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General Discussion & Feedback => Radio Show & Podcast Feedback => Topic started by: thedoc on 09/09/2015 12:52:42

Title: Are we really short of scientists?
Post by: thedoc on 09/09/2015 12:52:42

Despite the media storm, evidence suggests there may not be a shortage of STEM scientists, so why does the debate continue to bubble?
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1001433/)

or [chapter podcast=1001142 track=15.09.08/Naked_Scientists_Show_15.09.08_1004062.mp3](https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenakedscientists.com%2FHTML%2Ftypo3conf%2Fext%2Fnaksci_podcast%2Fgnome-settings-sound.gif&hash=f2b0d108dc173aeaa367f8db2e2171bd) Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3] (http://nakeddiscovery.com/downloads/split_individual/15.09.08/Naked_Scientists_Show_15.09.08_1004062.mp3)

Title: Re: Are we really short of scientists?
Post by: alancalverd on 08/09/2015 23:53:20

The seminal paper seems almost devoid of input from employers. It shows that STEM salaries have not increased greatly in recent years, which would be the strongest indicator of demand. The paper, like so many of its ilk, is remarkably incestuous: politicians like to be photographed wearing hard hats and standing next to shiny machines, so they must announce "initiatives", but you can't do that without an Official Report that  suggests such an initiative is vital to the nation's economy etc., so ministers commission policy-based evidence-making whereby civil servants quote other reports to justify ....you get the picture.... and that's what keeps the "debate" alive..

Fact is that the UK is not a manufacturing economy any longer, thanks to government policy. Our primary industries were destroyed by successive UK governments and both secondary manufacturing and farming were destroyed by the European Union. Money is made by outsourcing to China or speculating on oil prices, neither requiring any investment of UK intellectual capital.  Therefore there are no product failures, therefore no need for scientific investigation and development.

The apparent growth in STEM occupations and manpower in recent years is almost entirely attributable to the expansion of the computer games industry and similar pointless wastes of intellect, and the decision to make all ancillary healthcare tasks "graduate entry" professions. It used to take 3 months to train a diagnostic radiographer: it now takes a minimum of 3 years, although the equipment has become a lot simpler to operate and human anatomy has not changed.