That’s a very cynical view. You’re painting college like some arbitrary hurdle to prove your worth. Difficult as they were, I thought my weeder courses we’re pretty valuable.
while i do buy into the idea that, in general, science PhD holders nowadays are prob not as sure a bet as they once were (regarding competency in their field), I dont buy into the shortage of qualified scientists argument. (I couldnt find the specific post you were referring to at that bloggersite)
I was kind of surprised to see my major up there, physical fitness, but on a technical term my major is called sports and exercise science (w/ specialization in human performance). I switched from Biomedical (pre-professional level) which is designed to go into the medical field to work in hospitals or open your own clinic. Obviously switching majors means a huge change in money, but I’m 100% happy in what I’m doing and I truly, truly, truly found what I love to do. I planned out what I want to do with my career with each thing being used a stepping stone to something greater so my future isn’t as grim as this article is trying to say it is.
YaY you’re one of the few people doing CRM comfortably. Statistically it is still not a great major; not only that but it isn’t high in demand. On top of it most of the jobs for people who do have CRM certs are basic shit that don’t pay great and/or dealing with contractors who don’t always have work.
Really though, the way you mishandle qualitative information to imply an argument for anthropology as a degree shows why that field is in a shit hole. Keep digging though, where did you do your anthro/archeo stuff at?
I worded that in a really confusing way. I meant the part in your post about the supposed shortage not being real seems to be the case, i.e., there is no shortage. Any of the posts about jobs in STEM or “purple squirrels” (job postings that require impossible experience/credentials, and so naturally are not often filled, which the employers then use to complain about the lack of qualified candidates) on that blog are good. The Mathematics of the Ph.D. Glut might be the most relevant, and the Table of Contents has more good ones.
I think you misunderstood me, or I probably didn’t make myself clear. I’m not arguing that anthro is a degree most people should go after… at all. The field of CRM is extremely over saturated, and you are correct: most entry level field tech positions don’t pay shit. I’m one of the few lucky ones who have managed to get hired on as a project director with a company who has multiple big contracts with the DOD, but even that’s getting a little sketchy with sequestration.
No, I am definitely not an advocate for more people going after an anthro degree, I honestly thought it was funny that it’s no. one on Forbes’ list. But I’m not surprised. My advice would be to stay far away from anthropology if you want a secure career path, and that’s unfortunate because I really love anthropology/archaeology. I wish there was a higher demand for anthropologists in the world, I think humanity would benefit from it. But you have to either be a tenured professor or have secured a fulltime position with a good CRM firm to be successful in this field, and both markets are extremely competitive.
To answer your question, I got my degrees at New Mexico State. I worked in the Southwest for five years, but now I’m in the Boise area.
Well frankly, isn’t that what it is all about? Wanna get into a good college program? Prove your worth. Wanna go far in college? Show that you can succeed. I’m not saying weeder courses aren’t valuable, I just feel most of them are unnecessarily forced to weed out those destined to fail at certain levels. The stuff people are learning nowadays they will practically never use in their profession, some even argue that certifications will serve you better in the long run.
A few years distance from graduation has changed my perspective a bit. The problem of knowledge you’ll never practically use is kind of essential isn’t it? College degrees by design give you a wide array of knowledge so you aren’t locked into one specific job title post graduation. So even though my work experience is mostly in web programming, my CS degree also prepared me to work on operating system level software (and dozens of other things) if I choose to, even though I never have and probably never will. I could have also just gotten a “Web Programming” degree from some school advertised on a video game news website and saved lots of time, but I’m much happier with what I have.
I def think certs/trade schools can work out better for a lot of people but I do think there’s a lot of intangible value in college education beyond ROI and job opportunities if you’re open to it. If it’s just a means to a job then its worth reconsidering.
Higher education is a racket at the level of learning just to learn.
Higher education to get degrees in law, medicine, and engineering are needed. We don’t need quitters or dumb people in those positions.
A lot of people write off trade school even though those are roads to good paying jobs. People think they get a college degree and they are on a higher platform than the guy who fixes their toilets or the guy who welds buildings. Or the window cleaners on sky skrapers.
People provide an essential service and looking down on them are assholes.
I hate moochers and bums
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Hahaha, I got my degree from UTEP. I’m guessing part of your training involved reading Living Life’s Circle. We have Dr. Carmichael down here. He is pretty amazing at the archeology stuff but I just happened to like people better. Anthro should be in a better spot but most of our professors (in general) are too scared to defend against idiots saying “blah blah blah culture blah blah blah.”
Fuck you for making everybody think my degree is in digging.
Having a degree is no guarantee of significantly higher earnings. The statistics that support that claim are fundamentally flawed. If you break people up into two groups; those who have a degree, and those who don’t, you’ll see that those who don’t earn less. However, if you dig a little deeper, you realize that the group without degrees includes crackheads, retards, the mentally ill, and all sorts of other dummies who couldn’t have obtained one in the first place. If you control for equal ability, the advantage of having a degree is far less pronounced. Of course, it’s still worth it if it gets you the job that you want, but a smart, hard-working person is going to do just fine either way, and there’s something to be said for not spending the brightest years of your life doing tedious busywork to get a piece of paper.
This is true. I have a bachelor’s in computer science, but I only make 17 dollars an hour doing nothing close to a computer science degree. It’s all about who you know and not what you know…
You’d be surprised.
I used to work at the university of Toronto. Trust me, I know how dense some of the students and profs can be. Still, they don’t compare to the unwashed hordes in group B.
$17 an hour doesn’t sound bad, but how much would you get paid with your degree?
in other words, community college students
/rimshot
About community college, really it is no big deal. Honestly, i went there for two years got all my classes and transfer classes out of the way and spent less money/time at state college.
Kind of wish i did community college classes in high school
ha I went to CC too and totally happy I did
Seriously doing undergrad at a uni/state college is a waste of money.
I got an AA at a community college and transferred to a four year school to get my BA.
In my experience, a significant number of people who enter a four year school as freshmen are high school idiots who are only there because they’re fans of the school and got their hands on the money.