Well, you are in a bubble of sorts where an algorithm feeds you lots of STEM related information. So you get exposed to a lot of STEM conversations and it creates the illusion that everyone is pushing STEM.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Where I'm from doctors and lawyers as a career is what gets pushed. It's the meme of that place. Where you're from, or where you're from internet-wise has the "push people into STEM" meme. Here I mean meme as the cultural analogue of gene, not a funny joke/picture.
Now why does it get pushed? Because money can be made by both employers and employees. At different scales of course, employers want more supply so that costs can be driven down. Governments kind of sort of also push for STEM under the nebulous umbrella of preparedness for some conflict off in the distance. And people by now understand that lots of people that have gone into STEM have made a lot of money so they push it onto their kids. The biggest companies in the world by market cap are all tech. FAANGM.
Money. It's almost always the biggest reason. Not exclusively the only reason. And people will wax poetically about the other secondary/tertiary reasons. But really, come on, it's all about money in America.
Absolutely agree, and I'd add that another force driving this push is the technical content industry, which benefits from the influx of people looking to get into tech. There aren't many other well-paying industries where you can teach yourself via prepackaged technical tutorials or take a short bootcamp in order to get a job.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: we who work in tech (specifically web-enabled commerce) have an interest in advancing the legitimacy and functionality of the internet, which is enabled by tech companies and those that create content for the purposes of teaching.
> And people will wax poetically about the other secondary/tertiary reasons. But really, come on, it's all about money in America.
Is it? I have a friend who since retirement has worked full-time pushing STEM for girls. She's not chasing money either actually or vicariously. She wants girls to feel comfortable entering fields from which they have, for generations, been discouraged or actively dissuaded. Sometimes, it's just about being able to follow your preferred path in life.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. Where I'm from doctors and lawyers as a career is what gets pushed. It's the meme of that place. Where you're from, or where you're from internet-wise has the "push people into STEM" meme. Here I mean meme as the cultural analogue of gene, not a funny joke/picture.
Now why does it get pushed? Because money can be made by both employers and employees. At different scales of course, employers want more supply so that costs can be driven down. Governments kind of sort of also push for STEM under the nebulous umbrella of preparedness for some conflict off in the distance. And people by now understand that lots of people that have gone into STEM have made a lot of money so they push it onto their kids. The biggest companies in the world by market cap are all tech. FAANGM.
Money. It's almost always the biggest reason. Not exclusively the only reason. And people will wax poetically about the other secondary/tertiary reasons. But really, come on, it's all about money in America.