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gridloreNO DEGREE REQUIRED Technical courses gain favor for those interested in finding new career path
The story goes on quite a bit longer, and is worth a read.
When I went to school, the entire focus was on getting us ready to enter the UC/CSU system. There was one vocational program in the county, and it was chronically underfunded and seen as a dumping ground for people too stupid or too rowdy to make it in normal classes. Problem was I had no intention of going to college, really sucked at the mechanics of schooling, and knew in my heart that I would be working with my hands and back. But that sort of talk wasn't allowed from a kid who blew the standardized tests off the chart, and everyone assumed that I'd bear down, get good grades, and toddle off to CSU Hicksville to get a BS in something.
Ha. Folks, my high school GPA was under 1.0. I didn't give a damn about any of it, was miserable, and drove teachers crazy by not doing any work, reading SF novels in class, then demolishing the midterms and finals. (I never studied, either. I'd read the textbooks and listen to the lectures. See why I wasn't good at school? They aren't set up for people who learn the way I do.)
Had I the chance to enter a vocational program, I might have caught on to my love of driving 15 years early and not spent over a decade wandering lost. I still would have joined the Army, but with a little experience under my belt I might have gone for a Transportation Corps job, or trained as a mechanic. The career path I chose was based on "get me the hell out of San Jose now" and not much else.
The road not taken. Admittedly, I'm projecting a rosy view of what might have happened, but damn, compared to reality there would have been some improvement!
That being said I'm glad that we are beginning to realize that the world needs builders and movers. Being a professional geek at Google or eBay might be nice, but without people like me, your offices are an empty field. Now we'll get people who set out to be the best carpenter, or plumber, or truck driver, they can be from the start, without the belief that they need a diploma in 17th Century French Drama to be worth something.
Without a college degree, are you condemned to a lifetime flipping burgers?
That's the conventional wisdom. Studies, aphorisms and the press all preach the gospel that a baccalaureate is the only way to achieve success in an increasingly competitive job market. What with outsourcing, technology advances and productivity increases, one might think the only jobs left for those who haven't graduated from college would be service-sector ones such as nurse's aide and janitor -- jobs that don't pay enough to support a middle-class lifestyle.
Truth is, there are plenty of decent-paying jobs that don't require a four-year degree. They include many familiar occupations -- nurse, carpenter, truck driver, plumber. But a number of up-and-coming jobs -- the not-your-father's-Oldsmobile category -- are also on the list: MRI repair person, solar-panel installer, biotech lab assistant, biodiesel technician. You could think of some of the new ones as chrome collar (working as technicians in various fields) or green collar (clean energy, environmental).
"If you're interested in the steak but not the sizzle, look at where the jobs are," said Marty Nemko, a San Francisco career coach and host of "Work with Marty Nemko" on KALW radio. "There are livable-wage jobs in areas like plumber, carpenter, auto mechanic. A student with low SATs would be far wiser to pursue one of those paths."
Government studies show that the overwhelming majority of jobs, both today and in the future, will require some post-secondary education, but not a four-year degree. Jobs requiring high school and some college currently account for 110 million out of 145 million total jobs in the United States, said Richard Holden, regional commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2014, the "some college" jobs will account for 121 million out of 165 million expected jobs.
"Clearly most jobs are not college degree jobs, and there are great many of these jobs that pay well and are satisfying occupations," he said.
In fact, the majority of students do not earn a college degree.
Focus on training
Now California is starting to address the needs of students who are not candidates for four-year schools. "Vocational education," once considered a low-status choice for students who struggled academically, has been rechristened "career technical education" or career tech. Instead of being confined to classes in shop or home economics, it encompasses academic courses integrated with real-life skills -- the math needed to enter a construction apprenticeship, for example.
"It used to be thought that the only way you could be successful in society is if you have a college degree," said Jose Millan, vice chancellor of economic development and workforce preparation for California Community Colleges, the agency that oversees the state's 110 community colleges.
The story goes on quite a bit longer, and is worth a read.
When I went to school, the entire focus was on getting us ready to enter the UC/CSU system. There was one vocational program in the county, and it was chronically underfunded and seen as a dumping ground for people too stupid or too rowdy to make it in normal classes. Problem was I had no intention of going to college, really sucked at the mechanics of schooling, and knew in my heart that I would be working with my hands and back. But that sort of talk wasn't allowed from a kid who blew the standardized tests off the chart, and everyone assumed that I'd bear down, get good grades, and toddle off to CSU Hicksville to get a BS in something.
Ha. Folks, my high school GPA was under 1.0. I didn't give a damn about any of it, was miserable, and drove teachers crazy by not doing any work, reading SF novels in class, then demolishing the midterms and finals. (I never studied, either. I'd read the textbooks and listen to the lectures. See why I wasn't good at school? They aren't set up for people who learn the way I do.)
Had I the chance to enter a vocational program, I might have caught on to my love of driving 15 years early and not spent over a decade wandering lost. I still would have joined the Army, but with a little experience under my belt I might have gone for a Transportation Corps job, or trained as a mechanic. The career path I chose was based on "get me the hell out of San Jose now" and not much else.
The road not taken. Admittedly, I'm projecting a rosy view of what might have happened, but damn, compared to reality there would have been some improvement!
That being said I'm glad that we are beginning to realize that the world needs builders and movers. Being a professional geek at Google or eBay might be nice, but without people like me, your offices are an empty field. Now we'll get people who set out to be the best carpenter, or plumber, or truck driver, they can be from the start, without the belief that they need a diploma in 17th Century French Drama to be worth something.
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Date: 2 Apr 2007 02:35 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 Apr 2007 03:02 (UTC)I had a higher GPA, and did do a fair bit of the homework, but I wasn't really interested in most of the classes. I took a year of college. And flunked because I only really paid attention to the classes I liked. And didn't work hard enough there.
I hadn't learned about the difference between grade schoolhigh school and "the real world" yet.
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Date: 2 Apr 2007 03:51 (UTC)I really had a "I don't give a fuck, I'm going into the Army but I need a diploma." attitude. I rocked the ASVAB with a GT score of 126 the first time, 129 the last, and that was the lowest area score I had.
I thought I'd spend my 20 moving in and out of combat arms units and consider going to college later.
Much of the five years I was in was split between a Field Artillery Battalion and a Light Cavalry Troop.
I got out and spent seven years doing the hands on work until I noticed all the old guys do the same job as me, baking their brains out in the sun and went "I'd rather get paid to think".
So, here I am with an Associate's in Science (completed with a 3.53 GPA), 3 semesters from a Bachelor's in Science in Psychology and pondering graduate school...
I am all for vocational school and technical schools being an option, but I also think that some elements needed to understand the culture you live in are necessary and some of that is the cheesey stuff.
Vocational and technical teaches a person what to do yet limits them in their understanding of why they do things. A more general background provides for the basis of understanding knowledge, how to manipulate knowledge, and how to influence others within your culture.
I think that a minimal set of knowledge needed to understand the culture around you needs to be imparted and then the option, determined by aptitude and by desire, be provided. But creating drones should be avoided...
no subject
Date: 3 Apr 2007 00:28 (UTC)I failed pre-algerbra three times. My head just swam when you started mixing letters and numbers.. math was just too abstract for me. But put it in a context I'm interested in (like designing starships, or weapons, or solar systems) and the problem is no longer abstract. I can do that. (I freely admit using a claculator to do most calculations, but I at least understand the nature of the problem.)
no subject
Date: 3 Apr 2007 23:32 (UTC)I mean, the only class I've had major issues with in college is Introduction to Statistics and I'm on the third time right now. The first two passes through, the instructors focussed on how to make the software work and how the math works but this guy, in spite of me hating his snide/smug attitude, is really putting the why's and wherefores of statistical analysis into place so they finally make sense.
In my case it is exactly how and not what...
All I know for sure is that there seems to be a vast divide in this society between the "haves" and the "have-nots" and education helps move that one in the right direction. And considering a college educated parent helps make for college educated kids, I want that for my kids.
Don't think I'm an academic elitist (not yet, anyway) and don't think I'm afraid of dirty hands or sweating, but I want more of what I want when I want it, eh?
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Date: 2 Apr 2007 16:42 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 Apr 2007 20:14 (UTC)no subject
Date: 3 Apr 2007 00:31 (UTC)