I just read an article about the worst paying college majors. It was interesting and informative. Some of them are degrees that my family members have gotten or are contemplating getting. This is rather depressing. While there are other factors affecting employment besides the degree itself, the numbers are a fair representation of what is going on. Hold this thought because I want to go launch into something that I have been thinking a lot about lately because higher education has been on my mind due to my own career interests. I will get back to interpreting (in part) this article.
Let me start out by asserting that we are getting education all wrong... doing things for the wrong reasons entirely. In recent decades, getting an education has been all about procuring a fancy slip of paper that proves that we attended an educational institution, thus meeting all their requirements to earn that degree. The degree itself is a commodity. For some, the value of what is learned or how it was accomplished is immaterial. For all anybody could be concerned or care, you could have cheated your entire way through school and still have procured that slip of paper. In other words, the content wasn't as important as the credentials written on the paper and the accompanying transcripts: GPA, school attended and name of degree. Human Resource departments tend to cue in on those things.
A time or two in my life, I have encountered a person who was bragging about his or her degree and I asked an uncomfortable question: "What did you learn?" I don't ask this question anymore thought. I just talk with them for awhile... pick their brains. Sometimes people actually do come away from their college with valuable skills and useful information. Sometimes, however, they simply get a degree.
Now, before I get accused of loathing education or being uneducated, I must explain that I absolutely love learning. I love being in a classroom and I have a stack of certificates, diplomas, whatever that prove I sat in a classroom or spent my time and money filling in the blanks to earn those certificates. I have more classroom time and credits than the average bachelor's degree holder. What do I say to that? Big deal! After all those classroom hours, I can say with a high degree of confidence that I have learned more outside the classroom than I have in a formal learning environment. The reason for this is not because the institution is in any way flawed, but because of my burning desire to learn. I have forgotten a great deal of what I have learned in formal school settings, but what I have retained are things that I have found to be relevant and useful... especially in everyday life.
At this point, you might be wondering what the heck I am getting at. Thanks for wondering. Let me explain. See, the educational vehicle is flawed. The manner that we acquire our education is not very efficient. I like to refer to this as the "Costco Principle." Costco sells in bulk and they are very effective at what they do: selling products. Just as universities are very good at what they do: selling products (or degrees). They sell a product as they would a commodity. They don't build careers or help you carve out a useful niche for you. They simply sell you a bill of goods. You will notice that when you go to Costco, they provide you with a list of products that they want to sell you. You have the choice to either buy them at their discounted rate, or do without. You have a very limited amount of options. Here's the kicker (and how they are able to sell products that you wouldn't necessarily have boughten otherwise): it's in the product bundling. Say I want to buy Pringles in bulk. They have two popular varieties in the package and one less popular variety. In order to get the discounted rate, you have to buy the whole package. You have to tolerate and either eat the kind that is less popular or get rid of it. That is the same principle behind a university education. Educators will sell you on the idea that you are becoming a more well-rounded student by taking an art history or English literature class, but that is not the real agenda. Most students will loathe these classes that are required for the sake of the degree, but will get through them by meeting the minimum requirements to get their desired grade. If the class were optional, very few students would attend the class. This is how it solely benefits the institution (or the staff in that institution). In order for a university to be accredited, they have to provide a wide variety of classes - even those that are less popular or relevant to getting a job in the 21st century. They will further try to sell you on the idea by instilling concepts like "critical thinking" and "being well adjusted" and other nonsense. Critical thinking has nothing to do with being forced to take classes you wouldn't have otherwise chosen, and most students will gain very little out of these classes besides a few credits to work toward their ultimate goal - a degree. A majority of these students will do brain flush at the end of the class, never to revisit those subjects again. The class was simply having to endure an unpleasant episode of their scholastic experience: a traumatic event - which will be blocked from their memory.
Why on earth would we possibly have to take classes that have little or no academic or career value then? The answer is simple, but it takes a little explaining. In order for the educational institution to be accredited, it is necessary to provide these classes that have little or no relevance to any degree in question. It is a self-serving venture. If such classes were not compulsory, then voluntary attendance would be low and either: a) the professors would get less pay or b) the classes would cease to exist due to lack of interest, which would mean that a university or community college would lose their accreditation. The reason (which wanders into the arena of speculation on my part) why those requirements for accreditation exist in the first place is to benefit the world of academia, or simply put it provides jobs for those who have gotten degrees from that were essentially worthless in the corporate world. Who else would hire an Art History major, except for maybe a museum? How many museums are there? Exactly. So in order to justify the need for the class or the degree, it becomes mandatory to include in your degree a choice of electives that have little or no relevance to your degree or anything practical in the world outside the realms of academia.
So that brings me back to my thoughts on the article about the worst paying degrees. What can be done to even the playing field? What can be done to make these degrees more attractive to employers? Finally, why don't universities apprise students at the onset about their lack of employability and low wages once they graduate? This goes back to the fact that schools aren't selling jobs or careers, but they are selling their product: a degree. I have a solution to this problem and this directly correlates to a school that I am gearing up to attend. They don't simply churn out graduates and leave them out in the cold upon gradation - with a load of student loans to pay off. There are schools out there that actually sell careers. Why? Because their success rate is dependent upon the results of their students. Many HR reps blindly hire based upon university ranking or reputation (say if the school is what is considered an "Ivy League" school). These schools rely on the factor that it is difficult just to get into the school, so they only take the best of the best anyway. So just having "Harvard" under your name is a shoo-in for many employers. No thought is taken for performance, achievements or accomplishments or abilities other than academic honors. In my opinion, this is a risky and dangerous endeavor for an employer. On the other hand, as an employer, wouldn't you rather have a person come to you that is already highly proficient in a subject with well-honed, marketable skills? The other thing that I was attracted to was the way a degree is earned. There isn't a plethora of unnecessary or irrelevant classes that the student is required to attend. It is most efficient in that way. The student is not spending time and money on classes that have little or nothing to do with his or her career, yet is still able to walk away with a university degree!
I believe that what we're seeing in establishments of secondary education is the influence of the homeschool community. If administered properly, homeschool is very efficient and students learn much more and retain much more than students in conventional public school. Why do I think that is so? Many homeschool teachers (mostly parents) understand that the vehicle of education has become flawed because educators try to squeeze in so much extraneous fluff and inject an ulterior agenda into what could have been a well-rounded and meaningful education consisting of core curricula. Successful homeschoolers understand that core curriculum is the key to education, but it is taught in a way that makes "real-world" sense. For instance, we're not just thrown a bunch of meaningless numbers and statistics to work with for math, but given projects that are manifold in purpose - say, an engineering project like building a structure. You would have to learn math, economics, environmental science, English and fabrication skills in the process from end to finish. You might even end up learning about the history of architecture as a bonus.
In my adult lifetime, I have seen an obvious transformation in the academic community. Little more than 30 years ago, homeschool was unheard of and likely not practiced as a primary source of education. Now, it is widely practiced and accepted and many colleges and even universities are seeing the quality of students that are emerging from the homeschooling community. The advent of the Internet is another indispensable resource. It can be used for more than just copy/pasting/cheating that happens ever so often in public school settings. Information is literally free of charge in many cases and you can virtually get a quality education solely from articles, essays and online tutorials. The free exchange of information is fueled by advertising giants that pay a pittance for the hard work of individuals that freely post their knowledge online. Never forget the value of books (I mean tangible, paper, heavy types that you check out from the library or buy at Barnes and Noble). We live in an age where we can learn almost anything and everything without ever having to invest a dime in a formal education or have to be accepted into a favored elite institution.
That being said, I still like the environment of a formal classroom. There are many reasons why I prefer this setting. First, many people when choosing a career of choice do not have a clue where to start or what to look for - where to concentrate their learning. Secondly, in many schools you get hands on training with industry-standard equipment and facilities that can only be available in a university setting. An individual simply cannot afford the facilities and equipment required to get this necessary tangible experience. Finally, there is more to a public classroom setting than just lectures, books, facilities and equipment. The interaction between students and instructors and between peer students (and subsequent networking) is invaluable in building a successful career. You can learn a lot online, but you often do it alone. You are this lone genius sitting in your home with ideas, plans and dreams... but with nowhere to go. That is where I have been for the past several years. I have learned a lot and have dreams and plans and million-dollar ideas, but it's always the same... crickets chirping.
So when you go to school, think about a couple of things: 1) Where do you want your education to take you? What do you want to get out of it? Forget about filling in the blanks to simply get that degree... think about your ultimate goal for what you want to accomplish in your career and focus on the things that will get you there. If a university education is what will do it, go for it! 2) Will you love your chosen career or are you doing it simply for the love of money? Job satisfaction is a major benefit that outweighs monetary compensation. Sure, you should look at something where you will be able to support yourself and your family, so rule out things that would not be marketable, yet keep those in mind for a serious hobby. Somewhere along the line you either have to learn what you love and follow that dream or you have to learn to love what you do no matter what it is - otherwise you live a life of misery and disillusionment.
Sadly, I will admit that most of my career options so far have not brought me much satisfaction. I have blindly chosen many options that have not only led to dissatisfaction, but were not very marketable skills. Part of this has been due to the changing climate of technology. The things that applied when I was first starting my education are mostly obsolete by now. That brings up a third thing that I will only touch on: be prepared for a lifetime of learning and reinventing your career. I am excited about this next phase of my life and the education that I am pursuing. I am confident that I will not only learn this field with a greater depth than I would have had I started right out of high school, but I will also bring a lot into the industry with the experience that I have gained throughout my life as well as the numerous hours that I have already spent in formal classrooms and with informal training. My advice to anyone is to never let an opportunity for learning pass you by. So here I go with the next few years of intense training and learning. I'm going to love it!
Addendum: I just wanted to come back and conclude with this idea: Whatever venture you pursue - whether it be your career or education, do it with vigor and enthusiasm. Get the most out of your education and it will reward you exponentially. I have learned this by experience. In other words, when I have not put any effort towards a job or education and have gotten very little out of it, but in some other things I have put my whole heart and soul into it and the rewards have been astronomical.
