At least once a week since I was 5 until I was 18, I was told that if I didn't want a job flipping burgers at mcdonalds, I had to go to university.
It was strongly implied that jobs like plumbers and electricians were for stupid people who would end up poor.
That was what I was told, my entire childhood. At what point do we start talking about indoctrination during this conversation? Because I think we should.
Indeed. This is what's led to the skyrocketing costs of college degrees, the irrational belief that without one you're financially doomed. So any degree is presumed to be better than not having a degree, which is pure bunk. So everyone "knows" you have to get a degree, no matter what.
Meanwhile kids aren't told about other options or what the reality is about degrees. Trades pay very well, different degrees have a much higher likelihood of getting you a job or a better paying job, and of course only having a degree is no guarantee of even getting a job at all.
We need to reset expectations so kids don't get sucked in by the marketing machine that is today's higher education. Your masters degree in foreign languages does not guarantee you a job. Do your research and understand, really brutally understand the field you are trying to get work in. Don't listen to the hype, ask normal people in that field how they got that job and be skeptical. Find out how many people get degrees in that field annually, and how many new hits exist in that field. You might be surprised to find out it's a small field that simply doesn't support all the graduates produced, or that a degree alone won't get you that dream job.
Absolutely. I was devastated when I realized my life-long expectation of an academic career would have to be deferred or cancelled for financial reasons. I was furious that others around me seemed subject to no such restriction - including those I felt were less suited to or deserving of such a position. We do set kids up for failure by focusing so much on the benefits of college, while shrugging off the costs and risks. It's easy to understand how someone in an emotional turmoil like mine might see all of this and convince themselves that they owe nothing to a fraud.
We do need to address the ways in which government supports lenders' predatory behaviors, while educational institutions at all levels push unprepared barely-adults into the trap. Education prior to college must include education about student loans and the dangers thereof. After all, there are minimum educational requirements for all other subjects. Why not this one?
This is very true. As much as I understand that people need to be responsible for their own decisions, there are also unknown unknowns. If the message one receives is constantly: get a degree, it doesn't matter what, employers like to see the stick to it ness, etc. (the messages I got growing up) how are you supposed to know you are REALLY supposed to discard that bombardment and everyone has it wrong about plumbing? Some are reckless, some are just following the instructions despite their reservations.
In addition to that, people like to be optimistic. Many college graduates (even from not-very-prestigious ones) end up in careers that pay much more than plumbing, or at least have less middle class stigma attached.
One of the things that really pissed me off was that when the shell finally cracked about 3/4 of the way through my degree and I started looking at these things, I realised that actually, plumbers can earn way more than a lot of university professions.
It was strongly implied that jobs like plumbers and electricians were for stupid people who would end up poor.
That was what I was told, my entire childhood. At what point do we start talking about indoctrination during this conversation? Because I think we should.