STEM degree no guarantee of jobs - Miami Herald

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott‘s Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform released a report recommending slightly discounted tuition for students pursuing certain majors — primarily STEM. Though Scott has not yet formally embraced the proposal, the idea has sparked a backlash from humanities professors who feel their departments are being marginalized. A group of frustrated University of Florida history professors recently began a Change.org petition against the two-tiered pricing idea. The petition predicts the state‘s focus on steering students into “strategic areas of emphasis” will wreak havoc on English, history, and psychology departments, among others. University of Florida associate professor Lillian Guerra teaches Cuban & Caribbean history. After state lawmakers chopped about one-third of all Florida universities‘ funding in the past five years, Guerra said the center had to reduce the number of graduate students it admitted. That reduction in turn forced UF to hold fewer seminars — reducing its spotlight on the national stage. http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3160109-74/stem-jobs-history