The recent question about a photonics technician "degree" raises
a larger question:
What is a good career path for the segment of the population
who will never be good at math and technology?
I don't have much in the way of an answer. On the other hand,
I can recognize wrong answers when I see them.
For example: A generation ago, if a student was interested in
science but not good at math, they would be advised to go into
biology. However, that doesn't work anymore. With isolated
exceptions, biology (including medicine) has become highly
mathematical and computational.
Similarly, consider taking something that is intrinsically high-
tech such as opto-electronics and dumbing down the coursework
to the point where it includes no electronics at all, and only
rote-level mathematics. This is the wrong answer! This is not
a good career path for the population segment in question. It
is not even a step in the right direction. It is half a step
sideways, and a waste of time.
Even farming is high-tech these days. Spreadsheets, nonlinear
optimization, GPS, genetics, et cetera.
Just to show how far people have gone looking for answers to
this question: There are some programs to set up small family
farms, barely above the level of subsistence farming. Such a
farm will never be competitive compared to a modern agribusiness
... but it may sometimes be preferable to a homeless shelter.
I don't know. There probably aren't any easy answers.
grasping at any "bright and shiny" program out there
That's pretty much guaranteed to be the wrong answer.