<p>Bad</a> Job Market: Why Media Is Wrong About Value Of College Degree | The New Republic</p>
<p>interesting piece from The New Republic</p>
<p>Interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this article. </p>
<p>People want a college degree to be a guaranty of future career success. It is not that today and wasn’t in the past. I had relatives who scoffed at getting a degree (this is in the 1970s) becuase there were guys working along side them on the loading dock who had college degrees. For those workers the degree was of no use. What my relatives failed to see was the new hires coming into management…how many of them did not have a college degree? No degree, don’t bother to apply.</p>
<p>The degree provides opportunity. It is up to the graduate to take advantage of it.</p>
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<p>What you are describing is that a degree is necessary, but not sufficient, to get the presumably more desirable jobs in that situation. People tend to confuse necessary and sufficient.</p>
<p>Whether a bachelor’s degree should be necessary for many jobs is something that can be debated. Indeed, one can argue that it has become necessary because of (a) the devaluation of the high school diploma (such that those with only high school diplomas do not have a high probability of being able to do the job), and (b) the large number of graduates with non-specific bachelor’s degrees (meaning a large applicant pool that has a reasonable probability of being able to do the job), rather than it actually being needed for those jobs. But that means an extra expense of four years of school for many who would otherwise not need to do that if a high school diploma actually meant something.</p>
<p>It is just normal for anyone to want a college education but due to the changes in our economy students are also doubting the real use of a good quality education. For them it is either get that four year education or have student loans in return. Such a difficult choice especially for those who are not able to pay for their college education. What really are the choices out there? For them a four year education may present like the solution, others it is like a trap that will suck their wallet as soon as they are done. What really is the choice?</p>
<p>“Whether a bachelor’s degree should be necessary for many jobs is something that can be debated. Indeed, one can argue that it has become necessary because of (a) the devaluation of the high school diploma (such that those with only high school diplomas do not have a high probability of being able to do the job), and (b) the large number of graduates with non-specific bachelor’s degrees (meaning a large applicant pool that has a reasonable probability of being able to do the job), rather than it actually being needed for those jobs. But that means an extra expense of four years of school for many who would otherwise not need to do that if a high school diploma actually meant something”</p>
<p>i understand the “run away credentialism” argument.</p>
<p>Thats why i suggest reading the TNR article. he makes the good point that the nature of white collar AND blue collar jobs have changed - even factory floor jobs (remaining ones) have been transformed by technology, and require higher levels of literacy and numeracy than in the past.</p>
<p>it MAY be that we could achieve a sufficiently trained labor force with a BETTER HS education than in the past, rather than close to universal community college. It seems unlikely though, that the levels of education of the past would be adequate if not for credentialism.</p>
<p>however thats not the main thrust of the article - whether its a real shift in required skills, or just credentialism, the main point is that the scare stories about college grads are just that.</p>
<p>lawl he works in the Education industry. Why wouldn’t he defend it? :P</p>
<p>actually he works in a think tank - there think tanks on both sides of almost every issue.</p>
<p>I dont know whether to focus on your sloppy reading, or on your citing of an irrelevant ad hominem.</p>
<p>And here I thought it was bad that it took me five months to land a job when I graduated in 1980 from an average midwestern land grant university with a communications degree. Sure glad I didn’t go to Yale!</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I like this article.</p>
<p>The entire economy is sinking like the Titanic, but the college grads are at least in an upper berth.</p>
<p>A couple anecdotes does not research make. Very thin article–more wishful thinking than facts.</p>
<p>The media are wrong about a lot of things.</p>