some of the fundamental concerns expressed by the "learn coding" movement are legitimate. Skills such as breaking a complex problem into component parts, rapidly learning and applying new tools and methods, synthesizing a complex series of tasks to accomplish an objective, integrating disparate elements designed by multiple teams, and "debugging" a system when it doesn't work correctly are critical for success in a variety of professions. While coding checks all these boxes, so does woodshop, cooking and baking, advanced mathematics, or designing a house. "Debugging" a failed soufflé or a mortise and tenon joint that doesn't quite fit uses a similar thought process to debugging some pesky JavaScript code, but each content area likely appeals to different sets of people.I also learned the term "STEM hysteria" from the comments (Yes, I do have friends who think STEM education is not enough in US and is hurting US economy in the long run) I tend to agree with another author, Michael S. Teitelbaum, who wrote the book “Falling Behind? Boom, Bust, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent." He urges that we continue to strengthen math and science education in K-12, because educated citizens should have an understanding and knowledge of math and science, not because there will be lucrative careers awaiting them. There will be for some, but not for all or even most.
I noticed one comment from the post linked above suggested engineering jobs are higher paid so if more students major in engineering, it would solve the problem with inequalities in the US economy. I cannot disagree more: wouldn't having more graduating engineering students drag down the salaries of engineering jobs?
