We don't all need to be STEM majors or in "cyber" in order to justify existing

[Army of Light]

Fuck STEM

All of this stuff is coming from think tanks and foundations devaluing the humanities in favor of STEM, not because they want to make unprivileged children in urban centers tech millionaires or help people with so called useless degrees but because they want to lower labor costs, making everyone's salary smaller. The Gates Foundation is not your friend. The tories are not your friend. Mike Rowe is not your friend. Silicon valley is not your friend, and the CIA and NSA sure as heck ain't your friend. We are not our jobs, we are not our education. We shouldn't have to justify existing. We need liberal arts and fine arts. Not everyone should be a tech bro or a finance bro. Higher education should be free, regardless of whether it makes a member of the ruling class rich.

 

[VHS]

I agree, as someone that is a software developer we do need more people our team is constantly hiring but that doesn't mean every person should be in our field. Instead we should be paying people in other positions more so that they can do those valuable careers too if they want to

 

[CherryPie]

I think it's important to empower women to pursue STEM as from a young age they've been told it's a man's world, so in this sense a certain affirmative action is needed to lead women into pursuing careers in this field, whereas women already 'naturally' pursue careers in humanities (because this is what we grow up to believe are fields that we are destined for) or w/e.

But advertisements like this totally miss the mark and the message it's supposed to promote.

 

[Fireblend]

I've been listening to the absolutely fantastic Tech Won't Save Us podcast (wholeheartedly recommended) and they had a great episode recently on how the laser focus on STEM as the one way for social progress by neoliberal governments fucked up the role of key institutions and public infrastructure like schools and libraries, I thought it was particularly enlightening and recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, it really is imperative for people to realize tech isn't the end all be all (and I say all this as someone working in STEM for 10+ years now)

 

[bellydrum]

Damn, as a software developer, I never thought about how toxic that campaign is. Good post.

 

[dark_prinny]

yeah, the system has led us to believe this is the only viable way of subsisting professionally. It's all a lie.

 

[Ramune]

Empowering women and minorities in STEM is very important, but more than getting them into the field we need to make sure their time working in it is good and not fraught with inequalities, which I question if the government or many major institution leadership roles are interested in. The vital context here is also that the UK government is hostile to arts careers and has spent years slashing funding while also implementing austerity measures, making life miserable at best or dangerous at worst - this ad is designed to justify that by suggesting it pushes people towards exciting new opportunities (that they don’t want). My masters should have been funded by the arts council but it got cut at the last minute and I was lucky to secure (significantly less) funding elsewhere - ironically it led me to working in a major STEM institution because (surprise!) they need my skills.

 

[VolcanicDynamo]

As someone in STEM (specifically education), I agree. In fact, I'll go one further - for people in STEM, it is important to have exposure to and value in the humanities. Tech is as biased as the people who make it, and as OP's graphics elegantly show, tech can't do it all! You need those different perspectives, not just in work but also in life.

The pressure on people to just go for the job thanks to capitalism is horrible and this is such a clear demonstration of it.

 

[Kenka]

I've been listening to the absolutely fantastic Tech Won't Save Us podcast (wholeheartedly recommended) and they had a great episode recently on how the laser focus on STEM as the one way for social progress by neoliberal governments fucked up the role of key institutions and public infrastructure like schools and libraries, I thought it was particularly enlightening and recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, it really is imperative for people to realize tech isn't the end all be all (and I say all this as someone working in STEM for 10+ years now)

Thank you very much. It's refreshing in general to hear constructed arguments about a serious issue.

 

[enempi]

I’m also a software engineer, and I agree the focus on STEM everything is pretty bad. It makes me uncomfortable when people act like my career is aspirational and that people who got humanities degrees were wasting their money or something. I also don’t like when people act like software development is some esoteric wizardry, it’s a skill like anything else that anyone can learn, we are not super geniuses.

That being said, we do need to work on making these tech jobs more accessible. This has more to do with encouraging youth than asking that people retrain. These careers are lucrative, good perks, and usually not too stressful. As long as that remains true then we need to work on not locking out women and minorities.

 

[GokouD]

While that advert was terrible, as someone who works in IT I didn't like the undercurrent of 'ugh, who would want to be a stinky computer nerd when you could be something important like an artist?' that came through in the criticism of it.

 

[Kanhir]

I started in humanities (translation), then had a natural transition into software development. Both are completely valid career choices, and I often miss the creativity involved in a translation/editing/writing job. Development can also be creative, but not in the same way.

This ad is a complete disaster though. STEM and humanities are apples and oranges and shouldn't be compared in either direction. Every career choice is valid if it's true to who you are.

 

[chocolate_supra]

I've had friends try to convince me that the way to "fix unemployment" is to strip primary schools of anything arts and humanities related so kids will stop being trained to chase "useless" jobs in "industries that barely exist." They insist STEM is the only thing that should be taught, regardless of how many people's "feelings it hurts."

So I absolutely love this.

 

[brainchild]

As someone with a STEM background, I completely agree with the critiques made against the ad. STEM careers have no more inherent value than careers in the Arts or Humanities.

While I believe it's important to work towards ensuring equity and equality for women in STEM fields (and making sure those fields are appealing/accessible), this is definitely not the way to do it. I'm glad it's being called out.

 

[Lord Azrael]

As a software developer, this is a tough subject. On the one hand, we definitely need to encourage women and minorities to feel more comfortable pursuing STEM, and make them feel safe and welcome once they ARE there. Tech environment can be pretty damn toxic when the demographics are so narrow. But it should not go hand in hand with shitting on the arts or other professions. Even at tech companies, there are plenty of non-STEM roles. Designers, writers, product people, sales, etc. But this mentality that STEM is the only way to go if you want a successful career, or this false perception that you need to be smarter to pursue it, contributes to the toxicity of the tech industry in a different way. I hate how often I hear that everything is some other department's fault.

 

[Remark]

As a software developer, this is a tough subject. On the one hand, we definitely need to encourage women and minorities to feel more comfortable pursuing STEM, and make them feel safe and welcome once they ARE there. Tech environment can be pretty damn toxic when the demographics are so narrow. But it should not go hand in hand with shitting on the arts or other professions. Even at tech companies, there are plenty of non-STEM roles. Designers, writers, product people, sales, etc. But this mentality that STEM is the only way to go if you want a successful career, or this false perception that you need to be smarter to pursue it, contributes to the toxicity of the tech industry in a different way. I hate how often I hear that everything is some other department's fault.

This is kind of how I feel about it as well. I understand the push for STEM mainly for people like me (minorities) and females as well but we shouldn't devalue other industries because of that. I say that as someone who works in a STEM field currently.

Often times you hear people say don't go to college unless it's nursing or STEM which is a bit true leads to a bigger problem of people believing the choices they have in making good money is only in those fields. It might be a little harder but I still believe in doing whatever you really want to do in life. I've seen people who are passionate about graphic design or photography go work in the IT field or become developers because they felt pressured by not only their parents but really the world that the thing their passionate about doesn't make enough money to be stable which isn't true and convincing people of that is really fucked up in my opinion.

There has to be a better way of building up other industries and other talents without putting another down.

 

[Kanhir]

Shower thought: Maybe someone should explain to the government what cybering is.

 

[Zellia]

Shower thought: Maybe someone should explain to the government what cybering is.

I had the exact same thought when I first saw the ads and burst out laughing.

Kinda terrible messaging all round really with the whole suggestion that the arts are worthless compared to STEM.