My husband has been employed for 30+ years in the field of Information Technology, specifically in the area of 9-1-1 and NG9-1-1 technology. He was not a math, science, or computer science major in community college but an art and music major, and much of his early learning came from being employed first as a computer salesperson. Now he he has risen to a high position within his industry and company.

He would say that the technology changes so often and in unpredictable, non-linear ways, and that math, science, and electronics classes never meet the needs of the vast and varied technology fields. Technological innovation moves so rapidly that even computer science majors have little advantage over the hands-on learners who begin without “proper” STEM classes.

I am a classical educator, and my students mostly have been trained in history, literature, rhetoric, and languages. Yes, they have taken classes in math and the sciences, but the STEM classes today do not teach how to think, but what to think.

The jobs of the future will not all be done by those who can think formulaically, but by those who can manage workaround computations and make thoughtful decisions about outcomes and consequences.

I am not sure that your prejudice is rightly placed about a lack of STEM courses and qualified educators in rural America. From a rural person’s perspective, the students living in citified America where everything is done in a kind of vacuum away from having to do a lot of hard manual work and Gerry-rigging solutions to mechanical and technological problems, are at a distinct disadvantage for learning much that has to do with ordinary life, including access to a vaster “life” experience where thinking and education do not necessarily equate to checking off pre-configured boxes.

My career has been in technology and in training technology professionals in K-12, corporate, and higher education settings. My experience includes electronics, electromechanical systems, automated systems, and (primarily) information technology.

I came from a rural school as described in the article. I took every math class available. The advanced classes I took by myself while sitting in lower level classes. In daily life, Home Economics and Shop have proven to be most useful.

In my twenty five years of teaching technologies, I have often been reminded of the importance of mathematics in my field – generally by educators and counselors with little knowledge of the field. Each time, I explain to them that there are no calculations that require anything beyond basic algebra. This often comes as a relief to the kids who are afraid of entering the field. Math expectations needlessly scare many away.

Any specialized calculations are taught in trade school or college. They must be in order to accommodate the career-changers who have not used more than basic mathematics in decades.

What I need are students who can gather fragmented and flawed bits of information and piece together solutions. They need to be able take technical topics and present them to non-technical audiences. They need to be able to express themselves in writing well enough to explain an issue and the rationale for how and why to address it. They need to be able to evaluate overwhelming situations and apply logic to throw out the clutter.

I need thinkers and communicators – not future mathematicians. In fact, a building trades or shop class may be more helpful than that calculus class.