Posted on 08/13/2008 6:42:34 AM PDT by shrinkermd
Imagine that America had no system of post-secondary education, and you were a member of a task force assigned to create one from scratch. One of your colleagues submits this proposal:
First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn't meet the goal. We will call the goal a "BA."
You would conclude that your colleague was cruel, not to say insane. But that's the system we have in place.
Finding a better way should be easy. The BA acquired its current inflated status by accident. Advanced skills for people with brains really did get more valuable over the course of the 20th century, but the acquisition of those skills got conflated with the existing system of colleges, which had evolved the BA for completely different purposes.
Outside a handful of majors -- engineering and some of the sciences -- a bachelor's degree tells an employer nothing except that the applicant has a certain amount of intellectual ability and perseverance. Even a degree in a vocational major like business administration can mean anything from a solid base of knowledge to four years of barely remembered gut courses
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I take it that the above is your agreement that your post that only the dumb and lazy go to college was a little OTT.
Never!
Since the end of WWII colleges have served more as a place where successful parents have sent their kids to finish growing up; since the Vietnam war it has become a place to party; after the Iragi war we will be obliged to issue bright IDs so that the serious veterans who are there to learn a marketable skill can be told from the students and teachers without hangovers.
I was a hiring manager in corporate for several years(without a college degree--hell, i flunked high school because i rarely showed up.) I can tell you that you quickly discount the worth of a BA once you've interviewed a few holders. Worthless.
Skip school and learn real living skills: the ability to hustle, to sell, to find and exploit opportunities, to make good use of resources, to negotiate--in short, to carry your own weight.
College is for most a protective bubble that delays their development, that shelters them from the natural forces that would otherwise forge them, hopefully, into self-sufficient individuals.
Skip college. There are plenty of books at the free library. Don't worry if the job posting says college degree required. I never did. I got plenty of high paying jobs, some with 5 figure bonuses, with nothing but a high school diploma.
Then again, if your parents can afford a four year party for you, and you don't mind fleecing them, have a good time.
That is so true. My wife is going to school for a BSN, and she is REQUIRED to have a class in "American Literature". I can't think of a reason on Earth why in the hell a NURSE would have to be REQUIRED to have a literature class, other than to suck time and money out of people.
I agree with the first part but not the second. I have just a HS diploma and I had plenty of college grads, even master's degrees, under me when I was in corporate. I just think that I knew how to huck and chuck better than they did. And being the boss ain't all it's cracked up to be, when you have several bosses yourself. That's why I went out for myself. Now my boss is the customer, and that's about as good as you're gonna do.
Not so easily done - and not necessarily smart. I was hired in my industry strictly because I was ex-military and had a clearance. I had NO IDEA what I was doing but the guy who hired me said, "You're smart - you'll figure it out."
I did and today I actually actually teach classes within this industry in addition to my regular job. If I had to be certified to enter this job in the first place, I wouldn't be here.
bttt
You are right. Nuclear engineers don’t need no stinkin’ college to design and build nuclear engineers. duh ...
correction:
You are right. Nuclear engineers dont need no stinkin college to design and build nuclear reactors. duh ...
:-) Well, I think it should go without saying that the exceptions to the rule are the hard sciences. Not just nuclear engineers, but also doctors. Then again, I knew an accomplished physicist who didn’t finish college, and helped designed AWACs technology, as well as space shuttle technology. Did Einstein go to college? So there are exceptions even to the exceptions. Anyway, it seemed to be understood we’re talking about garden variety 4 year degrees here.
You were military, and probably still smart enough to take obtain certification.
Good article. I graduate in December in Business Management and International Business. I’m only 15 years late :)
A lot of students in my classes, even as seniors, are just intellectually lazy. They think the world still revolves around them. I haven’t learned anything new in school, only explains why my managers make the decisions they do (What Would Jack Welch Do?).
The GI Bill and my company picked up my tuition bill so at least my education only cost me time.
As a hiring manager, many of my best employees never went to college and some of the worst had a college degree. On the other hand, all employees that had a military background were successful hires.
I also find that a college education does not necessarily mean that one can articulate oneself, successfully complete a complicated project or even put together a simple business letter any better than those who have not had a college degree.
You're half right. It's about the money and also about keeping white males from dominating the culture.
The courses you spoke of include: Black History, Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action (also known as Watermellon U), Why Feminism is crucial to American Success, Getting in Touch With Your Inner Self, Basket Weaving, and 151 New Sexual Positions. I agree with you, they're not needed.
Undoubtedly true...and a scathing indictment of business.
Many thanks to your son for his service, and thank you for raising him to be a patriot.
Yes, he did.
Thank you!
There seems to be a trend nowadays toward giving jobs to the least qualified persons for the particular jobs. This ensures that the person has low self esteem and will work for less money. Socialized, Communistic, Nationalized Health Care will extend this trend to Medicine. The people most qualified and who now make the most money will utilize their talents elsewhere or retire. Younger talented people won’t enter the field.
CPAs and lawyers find a lot of their expertise can be replaced by computers and software.
Engineering can be outsourced to India, as can Radoiology.
This is a dangerous trend, for it takes away the rewards of high achievement in this country.
All of this lowering of the standard of living will eventually collapase the tax base, and government union employees will suffer also.
Only the limousine liberals ultimately benefit.
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