Education : Why Students Need More

In “Preparing for a Career”, Derek Bok, president of Harvard Law School and author, argues how universities, more specifically liberal arts colleges, should include training for a certain occupation with regular college classes to better prepare a student for the real world after college. Considering that Bok has earned his degrees at some of the most well-known universities like Stanford University and Harvard, he has a better understanding at what students are missing and what they need to be successful. However, on the other hand, not many professors and students see or agree with Bok’s point of view. They do not agree that students need the vocational training during their years in a liberal arts college, even though students need both; an education that helps them become critical thinkers and skilled communicators as well as skilled workers in a certain career. So why not help students with their career along with their regular core courses?

In today’s society, a college degree has become a requirement in order to obtain a well occupied profession. Prior to the recession, which the study defines as the period between December 2007 and June 2009, bachelor's graduates were already more likely to be employed than were associate degree holders, who were more likely to be employed than those without any postsecondary degree. After the recession, employment of college graduates dropped 7 percent, while associate degree holders experienced an 11 percent drop, and employment of high school graduates fell 16 percent. The percent of people excluded from the workforce, meaning they were seeking work but couldn’t find it, rose 31 percent for college graduates, 37 percent for high school graduates, and 50 percent for associate degree graduates, though associate degree holders were still excluded at a lower rate than high school graduates (Tilsley, 2013).

In the article, Education and Schooling: You Can Have One Without the Other, Mwalimu J. Shujaa of the State University of New York discusses the importance of learning that there is a difference between schooling and education. Can education exist without schooling or vice versa? Shujaa’s article gives an insight into the conjunction of schooling and education and how they impact the culture of African Americans.

Another point Kirn seems to overlook is the premise that many high schools, especially in Canada, offer introductory courses to university level material; such as courses in law, psychology, calculus, and even some higher level sciences. For many students taking these courses can give them insight as to what exactly they are in for in the coming years of their post-secondary life. For example a student could leave grade 11 physics thinking that they love the material and have enough of a grip on the math that they might be able to pursue a career down that path. However, upon taking calculus and a higher level physics course coupled they suddenly realize that they in fact hate math and

In a review of research, Boesel et al. (1994) noted that descriptive findings indicated that vocational students were less likely than general students to drop out (if more likely than academic students). However, students who defined themselves as vocational students in 12th rather than 9th grade in a follow-up survey or who were defined by having a vocational concentration were often much less likely to drop out than

More often than not, young students are taught to believe that they must go to a prestigious university to obtain a Bachelor’s degree or higher in order to have a fulfilling and satisfying career. This may hold true for some people, but others do not need to follow this same path. For students who choose a career that isn’t considered conventional or isn’t high in pay, they tend to be looked down upon which pressures them into choosing career paths that they do not have a passion for, or the skill set to actually accomplish which makes college a waste of time and money. While everyone should be encouraged to get an education beyond high school, people should be encouraged to get the education that is relevant and proper for them to make sure they are getting their money’s worth.

Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t take a class at school that truly interests you, such as learning about the culinary arts or discovering the ins and outs of being an emergency medical technician? Vocational education is an option that is becoming increasingly popular for students seeking a wider variety of class choices. Sometimes, when people hear the words “vocational education,” a negative image pops into their minds. Many people believe that vocational education is primarily offered to non-college bound students, dropouts, or students with special needs. What people don’t realize is that vocational education can give students the opportunity to improve their employability skills, become informed about different career options, and learn helpful skills they can use throughout the rest of their lives even before going to college and being released into the real world. Therefore, I believe that vocational education should be offered to students.

The changes in economic demands, have a direct relation to Career Technical Education (CTE) today. In coordinating the right curriculum for a student’s chosen field and preparing them to transition to 21st Century workforce has been a long debate throughout the evolution of economics. Educators struggle as to what type of education should we really be providing our youth today. The change in economic demands have altered how many view the role of public education as it relates to the labor market. Career Technical Education (CTE) is the corner stone for many individuals as a guidance to a successful career. The workforce requirements for educational development of today’s youth is require students to complete college foundation curriculum for

“Misconception No.1: A liberal arts education is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. ‘Career-education’ is what we must now focus on.” (Ungar, 2010, pp.191) As Ungar has claimed, there is a recent misconception that a liberal arts education is no longer a necessity but luxury because it doesn’t provide an instant career launching education. With so many people having to a need to spend as little money as possible, they are determined to only spend money on preparation for their future career. For this reason they go to college only to take courses that are necessary for their future. “She is in college to take vocational training. She wants to write computer code. Start a business. Get a job in television. She uses college to take vocational courses that pertain to her career interest.” (Murray, 2008, pp.228) Murray explained the story of a girl who is in college solely for preparation for her career. Because of this, she isn’t interested in a liberal arts education. If the course doesn’t directly pertain to her desired career, she prefers not to take it.

Bok states, “According to one survey, 60 percent of Arts and Sciences professors do not even think that preparing for a job is a particularly important goal for undergraduates” (Derek Bok, 36). Bok is quite puzzled since about three-fourths of new college students presume preparing for a job is the key component of attending college. According to Bok, Liberal arts professors believe that once they integrate some aspect of a vocational program students will become more concentrated on learning the competent skills necessitated by the jobs. Bok also provides background information on vocational program in which he states that, “Since the average length of time people stay in their first job has shrunk dramatically, more and more employers want their employees to “hit the ground running” without having to receive costly training before the company” (Derek Bok, 39). Students are already being pressured by employers to have these skills needed for the job perfected by the time they graduate so the companies won’t spend resources on training. With the pressures employers place on the arriving college students they feel as if they have to choose a career and prepare for it as

Today American citizens undeniably face some of the nation’s greatest challenges. No matter the issue, there will be consequences as a result. A great issue as voted by most Americans is believed to be the high percentage rate of unemployment. Unemployment is a distressingly bad aspect, and unfortunately it is a daily normality and struggle for most individuals. There are a plethora of reasons why unemployment is intensively high; frictional, structural and voluntary unemployment for example, serve as major purposes to the leading cause of high unemployment. Frictional unemployment occurs from the amount of time spent in finding new employment in the free market. For example, a recent university graduate may not necessarily expect to find a job of their expertise and skills right away therefore the job hunt continues. This also occurs whereas people choose to be unemployed rather than accepting the first job that comes around or are in between jobs because they have become inessential or simply looking for a better, beneficial career. Structural unemployment occurs due to inconsistent labor skills such as occupational immobility where learning a new skill required for a certain occupation is complicated. For example an unemployed mechanic will struggle to find an occupation in the medical industry because of the difference in occupational knowledge. Geographical immobility

The skilled trades in America have long been the icon of the working class. Every day millions of people rely on them yet few are ever recognized for the work they accomplish. Without the trades, there would be no office buildings, as well as no plumbing, or electricity, there are plenty more, however, that’s just to list a few. The reason for the project was for personal interest in the trades and the love for hard work over an office setting. In the paper, the lack of skilled trades and the effects that may take place are investigated further. The trades have long been what America was built on, but what’s happening to the future of them, and why fewer students are joining the workforce right out of high school. The push for college has damaged

Already, up to eighty-three percent of companies report a moderate to serious shortage of skilled workers, and sixty-nine percent of them expect the shortage to grow worse in 3-5 years. This crisis will be able to cause an economic stand still in our country, and if this gap is not filled, our way of living will be changed severely. The American public cannot risk the loss of such a vital pieces of our economy and our way of life. Jobs need to be filled soon enough, and luckily enough for this country, we had such important factors, like career and technical education high school, colleges, and training programs that can jump start the workers of tomorrow, and teach them a skill to be able to become a proficient tradesmen. Hopefully, one day the skills gap will be closed, and there will never be prejudice against working in a job such as carpentry or plumbing, and that maybe one day, the other two thirds of our country’s students will all be educated in a trade, and successfully join the

He laments the loss of thousands of jobs and foretells of an economic collapse as jobs grow stagnant. Berman predicted, correctly, that low skilled jobs would never return in demand, and that the economic security of all low skilled workers was at risk. And that high skilled jobs would become the new standard. We are rapidly approaching a time in which an average worker is an unemployed worker. A vast array of skillsets and creativity will become the new base requirements for even the most minimalistic of

Parents push their children to have more academic jobs and majors to improve their child's “status.” But when a student with high academic achievement chooses to have a vocational style job it is seen as unfortunate or even a waste of genius and intellect. Students should have the opportunity to be trained in whatever careers they want, even if it is a more vocational job like a trade instead of an academic job. If these students find these vocational jobs more meaningful than any academic job they should have the right to choose them because of their pursuit of happiness.