved, I promise.

Related Posts:

Financial Education
Schools of Entrepreneurship

Posted by Alexa Harrington

(money)