Creativity Needed To Succeed In Globalizing Economy

Two former assistant U.S. Secretaries of Education write in The Wall Street Journal Online Edition that American education's single-minded focus on science, technology, engineering and math ('STEM' subjects) is admirable but misguided.

They write: "the STEM-winders mean well. They reason that India and China will eat America's lunch unless we boost our young people's prowess in the STEM fields. But these enthusiasts don't understand that what makes Americans competitive on a shrinking, globalizing planet isn't out-gunning Asians at technical skills. Rather, it's our people's creativity, versatility, imagination, restlessness, energy, ambition and problem-solving prowess. True success over the long haul -- economic success, civic success, cultural success, domestic success, national defense success -- depends on a broadly educated populace with flowers and leaves as well as stems. That's what equips us to invent and imagine and grow one business line into another. It's also how we acquire qualities and abilities that aren't easily "outsourced" to Guangzhou or Hyderabad."

In other words, we need citizens with well developed imaginations, not just excellent technicians.