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Most 18-22 years waste 4 years in university not acquiring any skills that would help them in a competitive job market. As a result, they move back in with mom

by veed99 6y ago

Most 18-22 years waste 4 years in university not acquiring any skills that would help them in a competitive job market. As a result, they move back in with mom and dad at age 22, now thousands of dollars in debt.

paulpauper 6y ago
It's not the skills the get you hired (it's not like companies are seeking history majors), but rather the degree is a signal for competence and conformity, that does.
Afton 6y ago
What is your point? This seems pointlessly blame-y. Those who just graduated from high school and entered college have been told by figuratively-literally everyone that that is what they should do. Then they do it, and it turns out it is a terrible idea for a variety of reasons and there is an ill-timed pandemic that cuts off the few reasonable opportunities that they might have otherwise had. But sure, let's blame those foolish, foolish young adults for their crazy choices.
- yostrovs 6y ago
  When I was in college, just starting out, I knew that making money after college is important and that certain fields that may be interesting, such as literature and psychology, don't provide a clear path to making a living. This didn't seem a secret, but many of my colleague students explicitly waved off such concerns. They "didn't care about money". So I chose computer science and many of them went with anthropology and whatnot. The results were predictable and it was indeed their own fault to not care. Now that there's talk of cancelling student debt, it infuriates me that they might get off paying the justly earned debt doing fun things in college while I was coding memory management, and pulling my hair out, into the night.
  - Afton 6y ago
    "I suffered, so they should too". That's all I have to say about your fury. As for the other part: I was told, explicitly, that thinking about college as a jobs-training experience was the wrong approach. Learning how to think, how to write, how to organize ideas, that was valuable in and of itself. And maybe at some time, it was true. With a degree in the '70s, you could get in to a lot of sensible middle-class jobs, even in art-history and psychology.It turned out not to be true [edit: when I was in college, not in the '70s], but I was ill equipped to understand that. I also suspect that you have only the most superficial understanding of your cohort's motivations, yet seem absolutely confident in your analysis. I wonder if a course in psychology or philosophy would have benefited you some.
    - yostrovs 6y ago
      You dismiss me, but I spent four years alongside people who repeatedly and consistently followed the "money is not important to me" mantra. They were adults, old enough to understand consequences. But money was not important to them. We were in ones of the most expensive colleges in the nation, mind you. Now money matters to them, and they would rather someone else covers their debts, someone who actually generates productive output. And these people are almost exclusively from the economically upper quartile of the population. They want Bob the plumber to pay for their anthro degree. Lol. Now how about you take some sociology classes to understand this situation?
danhak 6y ago
Increases in housing and healthcare costs have been absolutely dwarfing wage growth in most major metros, for decades now. This "it's your fault for majoring in gender studies" meme is a red herring. There was a time in the U.S. where one parent could support a family and purchase a house while the other stayed at home with the kids. With nothing more than a high school diploma.
- paulpauper 6y ago
  Additionally, only a small percentage of grads major in the humanities and social sciences despite all the hype and blame such subjects get . https://greyenlightenment.com/how-popular-are-gender-studies/ https://greyenlightenment.com/how-popular-are-gender-studies... most people major in more 'actionable' subjects such as business, nursing, phycology, etc.
  - MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
    Psychology is equivalent to humanities imo only because you need a graduate degree to actually get a job in that field.
  - edanm 6y ago
    From what I recall, business degrees both dwarf all other types of degrees, and are not really considered actionable.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  what kind of life did they lead? is it comprable to life as we know it now?
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    You can live that kind of life now, but it's not the default. You'd have only one car. You wouldn't have the latest anything, whether car, computer, or sneakers. You might not even have cable. But yes, I think you can do it. In fact, my cousin-in-law has done so. (He may have an AA degree - not sure.)
endori97 6y ago
That's why the acronym STEM was invented, to separate college that makes you poorer from college that might make you better off.

by veed99 6y ago

paulpauper 6y ago

It's not the skills the get you hired (it's not like companies are seeking history majors), but rather the degree is a signal for competence and conformity, that does.

Afton 6y ago

What is your point? This seems pointlessly blame-y. Those who just graduated from high school and entered college have been told by figuratively-literally everyone that that is what they should do. Then they do it, and it turns out it is a terrible idea for a variety of reasons and there is an ill-timed pandemic that cuts off the few reasonable opportunities that they might have otherwise had. But sure, let's blame those foolish, foolish young adults for their crazy choices.

yostrovs 6y ago
When I was in college, just starting out, I knew that making money after college is important and that certain fields that may be interesting, such as literature and psychology, don't provide a clear path to making a living. This didn't seem a secret, but many of my colleague students explicitly waved off such concerns. They "didn't care about money". So I chose computer science and many of them went with anthropology and whatnot. The results were predictable and it was indeed their own fault to not care. Now that there's talk of cancelling student debt, it infuriates me that they might get off paying the justly earned debt doing fun things in college while I was coding memory management, and pulling my hair out, into the night.
- Afton 6y ago
  "I suffered, so they should too". That's all I have to say about your fury. As for the other part: I was told, explicitly, that thinking about college as a jobs-training experience was the wrong approach. Learning how to think, how to write, how to organize ideas, that was valuable in and of itself. And maybe at some time, it was true. With a degree in the '70s, you could get in to a lot of sensible middle-class jobs, even in art-history and psychology.It turned out not to be true [edit: when I was in college, not in the '70s], but I was ill equipped to understand that. I also suspect that you have only the most superficial understanding of your cohort's motivations, yet seem absolutely confident in your analysis. I wonder if a course in psychology or philosophy would have benefited you some.
  - yostrovs 6y ago
    You dismiss me, but I spent four years alongside people who repeatedly and consistently followed the "money is not important to me" mantra. They were adults, old enough to understand consequences. But money was not important to them. We were in ones of the most expensive colleges in the nation, mind you. Now money matters to them, and they would rather someone else covers their debts, someone who actually generates productive output. And these people are almost exclusively from the economically upper quartile of the population. They want Bob the plumber to pay for their anthro degree. Lol. Now how about you take some sociology classes to understand this situation?

danhak 6y ago

Increases in housing and healthcare costs have been absolutely dwarfing wage growth in most major metros, for decades now. This "it's your fault for majoring in gender studies" meme is a red herring. There was a time in the U.S. where one parent could support a family and purchase a house while the other stayed at home with the kids. With nothing more than a high school diploma.

paulpauper 6y ago
Additionally, only a small percentage of grads major in the humanities and social sciences despite all the hype and blame such subjects get . https://greyenlightenment.com/how-popular-are-gender-studies/ https://greyenlightenment.com/how-popular-are-gender-studies... most people major in more 'actionable' subjects such as business, nursing, phycology, etc.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
  Psychology is equivalent to humanities imo only because you need a graduate degree to actually get a job in that field.
- edanm 6y ago
  From what I recall, business degrees both dwarf all other types of degrees, and are not really considered actionable.
jelliclesfarm 6y ago
what kind of life did they lead? is it comprable to life as we know it now?
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  You can live that kind of life now, but it's not the default. You'd have only one car. You wouldn't have the latest anything, whether car, computer, or sneakers. You might not even have cable. But yes, I think you can do it. In fact, my cousin-in-law has done so. (He may have an AA degree - not sure.)

endori97 6y ago

That's why the acronym STEM was invented, to separate college that makes you poorer from college that might make you better off.