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Careers In The Mathematical Sciences: The Role Of The School Counselor

“The more things change, the more they remain the same.” This old cliche seems to have much relevance today as it concerns individuals selecting one of the mathematical sciences, including engineering and computer science, as a career choice. Although there has been an increase in career options in the mathematical sciences due to the recent advances in technology and its applications, the number of individuals selecting a career in this field has changed very little.
Based on research, selecting a career involves a process that includes a person’s background, personal qualities, motivation, and environment (Farmer, 1987). Therefore, if the number of individuals seeking a career in one of the mathematical sciences is to increase, efforts are needed to influence these factors beginning in the early school years. Some statistics that have a bearing on the importance of attracting children to the mathematical sciences include the following:
(a) nearly 75% of tomorrow’s jobs will require the use of computers;
(b) 34% of high-school-age girls reported being advised by a faculty member to not take senior mathematics;
(c) African Americans make up 12% of the population but only 2% of all employed scientists and engineers;
(d) Hispanics comprise 9% of our population but only 2% of the individuals employed in science and engineering,
(e) Native Americans make up .6% of the population but only .5% of all employed scientists and engineers, and
(f) European-American women represent 43% of the population but only 10% of all scientists and engineers (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1999).
Is the problem of a small number of individuals selecting a career in the mathematical sciences caused by a negative attitude toward mathematics or by limited exposure to extracurricular activities in mathematical sciences, or is the problem the result of children lacking career information?
While we started this paper with the cliche that as things change, they remain the same, we believe that this may be the best time ever to encourage young people to select careers in the mathematical sciences.

In large part, this is due to recent changes in the way that the mathematics curriculum is being approached in the United States. The current view of the mathematics paradigm has moved away from a focus on facts and computation to a focus on mathematics as problem-solving. This revised approach to teaching and learning mathematics emphasizes the mental processes involved in doing mathematics and in part focuses on children’s prior knowledge, out-of-school experiences, and informal mathematics knowledge. This provides a much more engaging and interesting approach in the mathematics curriculum. As a result, we are now at a threshold whereby we can engage children in mathematics instruction in a way that encourages them to select one of the mathematical sciences as an occupation.
In order for change to occur, however, several conditions are necessary. First, there must be an increased focus on the paradigm of problem solving in mathematics and a movement away from the traditional curriculum of drill and practice. Second, there needs to be an effort to provide teachers with professional development concerning the goals of instruction, student learning, and their own beliefs about the mathematical sciences. Third, individuals who have a stake in a child’s development need to help reform the current state of low involvement in the mathematical sciences, especially since preparation in mathematics is becoming increasingly important in many professional fields. Major contributors to this effort are school counselors, who are in a unique position to help increase the possibility of students selecting one of the mathematical sciences as a career. The various efforts that can be made in this area are presented below.
Role of the School Counselor
There are two inadvertent biases that may affect students as they think about their potential careers in the mathematical sciences:
1. that careers in mathematics are only for those with outstanding mathematics potential, and
2. that various demographic factors (e.g., gender and ethnicity) predetermine mathematics achievement and appropriate career choice. Counselors can intervene in various ways:
1. They can reduce these inadvertent biases by assisting in maintaining a balance between the mathematical preparation of all students and encouraging only a select few to take higher level mathematics courses (Peterson, 1993).
2. Counselors can assist teachers to critically examine their relations with students and help them provide opportunities for all students in their mathematics courses (Davenport, 1994). This, in turn, can affect student attitudes toward future careers in the mathematical sciences, as well as students’ beliefs regarding their abilities to achieve in mathematics.
3. Counselors can facilitate the infusion of career exploration and knowledge of the mathematical sciences into all course content beginning in kindergarten. Encouraging teachers to provide opportunities for students to increase their awareness of potential careers in mathematics can help reduce the biases which students may have about mathematics careers.
School counselors also can help increase family collaboration by working closely with parents to increase family-school communication, and by providing parents with the skills and attitudes necessary to encourage their children to make appropriate career choices. Parents’ beliefs about mathematics influence children’s beliefs. For example, parents with mathematics-related anxiety who are working with their children on mathematics homework will directly impact the comfort level of their children toward mathematics, and thus toward a career in the mathematical sciences.

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The Role of Information Technology Services

Even though some institutions might not be able to have a large information technology staff, they will still need someone to take care of the day to day computers and servers that the company relies on. Some companies are capable of working effectively with only have a IT manager and another one or two people as IT support staff. Regardless of a large or small workforce within this department, it is important to see that jobs in information technology are not becoming extinct. More than anything, these roles are needed more than ever before. Without the proper IT services in place that is being maintained, some companies can quickly become crippled.

Why It Is Essential

The use of Information Technology services is still essential in the way it can help managers and directors in moving a company forward. Any major change to the company in terms of the way it operates should also include the advice of the people working within IT.

They will be able to help the company’s director with seeing if the change is feasible from an IT perspective. This can help a corporation not waste valuable time and money time to implement a new system and later discover that it is not the best system for the company. This could be avoided by essentially contacting the department that will have the day to day running of the system.

We are looking in a technological advanced world and working in an environment in which the proper and correct use of technology can help a company to sustain its success and continue to be profitable. Therefore, more than a second thought should be given to properly setting up IT services within a company.

Getting Started

For a company to get started in using information technology services, it will need to have hired a department that is equipped to deal with all aspect of this form of infrastructure. Not only will other staff needed to be trained, but a corporation will expect the IT department to introduce cost effective measures for hardware and software. Thus not only will IT staff need to be able to fix something when there is a problem, but they should be able to clearly explain to staff how to use software in an easy to understand manner. Finding IT staff with this balance is essentially.

Finding The Best Services

When looking for ways to finish projects in information technology services, the main roles for this are IT Managers or IT Directors. Then depending on your area of specialty there can be jobs available in networking or security. The type of role someone is hired for will all depend on the needs of the company to help maintain and improve their infrastructure.

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Cloud Computing Role in Today?s Business

The cloud services are playing an important role in the growth of the IT sector as well as other business sectors. Cloud computing is widely used everywhere in the world whether you are a student, working class, or a business entrepreneur. The IT Support Services providers are reaping the benefits of these services and it will not be wrong to say that cloud services have now become the backbone of the technical operations of any business.

The motive of cloud services is to deliver the computing services, free from the boundaries of any location. They can be used and provided from any part of the geographical location. These services may have a variety according to the usages, one is the public and the second one is private. The services can also be used via different mobile devices, provided you have an internet connection that should also be mobile.

The main part used to deliver these services is internet and you feel the best when the accessibility to the net is speedy.

Cloud Computing Services are also a part of the service suit of network operation center (NOC). The NOC services providers offer a wide range of cloud services with the package of their core IT services. Servers which can be used for the hosting purposes are also a part of the offerings by the service provider. The attracting part and that makes them easy to use is their independency from possessing hardware and software. They run just as like the services no need to have any software or hardware.

The cloud services are charged according to the usage made by the users such as for data transfer, storage and data processing charges etc.

These solutions are cost-effective for the business in order to have sufficient time to focus on the core business processes. The package of these services can be utility based or can be taken with a subscription. In a utility based package you have to pay only for the computing utilities like for power used and in a subscription package you have to pay a fixed monthly fee for the services.

Most of the small businesses as well as big organizations are using the cloud services offered by a third party vendor. There are different benefits in it such as low cost of ownership, fast and easily accessible, free from geographical locations and the providers have the latest tools and technologies with training modules which can be taken as additional benefits of it.

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