Lin Marklin
EDT 6460
Due March 10, 2006
lin.m.marklin@wmich.edu

Assignment V – Dirty Little Secrets (200 points)

Introduction

In The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21^st Century, Thomas Freidman discussed what he perceives to be a “quiet” American crisis. This crisis involves three dirty little secrets: a numbers gap, and ambition gap, and an education gap.

Seaberg (2005) summarizes Friedman’s observations as follows:

First, a “numbers gap” is emerging that will “sap America’s prowess in science, math and engineering.” The nation’s scientists and engineers, and those teaching science, are retiring in huge numbers, and American young people are not entering those fields in nearly sufficient numbers. Foreign-born people account for an ever-increasing percentage of America’s science and engineering workers.

Second, we have an “ambition gap.” . . . Friedman suggests that too many American young people have grown up with plenty and with a sense of entitlement. They too often lack a feeling of needing to work hard to attain a better standard of living. They already have the good life. In contrast, Asian and Indian students are often extremely motivated, much as the great grandparents of today’s American students were when they first came to America.

Friedman refers to the third aspect of the “quiet crisis” as the “education gap.” He maintains that we’ve got to find ways to stimulate more of our young children to do better in science and math. “Johns Hopkins University President Bill Brody remarked to me, ‘Over 60 percent of our graduate students in the sciences are foreign students.’”

Friedman calls the combination of the numbers gap, the ambition gap, and the education gap a “quiet” crisis because no one seems to be noticing. Or maybe the lack of attention is because American leaders are noticing. Of perhaps the crisis seems to be quiet because no American politician seems to be noticing. Or another option for the lack of media coverage or public outrage about this problem is that the people who have noticed it are not talking about it. Regardless, of its causes, Friedman argues that these gaps are real, and they need to be acknowledged in order to address and overcome the deficiency.

Methodology

To judge public knowledge on this topic, I interviewed several people each from three different age groups: 17-24 yrs of age, 36-50 yrs of age, and 51-65 yrs of age. All study participants had been or currently were university students. Interview questions were based on Siebert’s (2005) summary of Friedman’s ideas. (See Appendix I).

For the 17-24 age group, I surveyed all 10 students in one lab section of EDT3470. All participants were elementary education college students ages 20-21. I initially planned to randomly choose three sets of answers to use for my data, but the provided replies were significantly shorter than the replies I received from the other groups, so I decided to include in my data set responses from all 10 students. (See Appendix II). Interviews for the remaining two age groups (36-50 and 51-65) were conducted electronically via email.

In analyzing the data, the proscribed age groups were less effective in predicting/recognizing trends than when I organized the data sets along generational lines. Thus I will be reporting data in the following categories: the Millennial Generation – born 1982+ (ages up to 25); Generation X – born 1962-1981 (ages 26-45); and the Boomers Generation – born 1945-1961 (ages 46-60). (See Appendices II-IV). A by-product of this reorganization was that I had 2 participants in the Generation X category and 4 participants in the Boomers category, so I interviewed my spouse at the 3^rd Generation X participant.

Interview Themes

Millennial Generation. With regard to the numbers gap and the ambition gap, the millennial respondents were united in blaming the problem on individual initiative. “I think it might be that Americans are lazy.” “They think that because their parents achieved well and they have had a comfortable childhood, they don’t have to work hard.” “If things come too easily; people will take things for granted and feel like things should come to them easily.”

With regard to the education gap, the millennial participants, who are all pre-service teachers, pointed to pedagogy. “New and improved ways of teaching science and math would help in the education gap. Teachers need better training.” “We don’t push science and math enough on our young children, they don’t make the students well enough aware of how important these subjects are. “ “Science and math are tough for many people. Maybe we need to find more interesting ways to teach them.“

Generation X. Generation X participants were somewhat more educated about the problem and much more articulate in their responses. In general, these participants challenged some of Freidman’s premises and pointed to social problems as the root cause of these gaps.

“I have followed this theory [idea of an ambition gap], but do not trust the implicit bias. If we have more children in the poverty range than ever in the last ten years, how does this compare to the “grown up with plenty” sense of entitlement? There are other issues leading to any ambition gap.”

“I’m not sure there is an “ambition gap” that is unrelated to early childhood instruction and teaching methods or poverty and its detrimental effects on urban and rural families.”

“A lot can be attributed to home life. Lack of involved parents seems to be producing do nothing children.”

Boomer Generation. Boomer responses all had one common theme: foreign born workers are good for America.

“I would start by saying, "define American". The scientists who helped us win WWII were almost all German/Swiss/Polish, etc. and now their off-spring are American! Aren't we still the "great melting pot"? The premise seems xenophobic.”

 “As to the "brain drain" coming to our shores...let em come! We will take the best and brightest.....because guess what???? They never leave! The US will only get stronger over time....that is the history of our country. It has always been the immigrant class that has stirred the pot and made the end product better.”

“It seems like there is not dearth of scientists; they are just not American. And it seems like the implication is white Americans. The sentence “Foreign-born people account for ever . . . workers.” So what? At least there’s people who do have them.”

“so what’s wrong with 60% of the graduate students being foreign? Many foreign people, after experiencing American life, choose to stay here. Then they are ‘us.’ The whole set-up seems to be based on the fear that brown-skinned people might take over. And they might! Does it worry me? Not in the least.”

There were two other interesting response themes: the system needs to change and there is an equally important but overlooked educational crisis.

“We don't encourage our students to take challenging courses; we don't support school bond issues; we aren't even smart enough to see that the problems in education are not going to be fixed by building a new gym. We need to put money into people, smaller class sizes, mentoring.”

“but even more alarming is the comparison of young women to young men who are going to college. For every four students, only one is a young man. What will our society look like in ten years from now if we are not attracting and RETAINING men in college? And, should we be pushing affirmative action to ensure that we don’t have a matriarchal society? I am personally not as concerned about the foreign student influence (that’s part of globalization), as I am about ensuring that we are educating males right here in the United States.”

Data Analysis

Overall, the millennial participants were pitifully clueless about the “quiet crises”. Of the 10 participants, only one gave answers that expressed even the slightest amount of insight. Many of the participants basically mimicked the survey prompt in their answer as if the survey was a test, and perhaps they could get partial credit. All millennial participants blamed the gaps on individual initiative. This attribution could also be because the millennial participants have seen first hand the lack of ambition in their peers, and thus they are more willing to blame national shortfalls on individual choice. The millennial participants were all college students, presumably with ambition since they were in their third year of college. Having grown up in a good economic cycle, they look around and say “I got here, so everyone else can too.”

Generation X participants indicated that the problem could be due to the circumstances beyond the control of individuals, and thus were more empathetic than the Millennial participants regarding the causes of the gaps. This difference could be because the Generation X participants were 10-12 years older than the Millennial participants. This age difference would have made the Generation X participants more world-wise and perhaps more understanding that not everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The Generation X participants I interviewed either graduated college in the mid 1980’s when the economy had not yet heated up or graduated near the turn of the century after the dot.com bubble burst. These individuals had to work hard to secure their current professional positions because they entered the economy when it was in a downturn. Some of them struggled for a few years prior to securing a full-time position. These individuals experienced first hand that circumstances beyond their own control at times impeded their ability to reach their goals.

The Boomers were united in the idea that foreign-born individuals only help America and its economy. The foreign born scientists that made the American atomic program possible would have been contemporaries of the Boomers’ parents, so maybe the Boomers have a stronger appreciation of imported intelligence. Perhaps Boomers remember the space race, and the scientists that made it possible. Perhaps the Boomers saw so much change in the 1960’s that they have learned flexibility. Whatever the cause, the Boomers were enthusiastic about the immigrant ion and naturalization of intelligent and educated individuals. It was also interesting that the Boomer respondents pointed out the problem of under-funded schools and the gender gap in college classrooms. As more mature individuals, they seem to have a wider perspective.

Conclusions

There was a definite difference between the generations in their knowledge of and perspective on the three dirty little secrets: a numbers gap, and ambition gap, and an education gap. The Millennials were very under-informed. The Generation X’s focused on external circumstances as potential cause. The Boomers embraced the diversity of foreign-born scientists. Each generation brought their own individual experiences to the situation.

References

Seaberg, J (2005, September 6) “A flat world is still a hopeful one,” The Annandale Advocate, 1-4. Downloaded on February 3, 2006 from http://www.annandalearea.com/Main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=5335

Appendix I
Electronic Interview Questions

Thanks for your willingness to help me out. For my class, we read the book “The World is Flat: A brief history of the 21^st century. In this book, Freidman Friedman discusses what he calls this “quiet crisis” by suggesting three “dirty little secrets” we may not be noticing in America. For this interview/survey, you are asked to share your knowledge and understanding of the three secrets

First, a “numbers gap” is emerging that will “sap America’s prowess in science, math and engineering.” The nation’s scientists and engineers, and those teaching science, are retiring in huge numbers, and American young people are not entering those fields in nearly sufficient numbers. Foreign-born people account for an ever-increasing percentage of America’s science and engineering workers.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap?

Second, we have an “ambition gap.” While this may seem an unfairly harsh generalization, Friedman suggests that too many American young people have grown up with plenty and with a sense of entitlement. They too often lack a feeling of needing to work hard to attain a better standard of living. They already have the good life. In contrast, Asian and Indian students are often extremely motivated, much as the great grandparents of today’s American students were when they first came to America.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap?

Friedman refers to the third aspect of the “quiet crisis” as the “education gap.” He maintains that we’ve got to find ways to stimulate more of our young children to do better in science and math. “Johns Hopkins University President Bill Brody remarked to me, ‘Over 60 percent of our graduate students in the sciences are foreign students.’”

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap?

Appendix II

Interviews - Ages 17-25

Answers from 10 students enrolled in EDT 3470

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap?

1. I did not know much about this before. I was not aware that this was happening at all

2. No. I did not know this about engineering. I think it might be that Americans are lazy.

3. No, I did not know this was happening. Maybe these majors need to be advertised more.

4. I was a bit aware of this. I believe it’s because science and math re not taught in exciting ways. Teachers tend to introduce Math and Science in old fashioned ways and people are bored of it.

5. People are retiring in huge numbers from the sciences, but new people graduating are not going into these fields to replace these people. The answer is easy. Scientists have made life so easy that there is no reason for new graduates to think about how things work. They just press a button and it’s done.

6. I’m not really sure what it is, but it sounds like we’re are losing/decreasing in numbers and not increasing enough in numbers to fill the decrease.

7. I did not know about this problem. I’m sorry to hear about it, but science and engineering are not that exciting.

8. Science and math teachers are retiring and the jobs are either not being filled or being filled by foreign born workers.

9. I am aware that a large amount of Americans are starting to retire, and I am also aware of the increasing of foreigners in our country.

10. I was aware that foreign countries have been more advanced in schools in these areas of math and science. As far as the number of jobs not being filled by natural born American was not something I was aware of.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap?

1. Did not know much about this either. I want to know more b/c everyone needs to be more ambitious.

2. I understand why this may be, because why would we work harder if things are handed to us. Americans have lost touch with the value of a dollar.

3. I don’t know much about this, but I can see how it would happen. It things come too easily; people will take things for granted and feel like things should come to them easily.

4. Well since they are given everything they often don’t understand how to do things on their own. They are babied.

5. The Asian and Indian students are encouraged to take hold of these technologies and understand them to the best of their abilities.

6. We as Americans feel we already have a good live and don’t have to work hard. While those from other countries (like our grandparents coming over here) feel they have to work extremely hard to “get the good life.”

7. That may run true for some but there are still kids and people who value what they have and work for what they have.

8. American students are too privileged and therefore feel that they don’t need to strive for great heights to be happy in life. They think that because their parents achieved well and they have had a comfortable childhood, they don’t have to work hard.

9. I really don’t know.

10. I have realized in my own experience of interacting w/ people my age that the lack of work ethic is definitely present. I think it is a cycle and that parents/teachers need to instill these values into their children.

Millennial Generation – Born 1982+

Answers from 10 students enrolled in EDT 3470

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap?

1. I know that students need to be better at science and math.

2. I know that the status quo is what is causing the problem for the education gap. It’s horrible, the gap should be closed.

3. I think if things aren’t working then it is their job to find new ways to motivate and teach students.

4. New and improved ways of teaching science and math would help in the education gap. Teachers need better training.

5. Students need to get motivated and educated to understand technologies. They need to create their own ideas and think outside the box.

6. We don’t push science and math enough on our young children, they don’t make the students well enough aware of how important these subjects are.

7. Science and math are tough for many people. Maybe we need to find more interesting ways to teach them.

8. Students in America are increasingly less interested in science and math. Jobs in these fields are being overtaken by foreign workers.

9. Not sure

10. I believe math and science are very important for young children to learn so we can increase both of theses gaps in the U.S.

Appendix III

Generation X – Born 1962-1981

Generation X Interviewee #1

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap? I have heard of the “numbers gap” theory, but have not seen anyone discuss if it is just a cycle or an actual decline. What are the students pursuing if not science? Also, the cause/effect is not sufficiently explored. Are fewer students going into the sciences because fewer wish to, or because fewer are being hired, so new students pursue other fields?

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap? Again, I have followed this theory, but do not trust the implicit bias. If we have more children in the poverty range than ever in the last ten years, how does this compare to the “grown up with plenty” sense of entitlement? There are other issues leading to any ambition gap.

Also, it is a fallacy to imply all ambition is or should be driven by a desire for wealth.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap?

Why is he focusing on the graduate level? The “education gap” begins in grade school. Could this be the focus of “liberal arts” education? Or a carry over of the “new math” of the 1970’s?

Generation X Interviewee #2

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap? Very little, in fact. I recognize the pattern occurring in our local schools, and have children of my own who have expressed interest in science and math, however, as they have progressed through the early years of school, the instructional methods and inconsistency in instruction is science and math have left them uninterested in the discipline.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap? I see it nearly every day as students who have everything catered to them lack the motivation to succeed. On the other hand, it seems to balance out in that I have just as many students who are motivated and involved in their own personal education. I’m not sure there is an “ambition gap” that is unrelated to early childhood instruction and teaching methods or poverty and its detrimental effects on urban and rural families.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap? In America, free will and personal ambition are king. The freedom to get an education must be supplemented with the will to overcome the odds and complete each and every assignment. Again, poverty and early childhood intervention seem to affect this “education gap.” Regardless of the discipline, instructional methods and the American education system needs to adjust (slightly) to accommodate the new and vastly different learning styles and interests of the “new American student.”

Generation X Interviewee #3

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap? I attended MTU, so most of my fellow students were engineers. At that time, 1980’s, the population in my courses was predominantly white male. I have heard of the numbers gap, and as an engineer I have experienced it at work. Many of my younger colleagues are foreign born American citizens.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap? It seems that young Americans are not willing to go to extremes to succeed. As a young adult I was driven to get an education and to make a good life form myself. When I look at my nieces and nephews, most seem to lack this drive. A lot can be attributed to home life. Lack of involved parents seems to be producing do nothing children.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap? I can see the problem with a lack of emphasis on math and science in the public schools. Student who would like to be engineers are under prepared for the challenges of college work. I wonder how much is the results of poor teaching, how much is too reliance on calculators and computers, and how much is a result of a lack of emphasis in the curriculum much math and science. Contrary to popular belief science is fun and engineering is rewarding.

Boomers Generation – Born 1945-1961

Boomers Interviewee #1

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap? My understanding of the numbers gap is that other countries, most notably China and India, are educating more people in the math/science fields than the US is. By something like 2030, we will be woefully out of trained engineers, doctors, etc.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap? Nothing surprising here either. We have so much in this country that we cannot conceive of not having excess, let alone not having enough. I teach students every day, every year, who come to school because they don't know what else to do. They don't have any particular goals; they aren't striving for anything in particular; this just seems like a good thing to do at the moment.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap? See answers above. It's all part of the whole concept that America is falling behind and we don't even know it. By some year (after I'm long gone, but while my children are still around) English won't be the primary language, Chinese and Hindi will be ahead. But we're so arrogant in this country that we simply do not believe that. We farm out jobs to India every day, strengthening their economy while weakening ours because we don't want "those" low tech jobs. And yet, we don't encourage our students to take challenging courses; we don't support school bond issues; we aren't even smart enough to see that the problems in education are not going to be fixed by building a new gym. We need to put money into people, smaller class sizes, mentoring. The best and the brightest students will continue to go to school and work for degrees, but there are some students with hidden potential that we don't even know about . . . nor do they.

Boomers Interviewee #2

First, a “numbers gap”
My understanding is that this is a real problem. Again, today, we read of the President’s initiatives to push science and math in the public schools. Even more threatening is the fact that the United States continues to lag behind other countries in producing engineers. And, the engineers that are produced in the U.S. are not as talented as they were from years ago. For example, many years ago it was typical to find that all engineers changed the oil in their cars, took apart machinery to see how it works and enjoyed tinkering around with mechanical equipment. Today, few engineers even change the oil in their cars. My understanding is that this hands-on experience is a serious knowledge gap, as well.

Ambition gap - As an educator of the underprepared student for college level reading material, I see this gap first hand. Many students don’t understand that they will be asked to read material they don’t want to read in order to be successful in college because they believe that they are entitled to everything and don’t have to do anything to get it. They have little-to-no understanding of the hard road to success nor do they want to accept the challenge.

Education gap - I know the above statement [Over 60 percent of our graduate students in the sciences are foreign students] to be true, but even more alarming is the comparison of young women to young men who are going to college. For every four students, only one is a young man. What will our society look like in ten years from now if we are not attracting and RETAINING men in college? And, should we be pushing affirmative action to ensure that we don’t have a matriarchal society? I am personally not as concerned about the foreign student influence (that’s part of globalization), as I am about ensuring that we are educating males right here in the United States.

Boomers Interviewee #3

Numbers Gap.........I would start by saying, "define American". The scientists who helped us win WWII were almost all German/Swiss/Polish, etc. and now their off-spring are American! Aren't we still the "great melting pot"? The premise seems xenophobic.

Ambition Gap....Again ,I am more optimistic about our kids than the author. He needs to get out of the East Coast corridor and see the tremendous energy in the Heartland. We have kids scrambling to take AP courses to get into the best schools...and working 2 and 3 jobs to stay in. We have to remember what a huge country this is and that there will be lots of people
"left behind"...but plenty will excel as well.

Education Gap....My hope is that this one is just cyclical. Today’s student is the product of the "boomers"...perhaps the most laid back generation in history. They will see opportunities slipping by and energize the next group not to miss their chance.
 As to the "brain drain" coming to our shores...let em come! We will take the best and brightest.....because guess what???? They never leave! The US will only get stronger over time....that is the history of our country. It has always been the immigrant class that has stirred the pot and made the end product better.

Boomers Interviewee #4

What is your knowledge/understanding of the numbers gap?

After reading the prompt, I was struck by the implicit racism in them. Its seems like there is not dearth of scientists; they are just not American. And it seems like the implication is white Americans. The sentence “Foreign-born people account for ever . . . workers.” So what? At least there’s people who do have them.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the ambition gap?

I agree that a great many American students have no ambition and no idea what hard work is. However, a great many do. For what ever reasons, either economic or psychological, some people are driven to work for success. And again, I say, “Go for it!” Asian and Indian high achievers are often brow beaten by their parents, too. I have had several Asian students whose parents have pushed them into enrichment classes they have no interest id. The parent is trying to provide more avenues for success. Perhaps rather than hitting on students, Friedman should whomp on the parents for giving their kids such an easy ride.

What is your knowledge/understanding of the education gap?

Again, so what’s wrong with 60% of the graduate students being foreign? Many foreign people, after experiencing American life, choose to stay here. Then they are ‘us.’ The whole set-up seems to be based on the fear that brown-skinned people might take over. And they might! Does it worry me? Not in the least.