Ever see Brittany Spears and Math Geek in the same sentence?

I heard a great speaker today (Alex Filimon from Dalhousie University) talking about some of the issues we face in Canada; he pointed out that 62% of new jobs over the next few years will require math but only 5% of degrees awarded in Canada are for Math, Computer Science or IT. And the picture would be even worse if you remove foreign students (who often intend to take their degrees home to China or India) from the mix.

Math is still viewed as a geeky non-sexy subject when put alongside Marketing, Finance or Medicine. This is a huge disconnect when you consider that "analytics" is becoming a hot business buzzword ....check out new bestsellers in the business market like "Competing on Analytics" and "Super Crunchers"

We must be doing something wrong.....we need to work to engage students at all levels to understand the relevance and importance of math. I still hear far too many students say "What am I ever going to use this for?" Teachers need to present math in an engaging way; cirriculums need to provide practical math not simply theories and formula; and those of us who work in this field must promote what math has done for them and their business careers.

If we don't get more students engaged in math, we are going to fall behind.

To reinforce the point, my new favourite quote:

“In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spear s- and that’s our problem.” Jerry Yang, Co-founder Yahoo