1. One economic problem is the unemployment rate
across the country is at an all-time high due to the coronavirus pandemic. A
major issue that will occur when the pandemic ends is the unemployed finding
jobs. Many businesses have shut down due to the pandemic and many of the ones
remaining will be focused on paying off debt when social restrictions are
lifted. I was made aware of this issue when several friends were laid off due
to the financial struggles their businesses were going through during the stay
at home order. I later learned after reading https://www.fosters.com/business/20200528/next-economic-challenge-finding-job-once-pandemic-eases
that this is a wide scale issue that is going to affect a lot of people. This
article predicts that less than 50% of people will return to work as the job
market may forever be changed. As the job market changes, the unprecedented new
system of hiring and large of supply of unemployed labor can potentially create
many opportunities. I believe this is a rather easy opportunity to exploit due
to the problem being very new.
2. A another economic problem is the shortage of
certified teachers across the country. This shortage is so large that the State
Department of Education in New Hampshire has lowered requirements for hiring teachers,
permitting schools to hire teachers lacking specific certifications. According
to the article https://www.unionleader.com/news/education/with-teacher-shortage-schools-turn-to-educators-without-licenses/article_be92434a-f48a-50ee-b3cb-23e6c5f8644f.html,
40% of teachers in New Hampshire do not receive all certification requirements
and instead use alternative such as training on the job. Teachers now do not
even have to have received degrees in their specific subject for teaching. The
cause of this is most likely due to the low wages teachers make despite being a
high stress job. The lack of certifications required to teach now may hurt the teaching
and learning for students as these certifications usually teach how to make a proper curriculum and improve the learning of students. This presents an opportunity
as the supply of qualified teachers is low while schools do not have the funds
to entice more qualified teachers to work for them. I was made aware of this
issue by my aunt who teaches in New Hampshire and has noticed the quality of teaching
decrease. This is a rather difficult opportunity to exploit due to the lack of
funding schools have.
3. One social problem is the lack of representation of
ethnic and racial minorities in the media. According to the article https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-on-screen-representation-matters-according-to-these-teens,
40% of the United States is non-white. However, members in the media do not
reflect anywhere near that same percentage. This issue directly affects
non-white people in the country who do not see themselves represented in the
media. This also affects any non-white people trying to pursue a career in media.
A more diverse media can create new conversations and ideas while improving
communication to non-white Americans across the country. I was made aware of
this issue in the 2019 fall semester while taking SPM3012 Sport and Society. This
issue is not going to be easy to exploit as it requires long-term action to see
permanent results. However, early opportunities may be easy to exploit as there
are not many current examples of solutions.
4. Another social issue is the issue of global warming
and climate change. I think this is a very large opportunity to exploit but would
be extremely difficult. Current energy regulations are changing to become more
environmentally friendly. Alternative sources of energy are slowly but surely
becoming more prevalent around the world. Solar panels and wind turbines are
two of the many new forms of energy being used. According to https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/alternative-energy-sources,
alternative energy sources are projected to continue to expand in all sectors
by 2023. The prototypical customer for this is opportunity is China, as it is
the largest energy consumer in the world. This opportunity will continue to
grow as countries around the world continue changing energy regulations and the
conversations of climate change also increase as seen in the previous
presidential election.
Hi jack,
ReplyDeleteI think you did an excellent job with your post and you were very thorough when fleshing out each opportunity. Additionally, I also put the same social problem of the lack of diversity in mainstream media's representation. I think, because we both came up with this it shows what a pressing issue it truly is and I do agree with you that there is no quick fix for this issue, but I do feel that the diversity and representation in the media has been getting better!
Hello! I found your second article to be intriguing. Although the article is related to New Hampshire, I think this is a problem in many other states as well. I am going to throw my opinion in here as family member of a few educators – teaching is hard and, in most areas, teachers are not well compensated. I get the feeling this a vicious cycle – we don’t pay teachers well = people don’t want to become teachers, go through all the certifications = we have to loosen requirements = decrease in quality of education (possibly). I think you said it correctly, “This is a rather difficult opportunity to exploit due to the lack of funding schools have.”
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