It's been quite a while since I've posted. I've started several times in response to what feels like an avalanche of negativity against education. There has always been those who claim that those with a higher education are "elite" and somehow no longer true Americans. But the war on education has taken on new fervor, as YouTube now has a rash of videos and there are numerous articles on the scam that is higher education (see Questions About Higher Education’s Value Go Viral on YouTube). As the cost of education continues to rise and jobs continue to disappear the value of a degree does seem to be questionable. Yet there are jobs, such as in engineering, that employers just can't fill because job seekers don't have the skills. Perhaps what is needed is less of a dialogue that contains school is bad and worthless, but more of a rework on how we train people for their careers. It may be worth taking a look at the "antiquated" apprenticeship model, using a mixture of liberal arts education with hands-on training in a field. These apprenticeships don't even have to paid, they just get credit for the time without costing the student any money. Student saves money, employers get free labor that are trained in the skills needed. Of course this means businesses will have to take the time and spend the money to develop a training program, they won't see profit right away, but if they want to remain in business they will need to invest in their employees. Seems counter-intuitive when there is unemployment of 9%, but the question we all must ask is what kind of a future do we want for this country.
A reason to GO to graduate school, you're surrounded by graduate students
I stumbled across a blog today via ProfHacker of The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School . The initial posting I went to go read, as my qualifying project has been on my mind this week, was Reason #60: " The Tyranny of the Dissertation ." But I ended up at #50. You are surrounded by graduate students. I was taken aback by the comment "The professor responded without the slightest hesitation: 'There is nothing to be gained from the company of graduate students.'"Is this really the reality of graduate school? I do remember having very little interaction with my fellow Master's students. Once class ended, we all went our separate ways. Now I worked a full-time job while doing my Master's degree, so by the time class was over at 10 pm I was ready to call it a day. But in truth, there was no feeling of community, and as there were only 3 required classes I rarely saw the same people from semester to semester.
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