Mexico is now a top producer of engineers, but where are jobs?

The Washington Post By William Booth, Published: October 28

MEXICO CITY — In an aggressive bid to move beyond low-wage factory jobs and toward an entrepreneurial economy, Mexico is producing graduates in engineering and technology at rates that challenge its international rivals, including its No. 1 trade partner, the United States.

President Felipe Calderon last month boasted that Mexico graduates 130,000 engineers and technicians a year from universities and specialized high schools, more than Canada, Germany or even Brazil, which has nearly twice the population of Mexico.

But it remains an open question whether the soaring number of skilled graduates will transform Mexico into the “country of engineers” that Calderon envisions, or they go to work in low-level managerial jobs at assembly plants owned by foreigners — jobs that have come to define their profession here.

“This idea that Mexico is a country of engineers is a mirage,” said Manuel Gil Anton, an expert in education policy at the College of Mexico.  Read more.