3 ms·

Is it? The argument around an 'education bubble' seems to be more around two things: 1) Students racking up enormous debt in esoteric disciplines that don't di

by enjo 16y ago

Is it? The argument around an 'education bubble' seems to be more around two things: 1) Students racking up enormous debt in esoteric disciplines that don't directly translate to jobs. 2) An absolute deluge of students in certain fields (like 'marketing') from thousands of universities that effectively drag everyone down to the mean. Since a degree is so common it ceases to be a unique differentiator...making it worthless. The 'bubble' here is in the perception of utility for degrees meaning kids will abandon college for other paths. Here we have a MIT grad in a hugely in-demand field that can't (or won't) find a job. My hunch is that she actually can find a job, she just lacks the qualifications that she thinks she has. She probably needs to take a lower-responsibility job and actually build those skills... that doesn't mean her degree isn't a great investment (it probably is), it just means she's approaching this from a very unrealistic perspective.

nickpinkston 16y ago
I agree that a lot of this is her being unrealistic / overachieving / etc., but I think we're going to see a lot more of this to come. More telling though is the fact that they framed it in education bubble terms, not as much recession terms, which perhaps shows the media's ethos to be friendly to the concept - at least the WSJ.
- Volscio 16y ago
  Here in DC my fellow alumns are having some difficulty finding jobs, and they are ready to work just about anywhere. They eventually get sucked up into the big consulting firms though. They will do well enough in 10 years' time. I think the biggest problem has been for international folks who can't get anyone to sponsor their visas except for, say, the World Bank, which is all too familiar with the process.
gaius 16y ago
Yes the key quote is She landed a good job with a consulting firm, but decided to go to the London School of Economics in 2008 to learn more about climate change How is turning down a good job then complaining about being out of work reasonable behavior? Is there any demand for graduates with a MA in Climate Change? Did she even research that?

by enjo 16y ago

nickpinkston 16y ago

I agree that a lot of this is her being unrealistic / overachieving / etc., but I think we're going to see a lot more of this to come. More telling though is the fact that they framed it in education bubble terms, not as much recession terms, which perhaps shows the media's ethos to be friendly to the concept - at least the WSJ.

Volscio 16y ago
Here in DC my fellow alumns are having some difficulty finding jobs, and they are ready to work just about anywhere. They eventually get sucked up into the big consulting firms though. They will do well enough in 10 years' time. I think the biggest problem has been for international folks who can't get anyone to sponsor their visas except for, say, the World Bank, which is all too familiar with the process.

gaius 16y ago

Yes the key quote is She landed a good job with a consulting firm, but decided to go to the London School of Economics in 2008 to learn more about climate change How is turning down a good job then complaining about being out of work reasonable behavior? Is there any demand for graduates with a MA in Climate Change? Did she even research that?