In your SOTU speech, I appreciate your enthusiasm for science fair winners like no other parent! I believe in the importance of the scientific method and getting our children's hands dirty and full of respect for mother nature and her ample sources of energy yet to be harnessed.
Yet, you really didn't address the fundamental issue that plagues us: the parents of those science fair winners who may be out of a job since last week, or month or year. These parents are my clients and they have brought me to one very stark conclusion: not even a college degree will ensure us with a stable or viable future. Degrees are meaningless without substance that is relevant to the changing demands of a global economy and a serious problem with our job market infrastructure. For some reason I can't explain, economists seem to be blind to it.
The greatest need and demand we have today is finding workers who want to get their hands dirty. If only you had emphasized the critical demands of our workforce for people who can fix an air conditioner, unstop a toilet, repair a broken down car or connect power lines to each other. Wall Street only notices this crisis in a meeting of brokers when the office air conditioner stops working. What MBA will fix it?
As a nation, we have undermined and even revoked the importance of vocational education for our children who just may want to do it. Parents seem to think now that without a college degree their children will not succeed in life. Until we face this reality, I hypothesize that our economy will continue to remain stagnate.
Today's consequences: College educated kids have moved home, can't find a "job" and have debt that could have purchased a starter home. Their parents aren't much help because they too recognize their current skill-set is becoming quickly fossilized or even worse, they lost jobs with a college education.
So yes, I'm with you applauding science fair winners. Please also remember that college education is not our only hope for the future. The kids who didn't win but learned all about electrical currents or how an engine works may be our key to a brighter future.
Working with our hands is a lost art in the world of work. If only parents could understand how important it is to using your brain.
Yet, you really didn't address the fundamental issue that plagues us: the parents of those science fair winners who may be out of a job since last week, or month or year. These parents are my clients and they have brought me to one very stark conclusion: not even a college degree will ensure us with a stable or viable future. Degrees are meaningless without substance that is relevant to the changing demands of a global economy and a serious problem with our job market infrastructure. For some reason I can't explain, economists seem to be blind to it.
The greatest need and demand we have today is finding workers who want to get their hands dirty. If only you had emphasized the critical demands of our workforce for people who can fix an air conditioner, unstop a toilet, repair a broken down car or connect power lines to each other. Wall Street only notices this crisis in a meeting of brokers when the office air conditioner stops working. What MBA will fix it?
As a nation, we have undermined and even revoked the importance of vocational education for our children who just may want to do it. Parents seem to think now that without a college degree their children will not succeed in life. Until we face this reality, I hypothesize that our economy will continue to remain stagnate.
Today's consequences: College educated kids have moved home, can't find a "job" and have debt that could have purchased a starter home. Their parents aren't much help because they too recognize their current skill-set is becoming quickly fossilized or even worse, they lost jobs with a college education.
So yes, I'm with you applauding science fair winners. Please also remember that college education is not our only hope for the future. The kids who didn't win but learned all about electrical currents or how an engine works may be our key to a brighter future.
Working with our hands is a lost art in the world of work. If only parents could understand how important it is to using your brain.
Posts
Bravo Carla! I 100% agree!I myself married a vocationally educated man whose ability to actually 'do' something has supported us for 20 years!
ReplyDeleteCricket