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I’ve been saying that college is doomed, for a while. I say this as a man with 2 graduate degrees so I am obviously not anti education. Let’s think first princ
by xyzelement 3y ago
I’ve been saying that college is doomed, for a while. I say this as a man with 2 graduate degrees so I am obviously not anti education.
Let’s think first principles. A hundred or even 50 years ago, going to college was a real signifier. You were someone who invested in scholarship, survived the rigor, etc. In the absence of other signifiers, that meant something about you. And obviously also you learned something.
Today “everyone” goes to college but it’s also trivial to graduate college with no useful skills or mind expansion because it has become more accessible and the bar is lower. So your degree no longer signifies much about you. It’s kinda sad to see college educated adults working in Starbucks but yeah it’s trivial to be half a million dollars in debt and not come out with much.
So the signifier value is gone. Meanwhile your opportunities to learn and prove yourself outside of a college degree are more present than ever. Online education options, easy testing, online portfolios etc being some examples of that.
So college gives you less, charges you a lot, and competition is rising. That’s not a tenable situation.
And the pill about decreased confidence resonates. In the prior generation maybe you can make some argument about college educated people being smarter (and worth listening to) in contrast to others. But now, it’s kinda obvious that electricians, plumbers etc are pulling in 300k a year are smarter and wiser than a liberal arts grad pulling 45k at Starbucks and yeah it’s becoming hard to justify giving more weight to the later in anything.
I find this a bit sad - I got a lot out of my education and if that was available to my son and daughter in 17 years that would be great but I suspect it will be so watered down if it exists at all that it would be a hard to justify option.
- TMWNN 3y ago>Today “everyone” goes to college but it’s also trivial to graduate college with no useful skills or mind expansion because it has become more accessible and the bar is lower. So your degree no longer signifies much about you. In Heinlein's Friday, the heroine visits a future California. The government, having found that those with college degrees earn more money, promptly issues every citizen a bachelor's degree to correct this inequitable situation.
- xyzelement 3y agoHaha fair enough! Or more specifically - NYU recently (2022/2023) fired an organic chemistry professor for teaching a too-hard course - which he had taught the same way for decades - because now that SATs aren't a must for admissions, the student body can't hack it.
- hooverd 3y agoYou're not making 300k as a tradie unless you run your own business. I don't know if I'd take it over blowing out my back and knees before I can retire.
- xyzelement 3y agoThe electrician we hired (biz owner) told me his guys can clear 300k in a good year.
- clusterhacks 3y agoReally? I looked up some data about working in the trades awhile back (so numbers maybe slightly higher in 2022 data than in my comment, but still close). The U.S. Census Bureau lists the annual real median earnings at $41,535 in 2020 for all workers with earnings[4] and lists the annual median earnings at $56,287 in 2020 for people who worked full-time, year round. [1] Plumber - median $56,330, demand growth, slower than average [2] HVAC tech - median $50,590, demand growth, slower than average [3] Electrician - median $56,900, demand growth average (actually 9%) [4] Framer(Carpenter) - median $49,520, demand growth, slower than average [5] Bricklayer(Mason) - median $47,710, declining demand. [6] Software engineer - median $110,140, demand growth, higher than average [7] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States [2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm [3] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm [4] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electricians.htm [5] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/carpenters.htm [6] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/brickmasons-blockmasons-and-stonemasons.htm [7] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm
- somenameforme 3y agoKeep in mind inflation biases in wages. Certain jobs, like software, tend to be disproportionately huddled into high inflation areas. So this drives wages up, while jobs like plumbers are spread about everywhere which (relatively) drives wages down. So for instance Salary.com puts San Francisco skilled plumbers at a $90k median wage [1], electricians at $105k [2], etc. [1] - https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/plumber-iii-salary/san-francisco-ca https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/plumber-iii... [2] - https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/electrician-iv-salary/san-francisco-ca https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/electrician...