‘Too rock heavy,’ too ableist, too white: Geoscience students identify concerns in field

“…Geoscience courses are “too rock heavy,” remote field sites are not handicap accessible, and faculty in the field are insufficiently diverse — these are some of the concerns identified through a nationwide survey of students majoring in geoscience.

“BIPOC students in geoscience face discrimination and barriers to learning at all levels, from microaggressions to systemic racism,” wrote Willa Rowan of Western Washington University in her August 2023 master’s thesis…”

I retired recently with more than 35 years of professional experience as an engineering geologist and hydrogeologist. I started companies, managed companies, managed personnel, hired personnel, etc. I can state without qualification that the average education received by graduates in the geosciences and related engineering disciplines has declined significantly over the last 20 years. I can also state that the average expectations of recent graduates has increased in an inverse relationship to quality of education. It is the kind of nonsense in Ms. Rowan’s master thesis that highlights the failure of professors to focus on the fundamentals of geology and geologic analyses and engineering  and engineering analyses. It is this teaching failure that has denied young professionals an adequate education while instilling in them a false sense of self-worth and unrealistic expectations when they enter the professions.