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Maths and the 'Smart Economy' fallacy

  • 29-08-2011 10:37PM
    #1
    evolving_doors
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭


    Any maths teachers had it up to the back teeth with media harping on about maths and how we need it for the smart economy? Fair enough things need to change but things are changing ...

    Letter to the editor in Irish independent today from a maths graduate really put it in perspective. Any thoughts???


    Monday August 29 2011
    •Maths has been centre stage lately in such a way that would lead you to believe that it is not just an important factor, but an essential skill in gaining employment.

    Having studied physics at both degree and masters level and pharmaceuticals, I was surprised to see the lack of understanding of maths among fellow students and a dependence on rote learning for the more mathematical exam questions that we would face.

    But time and time again I have seen students of engineering, science, IT and business manage to get through degrees and go on to have meaningful careers despite having only a basic understanding of the subject.

    I agree with the argument that the problem-solving skills that maths teaches are transferable to other areas and ideally it should be considered a valuable skill.

    However, being unemployed for some time, I have found that a good understanding of maths does not seem to rate high on the list of skills for recruitment agencies.

    Although I still study it, the only use that I ever found for it was in teaching others.

    For postgraduate research, advanced mathematical skills certainly become more important but there is no shortage of suitable applicants for PhDs, while there is a shortage of funding to accommodate them.

    It seems the idea of a smart economy never quite took hold.

    Is this concern about maths just about how it affects our image and the consequences that that might have for foreign investment? Or is it based on expectations of a future where it is viewed as an essential job requirement and postgraduate funding is plentiful?

    Perhaps it would be more practical to ask if maths skills are an advantage to the job-seeking individual right now.

    In my experience it hasn't been, at least not in the way that you would expect from what you hear in the media.

    Gareth Daly
    Glenageary, Co Dublin.

    Irish Independent


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