<p>Um, I never said that MIT athletes would be less interested in this particular course. What I said is that I don’t see any reason why they would be particularly appealing to them (relative to other MIT students). This is not a stereotypical [‘athletic</a> creampuff course’](<a href=“http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2007/05/jim-harbaugh-disses-michigan.html]'athletic”>http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2007/05/jim-harbaugh-disses-michigan.html) that other schools may offer to provide their athletes with an easy way to maintain their academic eligibility. </p>
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<p>The implication is that what people want is a name-brand credential, which, truth be told, is largely determined by the admissions office. The truth is The hardest step in earning a degree from most name-brand schools is simply getting admitted in the first place. </p>
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<p>I must fundamentally disagree with that premise, for the simple reason is that the vast majority of people will not pursue a career that is highly related to their major. Let’s face it - most polisci majors do not become professional political scientists, most psych majors do not become professional psychologists, most sociology majors do not become professional sociologists, most history majors do not become professional historians, most English majors do not become professional professional literary critics/analysts. They pursue those majors because they realize that many employers demand degrees, and they have to major in something. </p>
<p>The core of the problem is the aforementioned fact that many employers demand degrees for many decent jobs, even if the degree is unrelated to the job at hand. I’ve worked at several companies where every one of the receptionists had at least bachelor’s degrees, with some holding graduate degrees. Indeed, you couldn’t even secure an interview for a receptionist position at those firms without a degree. It doesn’t matter that the job responsibilities do not actually require the knowledge requisite in a college degree, and you certainly can’t sit the hiring managers down and reason with them that the job doesn’t really require somebody who has studied literary criticism or comparative literature (as per the graduate specialties of several of the receptionists who were hired) to file paperwork and manage appointments. The only thing that matters is that the firm holds power over potential hirees, and they wield that power to decide who they want to interview. If they decide that they demand degrees, then that’s what you must provide. </p>
<p>We can also surely think of the flip side of the coin. Surely we can all think of plenty of people who studied hard and truly mastered their topic…yet still can’t garner a desirable job, often times because they lack the networking contacts. Frankly, who cares how well you’ve done in your major if you can’t get the job that you desire? I know numerous people who did quite well in college (GPA=3.5+) who are nevertheless stuck working mundane jobs at the local mall because that’s the best that they can get. </p>
<p>In a perfect world, employers would only demand educational levels that are actually relevant to the responsibilities of the jobs they are offering. In a perfect world, every student who studied hard and performed well in their major would have a desirable and relevant career waiting for them upon graduation. Regrettably, we don’t live in that perfect world. Instead, we live in a world where employers routinely demand degrees for positions that do not actually require such education (and for positions that 20-30 years ago used to be filled by high school graduates). We live in a world characterized by a fundamental mismatch between the academic majors chosen by the bulk of college students and the types of jobs that the economy actually generates.</p>