The Nth Degree

You've all read the stats about a huge increase in lifetime income and wealth that can be expected with the attainment of a college degree, though a college degree for this generation is what a high school diploma was in days past.  That is, while you sometimes hear success stories of those who have done extremely well with little education, those stories are typically from your parents' or grandparents' generation.  While still the land of opportunity, the line for the good jobs is longer, and the opportunities for entrepreneurship, the fancy word for starting your own business, slimmer.  

The business start-up obstacles are fairly obvious.  The market niches are fewer, the government impediments greater.  There are other difficult barriers to entry, not the least of which is start-up capital.  But some potential exists in cyberspace, for example. I suppose it's still possible to be successful by working hard, but the Puritan work ethic has been replaced by the desire for quality of life.  I see a lot of kids working hard to help pay their way through college, but "balance" still dominates their thinking.  I don't criticize them for that, and in fact seek balance between all the competing interests in my life as well.  But what it means is that there aren't a lot of young folks willing to work 80+ hours a week to operate and maintain a laundromat, for instance.  In fact, it's getting harder to have teenagers engage in what has traditionally been a right-of-passage, the awful, labor-intensive, low-paying jobs that we're all supposed to have at that age.  A lot of kids won't work for minimum wage, as it is "beneath them."  And why not; this is the most indulged generation ever, rarely ever having to do without, and getting allowances for doing next to nothing.  So skipping college and working 12+ hours a day at a job/business that is not fulfilling just isn't that popular anymore.

So most kids want to get in line for the good jobs, but that line has gotten a lot longer.  Yes, you might well be able to do the job, and it's not fair that just because someone has a degree that he/she should be in line ahead of those with experience, desire, ability, etc.  But it is typically a buyer's market, so assuming that there are also people with experience, desire, ability, etc., with degrees, why would an employer want to hire anyone without a degree when there are so many candidates with degrees?  Of course having the sheepskin doesn't mean you can do the job any better, but I'd rather have my hiring pool composed of kids who have shown that they're smart, ambitious, and have succeeded in the difficult task of earning a college degree.  The scary thing, though, is that for an increasing number of professions, the college degree is insufficient, and an advanced degree is necessary.  What are you going to do with just a B.S. in Psychology, for example?

It is a shame that degrees have become credentials and admissions tickets, as the purpose of college is to learn (or at least learn how to learn).  Despite the protests to the contrary and up-turned noses of us in academics, particularly the arts and sciences crowd, college has become a vocational institution.