Degrees of Separation

The Washington Post ^ | June 25, 2002 | Michael A. Fletcher

[gubamyster]

BALTIMORE -- As Morgan State University President Earl S. Richardson surveyed the sea of newly minted graduates at the school's 126th commencement last month, his joy was tempered by a question that has grown too conspicuous to ignore: Where are all the men?

Not only were the head of student government, the senior class president and 96 of Morgan's 141 honorstudents women, but so were two-thirds of the university's 860 graduates.

[Salgak]

I **COULD** be snide and just note this as an extreme example of the feminization forced on males at our institutions of "Higher Learning". . .

[dvwjr]

Diploma devalued.

I think what is happening is part of the long term effect of government interference with higher education. When you subsidize something, you get more of it... What has been occuring in the US education field is that many who have no business going to college do so because of the ease of acquisition of Federally backed loans, and colleges whose survival depends on getting bodies on campus. What happens to the students is that they are saddled with huge education loans to repay, with the payback time becoming longer and longer. Many of the brighter younger men have (instinctively) figured out that they might be economically better off to go directly from high school, (or with just some college) to a career in the high-tech field. They focus directly on say, IT jobs, that do not come from a career track from a four-year field of study. An extreme example would of course be Bill Gates. If the marketplace says that you do not necessarily need the "diploma stamp" on your resume, then college may be avoided by more and more young men. Young women seem to focus more on education tracks which allow them to pursue jobs in fields where credentialism is more important.

So it may be economics after all. The Federal government subsidizes the mediocre, which drives out the good. Tutition costs go through the roof, young men figure out that the payback time on a four-year degree is too high (for them) and the men's enrollment figures at four-year higher education institutions begins to decline.

The market in action.

dvwjr

[Salgak]

True. The Engineering Schools are still mostly male. As are a lot of the hard-science departments. Business departments are generally 50-50.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

University President Earl S. Richardson

. . . only guy in the house . . .

[TheEngineer]

Very good point, Salgak. Unfortunately, the engineering, hard science, and professional fields have a demand which far exceeds the supplies of talent. This despite the excellent salaries awaiting graduates in these fields.

My personal speculaton is that it has something to do with today's 18 year olds not wanting to trade 5 years of hard labor in an engineering (or similarly difficult program) university for 40 years in a well paying work field. It is a cultural thing, and in today's environment I have tremendous respect for the young engineers/scientists who have pursued their goals amidst negative peer attitudes.

Also, I think that it is partially due to the liberals running the high schools... and the career counselors who are helping 17-18 year olds decide what to do for the rest of their lives.

Often, students are not well-prepared for these professions early, so the difficult college degree programs are even more difficult when the students are playing catchup. And, many high school career counselors don't emphasize the money aspects of career choice.

After re-reading my post, I think I sound like an old codger. :-) But I'm only in my late 30's... Went to college in the 80's... when greed was still good. :-)

[Salgak]

Sounds familiar. Lehigh, Class of 1983. Bachelors' in Geology and Geophysics. But the well-paying work is often boom-and-bust: I had a pad, as I was an ROTC student, and had several years in the USAF ahead of me. Of course, THAT taught me to keep updating my skills, and since then, have never been unemployed longer than 45 days at a time. . .(g)

Over the past 20 years or so, the trend that's disturbed me the most is the enrollment downfalls in almost all the professional and pre-professional areas. Except one. . .

Pre-law. But then, to me, Lawyers are God's Final Plague on Mankind (g)

Think about it: a profession in which advancement comes not by doing things correctly and efficiently, but by winning at all costs, and truth be damned. . . .

The OTHER trend that disturbs me is the downfall of the Liberal Arts curriculum ALL students had to cover. A student had to be able to read the classics, compose a properly-written analysis of some issue or other, defend it logically, have a decent background in history and what I'll call "civics", using the old term.

But, alas, the Leftward March of Academia has thrown all that away: "Dead White Men", "objectivity is predjudice", etc. . .

It hit the final straw on 9/11. . . when my alma mater's Dean of Students directed one of the campus bus drivers to take down the US Flag he was flying, because foreign students might be offended by it. . .

[Salgak]

Sounds familiar. Lehigh, Class of 1983. Bachelors' in Geology and Geophysics. But the well-paying work is often boom-and-bust: I had a pad, as I was an ROTC student, and had several years in the USAF ahead of me. Of course, THAT taught me to keep updating my skills, and since then, have never been unemployed longer than 45 days at a time. . .(g)

Over the past 20 years or so, the trend that's disturbed me the most is the enrollment downfalls in almost all the professional and pre-professional areas. Except one. . .

Pre-law. But then, to me, Lawyers are God's Final Plague on Mankind (g)

Think about it: a profession in which advancement comes not by doing things correctly and efficiently, but by winning at all costs, and truth be damned. . . .

The OTHER trend that disturbs me is the downfall of the Liberal Arts curriculum ALL students had to cover. A student had to be able to read the classics, compose a properly-written analysis of some issue or other, defend it logically, have a decent background in history and what I'll call "civics", using the old term.

But, alas, the Leftward March of Academia has thrown all that away: "Dead White Men", "objectivity is predjudice", etc. . .

It hit the final straw on 9/11. . . when my alma mater's Dean of Students directed one of the campus bus drivers to take down the US Flag he was flying, because foreign students might be offended by it. . .

[Salgak]

oops. . .my bag (g)