>60% can't find a job in their field isn't a "motivational problem" or a "I picked the wrong degree problem". It is a general, widespread economic problem.
Not necessarily. If there have ever only been 2,000 positions for marine biologists opening up every year and 20,000 graduate, that's not a widespread economic problem so much as a mismatch between what people want to do and the availability of jobs in that field.
Part of the problem is too many people are getting advanced degrees. It seems to be dogma these days that society will become wealthier if we graduate more people with specialized skills. But that's putting the cart before the horse - producing a whole bunch of experts in fields with no demand for those experts results in a bunch of people who've wasted a decade of their lives.
People need to be realistic about the implications of their field of study.
If the majority of intelligent, educated people make the wrong choice and you want to blame those people:
A) You believe you are smarter than 60% of people with degrees and are accurately capable of predicting supply/demand.
B) You believe an external factor is at fault.
Even I, who have met many people I think are idiots with college degrees, would not presume A.
From your comment, I think you are really trying to sell A. I'm not buying. Particularly:
> People need to be realistic about the implications of their field of study.
> A) You believe you are smarter than 60% of people with degrees and are accurately capable of predicting supply/demand.
You don't have to be exactly 3 SD out to be smarter than 60% of a group of people, so I likely am. On top of that, these are people who've never had a real job and are choosing a major at age 18 or so.
But that's not the point. The point is many of these people just assumed the job would be there when they graduated without doing any research at all. They didn't even look.
There's two really terrible common pieces of advice parents give to their children: 1) "Just be yourself" when dating and 2) "When choosing a major do what you love".
> B) You believe an external factor is at fault.
Well, yes, an external factor is partially at fault. That external factor is the higher education establishment, which is corrupt as hell. They lobby the government for ever increasing amounts of loans for students and then award themselves $400k salaries. Don't let anyone tell you there's such a thing as a nonprofit institution.
The idea that 60% of people couldn't find work in their field of study isn't surprising to me at all.
Not necessarily. If there have ever only been 2,000 positions for marine biologists opening up every year and 20,000 graduate, that's not a widespread economic problem so much as a mismatch between what people want to do and the availability of jobs in that field.
Part of the problem is too many people are getting advanced degrees. It seems to be dogma these days that society will become wealthier if we graduate more people with specialized skills. But that's putting the cart before the horse - producing a whole bunch of experts in fields with no demand for those experts results in a bunch of people who've wasted a decade of their lives.
People need to be realistic about the implications of their field of study.