Argumentaire: on a beaucoup investi dans les STEM, mais les compétences humaines liées à l'apprentissage des langues sont et seront de plus en plus valorisées. Soft Power !

Sorry STEM, Google just made the case for more foreign language education Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 1, 2018 in education, Language Learning, Language News

Science, technology, engineering, and math are not the only (or even the most) valuable 21st century skills. Even Google says so.

In the last decade, American education has been increasingly concerned with promoting STEM subjects. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of students enrolled in STEM degree programs increased 36%. Then-President Obama asked Congress for a $4 billion investment in computer science in K-12 schools. States like Michigan now allow high school students to fulfill foreign language credit requirements by learning to code. Government officials in North Carolina and Kentucky have proposed defunding non-technical majors in state universities, on the basis that they “don’t get someone a job”.

But Google—of all sources—may have just blown the lid of the entire STEM-phasis.

“Google” by Carlos Luna on Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The Washington Post recently reported on a 2013 Google study of its hiring, firing, and promotion data since 1998. The study, called Project Oxygen, shockingly concluded that “among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last.”

So, what came out on top? “The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas.”