Posted on 04/25/2014 6:31:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Every time a new study comes out regarding the “payoff” from college, I wonder: Will this finally be the one that takes note of widespread underemployment among recent grads and comprehends the impact of credential inflation?
In February, Pew Research released a study on the effects of college but the instant I saw the title, I was sure that this would not be one that broke out of the usual “college is a great investment” model. That study, “The Rising Cost of Not Going to College,” actually moves further in the wrong direction by telling people that those who don’t go to college are penalizing themselves.
The many “college is a great investment” papers present statistics showing that, on average, individuals who have college educations earn more than do people without them. They left the conclusion, “If you aren’t planning on college, you really should,” implicit.
Pew, however, makes that explicit. “If you don’t go to college, you’ll lose out big time” is the message it sends.
What makes that message particularly distressing is the fact that more and more young Americans who have their college degrees are unable to find jobs they couldn’t have gotten straight out of high school—or maybe even while still in high school. They’re often struggling with large college debts. And yet this study tells them that going to college is more important than ever.
Pew proclaims that its research is “non-partisan and non-advocacy” but they don’t say that it’s “non-misleading.” This study is very misleading and if young Americans take it seriously, many will go to college just because they think that not going would be a self-inflicted penalty.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Nothing screams ‘to the circular file’ more than a resume with a college major in Womyn Studies.
Same old BS over and over. Have a degree in the right subject and there is a line of people waiting to talk to you. Have a degree in many of the liberal arts subjects, and you might want to practice your burger flipping.
And here’s a hint: If your “degree” involved any subjects like the following, it is definitely worthless!
1. “The Phallus”
Occidental College. A seminar in critical theory and social justice, this class examines Sigmund Freud, phallologocentrism and the lesbian phallus.
2. “Queer Musicology”
UCLA. This course welcomes students from all disciplines to study what it calls an “unruly discourse” on the subject, understood through the works of Cole Porter, Pussy Tourette and John Cage.
3. “Taking Marx Seriously”
Amherst College. This advanced seminar for 15 students examines whether Karl Marx still matters despite the countless interpretations and applications of his ideas, or whether the world has entered a post-Marxist era.
4. “Adultery Novel”
University of Pennsylvania. Falling in the newly named “gender, culture and society” major, this course examines novels and films of adultery such as “Madame Bovary” and “The Graduate” through Marxist, Freudian and feminist lenses.
5. “Blackness”
Occidental College. Critical race theory and the idea of “post-blackness” are among the topics covered in this seminar course examining racial identity. A course on whiteness is a prerequisite.
6. “Border Crossings, Borderlands: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Immigration”
University of Washington. This women studies department offering takes a new look at recent immigration debates in the U.S., integrating questions of race and gender while also looking at the role of the war on terror.
7. “Whiteness: The Other Side of Racism”
Mount Holyoke College. The educational studies department offers this first-year, writing-intensive seminar asking whether whiteness is “an identity, an ideology, a racialized social system,” and how it relates to racism.
8. “Native American Feminisms”
University of Michigan. The women’s studies and American culture departments offer this course on contemporary Native American feminism, including its development and its relation to struggles for land.
9. “’Mail Order Brides?’ Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context”
Johns Hopkins University. This history course — cross-listed with anthropology, political science and studies of women, gender and sexuality — is limited to 35 students and asks for an anthropology course as a prerequisite.
10. “Cyberfeminism”
Cornell University. Cornell’s art history department offers this seminar looking at art produced under the influence of feminism, post-feminism and the Internet.
11. “American Dreams/American Realities”
Duke University. Part of Duke’s Hart Leadership Program that prepares students for public service, this history course looks at American myths, from “city on the hill” to “foreign devil,” in shaping American history.
12. “Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism”
Swarthmore College. Swarthmore’s “peace and conflict studies” program offers this course that “will deconstruct ‘terrorism’ “ and “study the dynamics of cultural marginalization” while seeking alternatives to violence.
A Basket Weaving Degree by any other name...
I know a lot of people in the trades who don’t have college degrees but they enjoy what they’re doing, have steady work, make very good money, and often run their own successful businesses. And a number of them demand huge premiums and/or sizeable tips for doing urgent work. Customers need them and show great respect for their skills.
A college degree is not the only path to success.
RE: 1. “The Phallus”
Occidental College
5. “Blackness”
Occidental College.
______________________________
I know of someone in the White House who went to that college... I wonder if he took both those courses...
when i was in high school, a major shortage of guidance counselors was predicted, with thousands of kids without firm plans persuaded to go in o the field. sure enough in four years there was a serious glut, and all those people who trained to be guidance counselors found themselves unable to get that promised job.
since then i have always taken ‘expert’ advice with a huge grain of salt.
now the experts have been harping for years that you needed a college degree for anything...and college degrees have become what? more expensive? (supply/demand) less valuable? (market oversaturation)
or african anthropology.
A Basket Weaving Degree is worth a lot more than most other degrees. At least if you get a Basket Weaving Degree, it means that you have a marketable skill when you get out of college.
Some points:
1. Why pay a fortune to go to an ivy league school when an equivalent accredited education can be had for a fraction of the cost. There are simple and smart ways to save a ton of money.
2. When standing line for jobs with folks who have a HS education or less, a college degree might help differentiate a person.
3. Be flexible. Be willing to move; take a lesser job with the goal of working your way up in the company.
4. Get a degree in a field that is in demand such as engineering, engineer tech, accounting, etc.
He aced the phallus, but only scored 50% on blackness.
Graduated with a Degree inn History in 1991 and moved to DC with a dream to work in the Smithsonian.
After 4 years of trying to gain a position at one of the museums of DC, denied due to ‘quota preferences’, I faced reality and obtained my Commercial Driving License .
I’ve never looked back.
RE: Graduated with a Degree inn History in 1991
I faced reality and obtained my Commercial Driving License .
_________________
You would make a perfect tour guide... :)
All most degrees mean is that you are somewhat literate and able to navigate through the process of taking classes and graduating.
My dad insisted I learn a trade (welding). Actually it was just assumed I would go into the army (he was a one star), scored high on the ASVABS, was all gung ho and then totally bombed the physical “too deaf to fire artillery” in the words of the doc. Did the AA/BA thing (political science with specialization on statistical analysis of polling data) and worked several elections as pollster and election correspondent, but always had the welding certification (and kept my connections) as a back up.
One major, major point - in the more expensive and exclusive universities, what you are getting is the connections. Even if you major in the dumbest damned thing, if you do it at Harvard or Stanford your roommates or buddies are very likely to be people who can help you greatly later,CEOs, Senators....
The glut is not of college degrees. The glut is of PEOPLE who hold WORTHLESS college degrees, such as, GLBT studies, general studies, sociology, etc.
RE: The glut is of PEOPLE who hold WORTHLESS college degrees, such as, GLBT studies, general studies, sociology, etc.
Well, colleges could save a lot of money ( and eventually decrease the cost of attending ) by ELIMINATING these courses altogether, and maybe laying off the faculty members who can’t teach any useful courses other then these.
Our Computer Science dept has a 100% placement rate. Every graduate has a job waiting on them.
Just sayin’.
RE: Our Computer Science dept has a 100% placement rate. Every graduate has a job waiting on them.
What college is that?
Virginia Tech
For most of the unemployed graduates, your number 4 is the key.
(4. Get a degree in a field that is in demand such as engineering, engineer tech, accounting, etc.)
There are only so many jobs for someone with a degree in arcane subjects that academics are so fond of. It’s ludicrous how the universities English departments are full of Ph.D students whose major interest lies in some well-worked study of Shakespeare’s plays or another study of Emily Dickenson.
After slaving away at underpaid teaching posts, they find out that their beloved English department won’t put them on a tenured track, they’re older and woefully short of any worthwhile job experience they can translate to the job market.
Except for training them to say: “ What is this I see before me—a large fries?”
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