Re: What's a Diploma Worth, Anyway?
- From: Straydog <asd@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 21:35:35 -0400
On Wed, 13 Sep 2006, BroTher zAchary wrote:
Noel wrote:What's a Diploma Worth, Anyway?
By Tamara Draut, TomPaine.com.
Posted September 7, 2006.
Young people are enrolling in college in record numbers, working longer
hours and trying to save for retirement. But in this grim economic
situation, a degree doesn't guarantee a good life.
Go to college. Work hard. Save money. For the baby boom generation,
this mantra was considered the tried and true recipe for getting ahead
in America. If you're a parent of 20-something today, chances are you
gave this advice to your own kids as they emerged from teen-hood into
adulthood.
And indeed, a generation ago, most people found that if they followed
these three rules, they'd earn a spot under the security blanket of
America's middle class. But as one famous boomer said so eloquently,
"the times, they are a-changin'."
The recently released 2006 Economic Report of the President reported
that earnings for workers with college degrees declined between 2000
and 2004 -- yet another thread of evidence in a growing mound that for
those just starting out, the golden rules are no longer so golden.
Getting a bachelor's degree is the required ticket for entry into the
middle class today,
BULL, as has been discussed here. Anecdotal:
- Pseudo-brother-in-law: Prison guard, age 26, high school education
and academy training=>$100K/yr. Owns new home in Norther California.
Bought wife Beemer and in-ground pool.
- Friend 1: Regional sales manager for steel stud manfacturer, age 32,
AA degree=>$80K/yr and on his way up fast. Owns newer home in Nor-Cal.
- Friend 2: Former security manager for the local "Indian" casino, age
32, high school education, was making mid-$60K/yr, then quit to start
own granite business. Doing well in it, has as much work as he wants.
At least the same money for far less hours. Owns home on a couple of
acres. Just bought adjacent acreage.
- Friend 2's wife: Former Indian caisno manager, high school education,
age 33, some junior college, but no degree, was making mid-$70sK/yr,
transferred to be Player's Club manager, dropping into high $60sK/yr,
but works less hours, and more desireable shift.
- Friend 3: Account manager for vision insurance company, age 36,
worked her way up from manning phones. Started University, but didn't
finish, so not degreed, makes somewhere in the $60K/yr range. Owns
newer home in Nor-Cal with her husband.
- Friend 3's husband: Former roofer, age 37, high school education. has
home inspection business (this guy doesn't really work that hard or
that many hours). Don't know how much money he makes exactly, but he
shares a darn nice house with his wife, has a new bass-boat, and a $30K
play truck, along with a small business truck. Co-owns investment
property with his wife in Arizona.
- Friend 4: Funeral Director, age 37, AA (or AS) degree, after working
for Funeral home corporations, levereged himself to buy his own funeral
home. Now runs million-dollar+/yr business. He works his arse off, but
makes a lot of money (nice having those right-offs!). In Washington,
owns business and property, house, and is looking into other real
estate.
- Mother: Registered Nurse, age 63, AA degree. _Could_ make well over
$70K/yr, but chooses not to work due to depression (a combination of
personal choice and mental illness). Owns home and property in Nor-Cal.
Those are just my friends and acquaintances, that I can think off the
top of my head quickly, who aren't at least 4-year degreed who are
solidly middle class, most having been working in their only around 10
years.
Yep, and several years ago, while my retirement house was being built, and for a couple years before that, I was making posts under the subject line something like "more better jobs" and outlined a good number of jobs and/or small businesses where the pay, security of the work involved, and transferability (i.e. if you lost one job, you could find another one in the same town/city both easy and soon, so you don't have to spend 6-12 months looking for a job AND moving accross the country) were as good or maybe even better than where you end up even with a PhD. And, there is Dave Jensen, "trolling" his self-promoted name and casting his nets for people to come over and raise his hit statistics (brown nosing with the AAAS, otherwise known as the Amer Assn for the Advancement of itSelf) and all the media hype and peer pressure that says "college is the only way to go."
And, I also have a short list of a couple dozen people I've personally known whose science careers ended up crashing from the whole range of
politics, grant support non-renewal, tenure denials, program terminations, and just plain bad luck....all totally unrelated to their
productivity, competance, and track records. And, how about "fired for cause"? I know about three. One was definite incompetance (everyone around talked about it) and one was an alcohol problem (this was confirmed, too), and one was taking bribes/kickbacks.
.
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