Silicon Valley Nation: What to say to your kids

8/31/2012 1:52 PM EDT

Study Chemistry, Biological Science, or Biomedical Engineering.

If they really want to study Electrical Engineering, I'd strongly suggest they also study Mandarin.

8/31/2012 6:09 PM EDT

Don't be a robot. Be a human. Study ethics and morality. Learn about why people were willing and are willing to die for ideas. Would you ever want to die for a microprocessor? Probably not. Study what makes people be people by looking at history. Do that before or while studying engineering or math. You're not a cog in a wheel, so don't act like one.

9/1/2012 12:27 PM EDT

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics cites a 14% growth rate for all occupations between 2010 and 2020. In comparison the BLS predicts a total growth rate of only 6% for electrical and electronic engineers, and 9% for computer engineers for the same time period.

9/4/2012 12:32 AM EDT

I guess the thing to aspire for is what make one enjoy while doing it. So it's not just engineering, any subject which catches more than a passing attention of the children should be encouraged. When they grow up they will understand what it is that they gain and lose in that choice and the choice is theirs.

9/4/2012 2:02 PM EDT

I would tell them to study something that they have passion about and has career potential. If they have a passion without much career potential, then take that as a minor. The thing about engineering is that it tends to be easier to go into other fields with an engineering degree than the reverse.

If you enjoy engineering but later decide to go into marketing or some more generic business position, it;s not that difficult to do. But going the other direction will likely take nearly an entire new degree.

9/4/2012 2:53 PM EDT

I agree with Duane: follow your passion. Firstly, if they are passionate about their major, they will be more likely to stick with it and actually graduate. Secondly, in this ever-changing world, there are very few "guaranteed" careers, so your kids may wind up working in a different field from their college major. And Rich makes an important point: in addition to critical reasoning, ethics and humanity are important things to learn (and to practice). Finally, some people (like me) are born to be engineers. The world shapes most of us; a privileged few of us have the opportunity to shape the world.

9/4/2012 4:59 PM EDT

I would tell them to study finance. What other field can you run a company into the ground, get a government bailout, and then get a 100 million dollar bonus? Engineering is no longer a good field to get into.

9/4/2012 5:15 PM EDT

As Joseph Campbell says: "Follow your bliss". You will be amazed as to where it will lead you to.

9/4/2012 5:21 PM EDT

I agree with all these comments about encouraging our kids to study whatever they are passionate about. If that's some branch of engineering, great. If it's something else -- a business field, teaching or a liberal arts major -- that's great too.

But the world needs more than just engineering majors and business majors, and a university education should be first and foremost about getting a higher education, not simply training for a specific job or a specific career.

I have 2 in college now, and many of the careers that will come about during their working lifetimes don't even exist yet. Imagine 20 years ago if someone had told us there would be such a career as "web designer." What education would you have told someone 20 years ago that he needed if he wanted to be a web designer? Computer science? Well maybe. But what about graphic arts? How many successful web designers even majored in either one of those things?

A student who follows his or her passion develops a love of learning, and that is, in my opinion, far more important than learning only what you need to know to get a specific job on a specific career path.

9/4/2012 6:09 PM EDT

"A student who follows his or her passion develops a love of learning, and that is, in my opinion, far more important than learning only what you need to know to get a specific job on a specific career path."

In good times, I would agree. But there are a heck of a lot of unemployed yet passionate English and History majors who might disagree with this approach.

9/6/2012 2:46 PM EDT

We know engineering careers are hard and we don't think our kids would be up to it. If I had known how hard it was I wouldn't think I was up to it either. We worked hard and adapted. I guess they will too.

9/9/2012 9:59 PM EDT

You can follow a passion in history (or pretty much anything else for that matter) without running up tens of thousands of dollars of student debt. Get books out of the library, do part-time research. If you end up writing a book or two that someone will pay for then you've made a career.