EDT646
Assignment #5
3-10-06
Friedman raises some
extremely interesting and critical topics in chapter 7 of his book. Being an educator, I have seen first
hand many of the trends he listed.
The scary part however, is that I also didnÕt hear many of the trends in this chapter. Neither did many of the individuals I
interviewed for this assignment.
This definitely does appear to be the ÒQuietÓ crisis.
I interviewed a total of nine
individuals, and also gave my initial reactions and prior knowledge on the
topics. I interview three
individuals in their early 50Õs, two in education and one in banking. I also interview three boys under the
age of 15. The last category was
sort of split. I could not
interview three other individuals in the same age groups due to time conflicts
with everyoneÕs schedule. So
instead, I interview three individuals from two different age groups, but
somewhat close in age. Two of the
individuals are in their mid-thirties, and the third is in her very early
forties. I felt that this still
gave me a good range of responses and would allow me to make some comparisons.
The following summaries are
of my interviews with friends and co-workers about their knowledge or awareness
of the three Òdirty littleÓ secrets.
Kathy was the most
interesting person to interview because she has taken a very active role in
recent politics and administration.
She is an opponent of the Bush administration and the current foreign policy. She listens to a lot of news and public
radio, specifically NPR. Although
she didnÕt necessarily know the 3 little secrets by name, she knew much about
them. She was aware of the lack of
new students choosing science and engineering for degrees, but didnÕt realize
the number of aging scientists that will soon retire. Kathy was also aware of the decline in ambition with the
younger generations, actually all of the educators were. She was however surprised with the 100%
increase in productivity many companies experience with the offshoring of
jobs. Kathy was also aware of the
decline in achievement with our youth.
She felt that as a country, we should dedicate more resources to our
education system. She felt that
the millions of dollars a day we are spending on the war should be used toward
better priorities. Kathy also
shared with me that she heard that England was also experiencing problems with
ambition and people feeling a sense of ÒentitlementÓ. We continued our discussion about education, and discussed
the increase of higher level degrees and the higher achievement Asian and
Indian students were working towards.
She was quite surprised with the numbers. She didnÕt realize that it was that much of a problem yet.
Carolyn also listens to NPR
often and was also aware of many of the topics. She knew about the problems with science and engineering,
but didnÕt recognize the name of that secret. She however, heard that there was also in increase in women
going into these fields, which could be considered a good thing. Carolyn was surprised that there were
such a large number of foreign students going into these areas. One of the things we discussed was the
issue of offshoring. She had heard
many of the concerns about the movement of jobs out of the country. She thought that most of the problems
were with the jobs being sent to Mexico.
When we talked about the ambition gap, she thought that many of the
companies moving to Mexico were also experiencing problems with ambition. She was extremely surprised that the
productivity went up by nearly 100%, in addition to the wage cut of 75%, with
most of the jobs being offshored to India and even to China. She was aware of the decline in
ambition, as did all educators, but didnÕt realize that it was to that
extent. She wasnÕt as aware of the
level of education students in China were receiving, however, did know about
the achievement difference the U.S. faced.
Spring has been very helpful
to me, she allowed me to interview her for the assignment dealing with the 10
flatteners. She has worked in the
banking industry for over 20 years and has seen many changes. She didnÕt have much prior knowledge
about the first secret, but she has experienced the second secret in the
banking industry. When I first
started talking to her about the secret #2, she didnÕt think she knew too much
about it. Once I started to
explain what it was, she then began to recognize it and shared her experiences
with less motivation at her workplace with some of the younger
generations. She was concerned
about this trend and worried about it becoming worse. We talked about the third secret, the Education Gap, and
whereas she didnÕt know about these issues before, she did see the concern with
it. She worries about education
because she is a parent and wants the best for her son. The huge gap between Asian countries
and America with math achievement was of concern to her. Spring also saw a correlation between
the third and second secrets. She
feels the lack of motivation our younger generations are demonstrating is
adding to the problem.
Kim had not heard of any of
the three secrets by name, but did recognize many of the components to
each. She was very surprised to
hear about the growing problem with the areas of science and engineering, she
was not aware of any of those problems.
She did recognize the problems being faced with ambition in the younger
generations. She also addressed it
with the perspective of a Òsense of entitlementÓ. Kim is concerned about the younger generations feeling of
things being ÒexpectedÓ and societies feeling of entitlement. She feels that many people want to work
less, for more money. She was
quite shocked with the level of increase in productivity with jobs that have
been moved overseas. Kim was not
very aware of the issues surrounding the third secret and the increase in the
level of foreign education.
Before I read this chapter, I
had not heard of these three Òlittle secretsÓ by name before. I did, however, know about the decline
in scientists and engineers. I not
really sure where I heard it before, probably a prime-time nightly news show
because I tend to watch a lot of them.
I wasnÕt very aware that other countries like China, India, and other
Asian counties were surpassing us with scientists. However, I did know that there was a huge shortage of
students going into these fields.
As for the second secret, I was aware of the decline in the apparent
ambition of younger people today.
I didnÕt realize that there was a name for this decline, or that weÕre
measuring it compared to countries overseas. I have always recognized, as many people do, individuals
from other countries like India, and from Asia always seem to have a harder
work ethic. I just never seemed to
put two and two together and realize that it could be a crisis for us.
The secret of the Education
Gap I did not realize at all. I
was always under the impression that America had the finest colleges in the
world. I suppose the reason I
thought that was number of foreign exchange students at all universities across
America. If you look at the faces
on any college campus across America, you see a large percentage of students
who traveled to America to go to college.
These students, especially graduate students, come over to America for a
few years to receive their degrees and then travel back home to live. I was unaware that the universities
over on China and India were improving that much. I can also see the correlation between the second and third
secrets. I think that the lack or
decline in motivation is severely effecting the quality of education. Friedman commented on the increase
number of students participating in science fairs in China versus here in
America. I can see how countries
like India and China see education as a way out of their current life. Many of us Americans have become
expectant that things will be done for us, and in turn have become lazy.
Frank is a very intelligent
and mature intern, being slightly older than most. He also has much experience working with children in the
education system along with supporting parents and families. Frank didnÕt recognize the first secret
by name, but knew much about it after it was explained. He knew about the decline in students
entering the fields of science and engineering. He also knew about the higher numbers of Asian and Indian
students going into those fields, but was surprised with the actual
numbers. Frank was very aware of
the second secret due to his extension amount of work with home interventions
and schools. He has recognized the
trend with the decline of ambition and the sense of entitlement. He knew about the increase in
productivity with some of the foreign jobs, just not to the extent listed in
FriedmanÕs book. He was a little
surprise with the third secret. He
did not realize the increase in education opportunities for students in China
and India. We also talked about
the level of professional publications and the increase in percentage coming
from overseas versus from the United States.
When I interviewed Lisa, she
didnÕt have any knowledge about the first secret on the numbers gap. She, like most, found the concept
interesting. She did recognize the
concept of the second secret, although not by name. She has seen the trend of ÒentitlementÓ and the decline in
work ethic. This was a worry for
her as well as the other educators I interviewed. When asked about her knowledge of the third secret, she stated
that she didnÕt realize there was an Education Gap between America and
countries from overseas. She did
see concern about this and how it could be a great concern to us in the future.
Schon is my youngest
son. When asked about each of the
three secrets, he didnÕt recognize any of them, which is what I expected from
most of the young individuals from this age group. I then decided to approach it a little differently. I started asking him questions like who
do you think works harder, a student from China or a student from America. He answered quite quickly that he
thought the students from China probably worked harder in school. I asked him who he thought did better
in school, and again he said the students from China. I finally asked him why he thought that and if it was
because they were smarter or worked harder, and he said because they worked
harder. He then stated that he
thought a lot of students were kind of lazy and could do better. This was quite amusing, since I would
often categorize him in this same category. Maybe there is still hope for him!
Paul is SpringÕs son and a
friend of my son. He thought it
would be fun to help me out and was willing to answer some questions. When I first began talking to Paul, I
explained what I was doing and some of the background with FriedmanÕs
book. I asked him if he knew what
the NumberÕs Gap was and like nearly all the adults, he didnÕt. I explained what the concepts were and
asked if he knew that there were not the same number of science / engineer
students entering the field as there were scientists / engineers readying for
retirement. He shared with me that
he didnÕt know that. He was
however intrigued to know that if he chose the areas of math, science, and/or
engineering, that he probably would find ease in obtaining a job when he
graduated. He didnÕt know anything
about the Education Gap, but did guess that the Chinese students probably did
better than the American students when asked that question.
Jacob is one of my sonÕs friends and is on his hockey team. He agreed to participate and help me out with this project. I asked him the same questions as the other two boys, and received similar responses. Jacob didnÕt know about the shortage of students in the fields of science, math, and engineering. We talked about the fact that if he went into these fields and studied them at college, he could find a job just about anywhere. He thought that was interesting. Jacob didnÕt know about the second secret, but guessed that students in China probably worked harder and did better than students in America. The last secret about the Education Gap was not very clear to him. With him being only thirteen, college seems so far off into the future. Even more, colleges overseas seem more of a mystery. It did not surprise me that he really didnÕt know about the third little secret.
Conclusions-
Upon interviewing individuals from four different age groups, one thing became clear, nobody was very aware of the quiet crisis. Sure some individuals knew a few things or heard something about some of the topics, but they did not know much nor did they recognize them by name. The second secret was probably the most recognizable, although not by name. Once it was explained, everyone except the younger generation recognized it and cited examples. Even the three boys of the younger generation recognized some signs of it and admitted that the students in China probably worked harder. The part of the second secret that was not known by all was the amount of increased productivity with the offshored jobs moved to China and India. Everyone basically knew that the companies saved money by moving jobs, but were surprised to find out that productivity also went up by nearly 100%.
Both the first and third secrets were lesser recognized, either by name or by examples. A couple of the individuals did know a little about the lack of scientists and engineers being trained to replace those soon to retire, but most did not. All of the educators were also not aware of the increased prestige of the universities in China and India. They were also not aware of the increase of professional papers coming from overseas.
Comparing the different age groups, it is not surprising that the older generations were more aware of the issues than those of the youngest age group of 6-16 year olds. The individuals of the oldest age group were the most informed about the issues, especially the educators that listened to NPR often. These individuals (Kathy and Carolyn) are interested and concerned about current issues in the news. Due to their listening of issues on NPR, they were more aware of some of these issues. I also think that professionals in the education field are much more likely to recognize some of these issues and concerns of the three little secrets. All of the educators of all different age groups were able to recognize some of the issues after they were somewhat explained.
In the end, the results were very much what I expected. Many of the issues Friedman explained in the quiet crisis are not very known. Hence the term, the Òquiet crisisÓ. I also suspected that the older generations would know more about the issues. Whereas many different age groups were able to recognize trends with these issues, only the adult generations did; the youngest age group didnÕt know much about these problems. This was a little concerning after some thought because this is the generation that needs to choose to go into science, math, and engineering. These are the individuals that need to know the most, but know the least about these problems. Perhaps with time, more individuals will become aware of this crisis and take steps to correct it. I think that the growing economies of India and China are going to benefit the world economy, but we donÕt want to be left behind. I noticed an article in the paper this past weekend dealing with this very issue. The article even cited FriedmanÕs book and some of these issues. With any luck, we will see more of this exposure and Americans will start to correct this very serious issue.