OrangeXtreme
The Mayor of Dewitt
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Colleges put out how many graduates for how many jobs each year? Probably a worse ratio.
Colleges put out how many graduates for how many jobs each year? Probably a worse ratio.
In their field of study?It's an easy stat to find...the Bureau of Labor Statistics put out a report in January 2017 for the full year 2016 that showed the unemployment rate for college graduates that year was only 2.5 percent, or 1 in 40.
Doesn't matter...a job is a job is a job. One job leads to another, etc., etc. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in history but I've been a business and technology journalist my whole working life. I'd guess most people except doctors, lawyers, etc. end up not working in their field of study.In their field of study?
The problem comes when a school reports employment by their alumni, let's say, law school students, and it counts the bartending the newly minted law school grad does as "employed."Doesn't matter...a job is a job is a job. One job leads to another, etc., etc. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in history but I've been a business and technology journalist my whole working life. I'd guess most people except doctors, lawyers, etc. end up not working in their field of study.
Maybe the bartender has a couple of small clients as a lawyer but not enuf to open a practice and no experience to get a job in a firm. Bartending makes ends meet. I have some lawyer friends who work as paralegals part time and work as waiters to pay the bills.The problem comes when a school reports employment by their alumni, let's say, law school students, and it counts the bartending the newly minted law school grad does as "employed."
Barrista? Waiter? The numbers are impressive, but what is the context behind he numbers.Doesn't matter...a job is a job is a job. One job leads to another, etc., etc. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in history but I've been a business and technology journalist my whole working life. I'd guess most people except doctors, lawyers, etc. end up not working in their field of study.
Right, because that's what employment statistics about graduates are intended to measure.Maybe the bartender has a couple of small clients as a lawyer but not enuf to open a practice and no experience to get a job in a firm.
Doesn't matter...a job is a job is a job. One job leads to another, etc., etc. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree in history but I've been a business and technology journalist my whole working life. I'd guess most people except doctors, lawyers, etc. end up not working in their field of study.
Employment stats about college graduates measure employment. That's precisely what they're intended to measure.Right, because that's what employment statistics about graduates are intended to measure.
Come on.
Your assumption is that if you graduate in a field of study you intend to work in that field of study. That's the context, right? In statistical terms, what you're really asking is to cross reference the employment numbers against specific fields and available number of graduates by major, then measure it against variables such as attrition, turnover, etc. compared against the number of available entrants. In addition, you couldn't just do it for graduates coming into a particular field, you'd also have to cross reference that against those people that elect not to work in their field of study and against those in the field who choose to leave their profession for something else.Barrista? Waiter? The numbers are impressive, but what is the context behind he numbers.
Colleges put out how many graduates for how many jobs each year? Probably a worse ratio.
Right, because that's what employment statistics about graduates are intended to measure.
Come on.
Your assumption is that if you graduate in a field of study you intend to work in that field of study. That's the context, right? In statistical terms, what you're really asking is to cross reference the employment numbers against specific fields and available number of graduates by major, then measure it against variables such as attrition, turnover, etc. compared against the number of available entrants. In addition, you couldn't just do it for graduates coming into a particular field, you'd also have to cross reference that against those people that elect not to work in their field of study and against those in the field who choose to leave their profession for something else.
The point of the stat is that college graduates no matter what their chosen field or if they even have one stand a statistically far greater chance of employment than not. Inasmuch as NBA draft entrants probably to a guy do not have a degree their chances of employment in the league or after are statistically far inferior.
I agree to an extent, but I think we overemphasize the need for a 4 year degree. We need to take away the stigma of vocational tech training. Your mechanic friend is far from the exception. You've got to be pretty intelligent to do what he does and it needs training that doesn't come with a bachelors degree.Not to mention that every job I've had -- journalism, corporate communications and sales -- has had 'bachelor's degree' in the requirements. I wouldn't mind seeing some drastic differences to the education system and some kids simply don't need college -- I have a buddy who's an auto mechanic and doesn't even own his own shop but he lives in a $900K house and just got back from a trip to mexico. And that's not even mentioning kids who are coding or entrepreneurs, etc.
But for most people, the piece of paper they get when they graduate from college -- even if they cheated to get it -- is a pretty essential part of a successful career. Not sure what the argument would be against that.
I agree to an extent, but I think we overemphasize the need for a 4 year degree. We need to take away the stigma of vocational tech training. Your mechanic friend is far from the exception. You've got to be pretty intelligent to do what he does and it needs training that doesn't come with a bachelors degree.
One thing I've come across in some of the people I've worked with that didn't go to college... some of them have a really, really hard time having their work critiqued. I believe it's because they never had to experience that professor that whatever they did just wasn't going to be good enough for, and had to figure out how to adjust what they were doing to get by.Agreed. What makes him really unusual is that his sister was/is an absolute rockstar student. PhD from Harvard, basically got paid to go there. But last year was the first year since he graduated from high school ('96) that he didn't make more than she did since obviously she is trying to land extremely competitive grants, etc. Just an interesting case study.
I think the thing that's not overrated about a 4-year degree is that the vast majority of people need that piece of paper that proves you got your 120 credits or whatnot. That said, the number of people who don't need that degree is growing and, I'd argue, we need to really consider what we're teaching in college. I love the arts and humanities, so I'm not really pushing STEM initiatives, as much as more real-world business training. There are so many opportunities to do your own thing.