Unfortunately, careers in science in the United States is in the tank right now. If it weren't for smart international students coming over here, electing science, mathematics, or engineering and subsequently working here, we'd be in a real fix.
The problem is even more acute when we see how few women or African-Americans choose science careers. In my opinion, the problem is that science is portrayed too often as a boring, white male-oriented enterprise with dull, unfashionable people with bad haircuts doing the work. Even some of the glamor fields in science show this perceptual deficit. Just Google pictures under the rubric "mad scientist," and what do you get: a photo or cartoon some demented old male with poor sartorial skill and possibly halitosis (ugh!).
In my opinion, mad scientists are misrepresented; they really the ones on the cutting edge. If we want to increase our S.Q. (Science Quotient) nationally, then we need all the interested persons we can get. It is really in our best interests to provide suitable role models of mad or demented scientists that more young people can identify with. So, you active scientists: engaging in mentoring of young people, cast the potential scientist net wider, and clean up your act and start acting cool!
So next time in a scientific fiction movie, let the deranged person who says, "Fools, I'll fix them all" while brandishing test tubes or flasks be a hot girl wearing a sexily cut lab coat. Go the full nine yards: maybe let her wear Daisy Dukes and a bikini top that will be revealed when she takes off the lab coat at the end of the day.
The problem is even more acute when we see how few women or African-Americans choose science careers. In my opinion, the problem is that science is portrayed too often as a boring, white male-oriented enterprise with dull, unfashionable people with bad haircuts doing the work. Even some of the glamor fields in science show this perceptual deficit. Just Google pictures under the rubric "mad scientist," and what do you get: a photo or cartoon some demented old male with poor sartorial skill and possibly halitosis (ugh!).
In my opinion, mad scientists are misrepresented; they really the ones on the cutting edge. If we want to increase our S.Q. (Science Quotient) nationally, then we need all the interested persons we can get. It is really in our best interests to provide suitable role models of mad or demented scientists that more young people can identify with. So, you active scientists: engaging in mentoring of young people, cast the potential scientist net wider, and clean up your act and start acting cool!
So next time in a scientific fiction movie, let the deranged person who says, "Fools, I'll fix them all" while brandishing test tubes or flasks be a hot girl wearing a sexily cut lab coat. Go the full nine yards: maybe let her wear Daisy Dukes and a bikini top that will be revealed when she takes off the lab coat at the end of the day.
2 comments:
Other than the grammatical error, a nice humorous satire.
I'm in engineering: we need some hotness here!
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