We all know that the prices of education are skyrocketing and the return on investment (ROI) is not so clear. Degrees, they say, used to guarantee a job, and now jobs that once required only a bachelor’s degree require a master’s degree, and so on. This means that ROI has decreased and that higher education is experiencing inflation. Additionally, technological changes are eliminating mid-level service positions.
According to a May 2011 report from the Center for Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, full-time workers with a bachelor’s degree earn, on average, 84 percent more over their lifetime than those with only a bachelor’s degree. high school diploma. So if workers with a bachelor’s degree are now filling jobs that used to be held by those with only a high school diploma, then living conditions and wages for them are poor, and wages for those without a degree are unbearable. In this situation, it is necessary to obtain a higher degree, and yet it is difficult, if not impossible, to receive a decent ROI for the time and money spent.
In comes online education. Online top degrees are becoming more credible and more common. And like a linear train of thought comes free online education, offered by top universities across the country (MOOCs). In addition, career opportunities that only a degree in hand allows are merging with online education options: Just a few weeks ago, Georgia Tech announced that it would merge with Udacity to offer a reasonably priced computer science program. In the totally unbalanced situation of higher-than-reasonable physical degree prices versus free online education, hybrid models are emerging as a way to answer the problem of positive ROI results.
ROI: What does it really mean? Or is money what it’s all about?
According to government projections, by 2020, only three of the thirty fields with the largest projected vacancies will require a bachelor’s degree or higher to fill the position: teachers, college professors, and accountants. Most of the positions available will be mid-level jobs that are not easily replaced by technology, such as retail sales associates, fast food workers, and truck drivers.
College graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and the humanities are now among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their educational level, while nursing, teaching, accounting and computer science graduates are the most likely. . Graduates with degrees in marketing, finance, human resources and advertising see an increase in career opportunities and therefore ROI.
“While engineering and computer science consistently rank among the highest-paying college majors, students should also research the most popular job demand and skill sets,” Andrea Porter, director of communications for the Georgetown CEW, told USNews. for an article titled “Top Performing College Majors.” in Investment.’ “Research what skills are most valuable in the job market … and depending on those ‘hot skills,’ you can also earn a certificate that will give you skills that will set you apart,” she added.
Katie Bardaro, Principal Economist at PayScale (an online salary database), contributed to the article by stating that engineering, physics, computer science and mathematics have strong earning potential and low unemployment rates, which can help prospective employees get the most return on their education investment.
Many are worried, because where there is work, there is not enough talent, and where there is talent, work is limited. And since ROI is usually only calculated by the maximum money one receives for time spent in college, the highest paying majors that are in demand are listed as the best majors.
If you’re cut out for analytical work, these advisers say, then go for it! For the money.
But what about those who don’t necessarily need the highest-paying career, those who see what they want to contribute and what they themselves are talented at as important first, and then want to identify how to make a living? Is money the most important thing for all of us? When did financial ROI become the most important aspect of continuing education? And the answer, of course, is always for some, and for others: when this became a concern.
No, money is not the most important factor for all of us. “Teachers aren’t in it for the money,” for example, is a common expression in the profession. But money can help us get places. Money is necessary to survive. A living wage, good working conditions and fulfilling our dreams is the ideal for many of us.
If money was the only thing that mattered, then perhaps we would all heed the advice of higher education advisers who say: get into computing now! Maybe it’s not that we don’t have the ability, the talent, or the work ethic, but simply that our interests take us elsewhere. Some of us have our own visions to follow. So what?
Fulfilling our highest visions
We have an economy that is based on generating income by selling things we don’t need cheaply and making a profit against another. meet real-world needs for the benefit of humanity. We are conditioned to want more money and certain things, often brands. There is too much competition in fields we don’t really need, and too many shady businesses and practices that take advantage of people. Imagine if we focused on the best and put capable people in jobs that truly serve people, imagine if money didn’t matter like it does for people and businesses today. But he does it because money is the most powerful thing in our world. Even knowledge does not come close to the power that money allows a person to produce.
Technology should make things easier for all of us, not eliminate a limited number of jobs and widen the economic gap between the rich and the poor, making only the most difficult jobs that technology cannot easily fill available to people without education. All people must be well educated. All people have potential. Meaningless jobs must be filled by computers, and people must be encouraged and able to pursue their dreams. Make the world a better place. Get better. Make others better. And help the community.
Perhaps I am too much in favor of romanticizing education. I truly believe that it is one of the most powerful forces in the world; that knowledge, not money, should be the most powerful. However, true education, an education of this magnitude, is not, in my opinion, about kicking out “work-ready” graduates with “important skills” at the right time to enter a certain market. I believe that the true graduates are those who leave the university having faced themselves and the world around them, and are ready to enter; that specific skills are just as important as life skills, self-confidence, and general intelligence. That these red-hot skills do not in fact accumulate if graduates are searching the job market for a career choice, rather than finding their career based on their innate talents and desired life, whether that means working in advertising, as a teacher. , teacher, fisherman, farmer, farmer or politician. We must find our own path and therefore happiness instead of the world demanding it from us, stealing it from us, insistently taking it away from us.
So while education is a commodity and now an almost necessary cost in the vision of this country and our place in it, and while many things influence our future in numerical and calculated ways: the education of our parents, our education, the demands of society and the media. influences – we must insist on making our own dreams and happiness come true. ROI is not just about making money, although it is often discussed in this matter. You are not determined by the money you make.
Of course, we must have some kind of practical plan. We have to make it work. And following our happiness, in fact, can take a lot of work. And many make their visions work by combining them with one of the most in-demand fields, such as science, technology, education or business. If we love the result, then the work in the end means something. This, in my opinion, is what matters.
