STEM Is Not the Only Way to Be Smart
Society is always talking about the future of technology as the epitome of innovative thinking, but what does this mean for other fields?
As the child of a software developer and a student in a school of many Asians, I’ve often found myself with the same mantras circling in my mind:
“The future of the world is technology… Careers are moving towards technology… Technology is the height of innovation and talent… Engineering, Medicine, Business and AI will take over the world.”
As a technology enthusiast myself, these statements are truthful in every respect. Technology will change the world, and there will be countless jobs in STEM. But to a child, any child out there, who loves cinematography, music composition, or even industrial design… these statements can act as blankets, gently burying and stigmatizing their inner passions.
Why are we so obsessed with STEM?
Two major things:
- The media and direct impact of STEM
- Our definitions of success
We see the impact of technology on a daily basis.
Every day we hear on the news of how a 10-year-old coding prodigy is using AI to transform facial recognition, or how the bleeding edge of biomedical engineering is saving the lives of innocent children. These are all incredible innovations in of themselves, but have we ever once heard of how an artwork, a user-interface, or a novel has marked revolutionary progress for mankind?
The answer is (likely)… no.
And that’s okay because until recently, I never thought that was possible either. Abstract fields, whether it be mathematics or philosophy, ripple through the world in subtle ways, impacting other fields or disciplines before reaching the hands of people. On the other hand, breakthroughs in areas such as engineering and medicine are far more celebrated, because they create a direct and dramatic impact on people’s lives. This is why the arts have taken a step backward from the spotlight, save for pop culture news about Taylor Swift.
We’re obsessed with the wrong kind of success.
Not only does the media perpetuate that only those in STEM and medicine are smart, but the way society characterizes “success” also plays a big role in our modern-day perception of the arts.
What do you think of when you imagine a successful person?
The first thing that comes to a lot of people’s minds is someone with fame, power and/or wealth. We are so obsessed with money and power. Why else would the internet be flooded with articles like, “Highest paying jobs of 2019!” or “Most employable college degrees of the future!”. Though in all honesty, I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of reading those articles plenty of times myself. Oops.
Not only are we obsessed with success, but we also happen to consider successful people, smart people — and for good reason. But what that means is:
Successful = Smart = Money + Fame + Power
And when STEM = Smart (as popularized by the media), then…
Success= STEM = Money + Fame + Power
Society’s obsession with money and other materialistic forms of success has driven people to STEM. STEM as a career field and college major happens to be not only really employable but also really profitable.
On the other hand, our obsession with money has driven us away from the arts. Traditional humanities and arts fields have historically been associated with lower-paying jobs and financial instability. There’s no denying that becoming the next Picasso or J.K. Rowling is hard, but by painting all of these fields with the “starving artist” stereotype, we are losing the immense potential of emerging artistic fields that are both employable AND profitable.
Seek fulfillment, not prestige.
Over the course of the last month of attending a summer program called SHAD, I’ve had the privilege of hearing from real people the impact that any field, can have on society.
For the last 2–3 years, I’ve noticed that many of my interests have always been wide and varied, from interior design to programming all the way to UI/UX and psychology. But despite this, because I was fixated on being viewed as “smart” or a “change-maker” in society, I found myself suppressing my humanities-related passions. I wanted to feel like I was someone of value, someone that would make a “difference” in the world. So instead of dabbling in Adobe Illustrator or joining Graphic Design Club, I was fixed on marching my way through CodeAcademy courses. It felt like that was what the world was telling me, that this — coding, engineering, medicine… that’s what smart, innovative people look like. And while learning about almost anything fascinates me, I’ve found that curiosity ≠ fulfillment. You’re probably thinking that makes no sense, to which I say, let me explain.
To quote one of the program directors of my SHAD campus,
“Imagine this plate in front of us. I’m curious to know how it was made, in fact I would be fascinated to find out… but that doesn’t mean I want to wake up every morning, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, to optimize the plate-making process. There’s people out there who do, whom I am incredibly happy for, but not everyone is.”
I love hearing about breakthroughs, all the next steps humanity is taking on the bleeding edge of innovation. I’m eager to learn how to code a machine learning algorithm, how a prosthetic arm is able to communicate with the brain and all the more. But I find myself wanting to go beyond just one narrow field, I want to dive deeper into both the humanities and STEM — especially where the two intersect.
Linking back to all the hype and “smartness” that has been associated with STEM, there are many of us out there who have been left floundering, confusing curiosity with passion, and suppressing our true interests…because of the rose-colored lens we have all begun to view STEM with.
For a long time, I’ve convinced myself that the only way for me to prove that I’m a smart, capable person is to go into STEM. I would think, “What am I doing?” I wanted to make things “look pretty” as a designer when there were doctors and biomedical engineers out there saving lives with their bare hands. Even though I “knew” that design or the arts were incredible, requiring a different type of intelligence in their own right…I couldn’t bring myself to believe it, at least not until it came from someone else.
To quote my incredible Program Director again,
“If everyone in the world was a doctor, the world would cease to function.”
She went on to describe the ways design is “saving lives” in their own form, with which I won’t bore you with the details. The point I’m trying to tell you, my faithful reader, is that you should make the impact that you want to have in the world.
If that’s in design, do it. If that’s in STEM, do it. Whatever it is, DO IT. There are so many roles that our society needs and so many roles that each of us plays that extend beyond our careers.
There is no one way to be smart, or happy, or successful. With so many problems in the world, there are millions of roles you can play to make the impact you want to have, the way you want it.
Whatever it is that you choose to do, just know that the world can’t wait to see what you have in store.
