{"id":1891,"date":"2010-05-19T07:13:17","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T11:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicholsclan.com\/tinblog\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2010-05-17T08:48:30","modified_gmt":"2010-05-17T12:48:30","slug":"whats-with-all-the-b-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2010\/05\/whats-with-all-the-b-s.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s With All the B.S.?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mortar<\/a>In the increasingly competitive economy, does everyone need a 4-year degree?\u00a0 To maintain our edge in the world, the US arguably has a shortage of homegrown people with advanced degrees.\u00a0 But we’ve also got a lot of people with Master’s Degrees driving bus or managing stores at the mall.<\/p>\n

The notion that a four-year degree is essential for real success is being challenged by<\/a> a growing number of economists, policy analysts and academics.\u00a0 But this flies in the face of cultural wisdom that says everyone is better off with a college degree.\u00a0 After all, aren’t all the manufacturing jobs and other good paying non-degree requiring jobs headed overseas?<\/p>\n

There’s certainly truth that college graduates tend to earn more than those who don’t go to school.\u00a0 But that only really counts if you finish your degree and then actually get a job in the field you studied in.\u00a0 Only 36% of students finish their 4-year degree in 4 years.\u00a0 That’s a lot of money spent on kids who drop out or change career paths mid-stream.\u00a0 Is it worth it?<\/p>\n

I would argue that college has the opportunity to be an enriching and intellectually enlightening experience for anyone, regardless of their path in life.\u00a0 But that assumes the student is ready, open, and engaged when they are attending.\u00a0 I don’t think that’s always the case.\u00a0 Further, from a social cost factor, should we as a country be subsidizing the advanced education of people ultimately destined to work in fields that don’t require it?\u00a0 In many respects, it might make more sense to argue that money should be spent on healthcare for all rather than bachelor’s degrees for all.<\/p>\n

The real question becomes, why has our culture shifted to the point there is almost a stigma associated with kids who opt not to pursue college?\u00a0 As if somehow they are less able or less worthy than those headed to a university.\u00a0 I don’t personally believe that’s true.\u00a0 I know people with advanced degrees that aren’t too bright and high school graduates that are brilliant.\u00a0 I expect you do too.\u00a0 I know craftsmen who can build with skill and style that no PhD is going to approach.\u00a0 Does that make them less worthy as people?<\/p>\n

I think a lot of this comes from our collective notion that skill-wise and intellectually we are created equivalently.\u00a0 That any one of us could be President, or a doctor,or an engineer, or a rock star, if only we try hard enough.\u00a0 That’s sheer sophistry.\u00a0 We are anything but equivalent, and personally I’m very glad of that.\u00a0 I’ve come to realize that I’m not capable of very many things, and no amount of trying is going to improve that.\u00a0 I’m glad there are people who not only have the skills I lack, but take pride and joy in performing them.<\/p>\n

Yes, we need scientists and engineers, but we need welders, auto mechanics, short order cooks, and musicians too.\u00a0 I would much prefer my own son be a skillful and contented electrician than be a disenfranchised MBA credentialed middle manager who wakes up every morning wondering why his life turned out this way.<\/p>\n

Diversity is not just about race, religion, and sexual orientation.\u00a0 It’s about embracing and celebrating differences in aptitude as well as the choices we make.\u00a0 Our lives do not all lie along a single path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the increasingly competitive economy, does everyone need a 4-year degree?\u00a0 To maintain our edge in the world, the US<\/p>\n

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