Engaging in Conversation

One of the most debated dilemmas today revolves around college education: Is it essential in the modern workplace? While some argue that it has become outdated, others maintain its importance. By the end of this research, I aim to better understand this issue, especially since major companies such as google and amazon, all are moving past college degrees for requirements. To further the conversation, I interviewed two college graduates from Connecticut who provided compelling insights and opinions that some may call biased while others might see it as the truth.

Is it the need for college or the want?  The exciting thing about college is that it’s the universal route that high school pushes us towards. However, after interviewing two graduates, I found that school is indeed practical without a doubt but also some college graduates face problems entering the workforce. Today's false impression is that getting a degree will automatically give you a job. Furthermore, researchers are finding out in studies that this is not the case. The problem is that only certain degrees are prerequisites for many careers, but not all. Some examples we can take note of are: Medical school, Law school, Dental school, etc. These examples are clear cut out of the picture, as the career field is strictly dependent on that higher education, although for the average undergraduate degree, we start to see the clear distinction.

Josue states, “No matter what, everybody who wants to become a teacher in Connecticut [must] become a student teacher first and do a 4-month internship." (Josue’s Interview). This example tells us that some careers require further education before working. Although there are many jobs that are openly available to the workforce and don’t have as many stipulations, some degrees are deemed useless in this regard. Their peers who have more work experience but lack a degree, are now able to compete. This can be seen in many careers. Some may be as follows: police force, real estate, entrepreneur, and so on—however, professions such as nurses, teachers, lawyers, etc. This doesn’t mean college is useless and that holding such a degree is a waste. This is to prove that the market has pivoted, allowing people to keep more jobs than in the past required a degree. So, the question persists: is it worth it?  

The consensus is that adults who went to college will make $20,000 more than those who didn’t attend college. This is considered an exceptional gap of pay for first year hires. However, the only stipulation to this is that. Half of the students who graduated with debt stated that “debt made it harder to pay other bills .” (Taylor n.p.a.) This data was collected in 2010, and there is only one issue with this information. College costs have increased, as well as inflation, so does this mean they’re still accumulating $20,000 more than their peers?  This raises the question, is it essential?

I find that work experience trumps every other type of experience. It tells us that an individual has worked in this career field and how they performed. I was a Crew Chief in the Air Force. It became apparent the difference experience has over workers, and it’s something you can’t take away from anyone. I had individuals come in as my Crew Member, who had college degrees, but underperformed dramatically. On the other hand, I also had troops who had some experience working prior to joining and understood how the flow of work was to be performed. Unlike a college degree, work sticks with you, although I can’t say the same for the knowledge learned from higher education. However, I can state the benefits higher-education does have over the individuals, although it’s not as significant as society has made it. Of course, it’s dependent on the type of higher education. I’ve met individuals who had an incredible fast problem-solving mindset.  My interviewers answered perfectly, as they went into detail about how college helped them get to where they needed to be. One of my interviewers has gone into higher education, as he aspires to become a teacher, which has certain prerequisites. Meanwhile my other interviewer went directly into the workforce and attested that having prior work experience could’ve set her up for a higher paying career, although the current career path allows her to potentially obtain a higher position in the company. This is important to remember, since entry level careers are starting to be held by non-degree applicants.

ZipRecruiter did a study asking multiple employers if they’ll hire applicants with work experience over applicants with degrees. The results are shocking, as they found the following: “45% of respondents said their companies had dispensed with degree requirements for some roles in just the past year, and 72% said they now practice skills-based hiring, prioritizing skills over certificates. Small and medium-sized businesses, those most likely to be experiencing hiring challenges, were more likely than major enterprises to have dropped degree requirements (47% vs. 35%) and to have adopted the skills-based approach (73% vs. 67%) .”(Pollack n.p.a)  This is a pivotal survey, and colleges may now shift their focus toward work experience. Would they offer this part of their higher-education curriculum? This question must be answered, as companies are shifting and favoriting work experience more! As the cost of attendance grows in the U.S, many are faced with the dilemma to attend or not, although work experience is offered. They will not only obtain their degree, but also the experience to pass entry level employment. This will make them a highly qualified hire, compared to their counterparts without degrees.

The difference is that some degrees already offer work-experience. However, a portion of college degrees are mainly education-based. This will also raise the question if this will only make schooling more expensive than it already is. Remember earlier how Josue stated every teacher must do a 4-month internship? This example is exactly what we need but for every degree. Otherwise, the number of years spent in school versus in their respected career field is an astronomical difference if the increase of employers keep aiming for the experience.

As time has gone on, many things have always been important in society, and one of the main one is education. However, the sudden shift in the need for education is concerning for many students and workers looking to further their knowledge. The only issue is, when employers shift their requirements, will colleges do the same? Will the changes apply to every student to be a more competitive match than their counterparts? Or would we see a change in the college system, separating its prestigious hold on the workforce to more experienced individuals? When would educational programs realize their education isn’t fully equipping their graduates respectively, and when they do, would the shifting workforce care to favor them once again? This will only be answered soon; until then, we will have some corrections within the education system.

Work Cited

Abdul-Hakeem, Ibrahim. “Humans of Education”. Class Archive. Ibrahim Abdul-Hakeem

Pollak, Julia. "Beyond Degrees: Rethinking Qualifications in the Skills-First Era". ZipRecruiter 

Economic Research. Rethinking-qualifications-in-the-skills-first-era.

https://www.ziprecruiterresearch.org/annual-employer-survey/beyond-degrees Accessed 5 Aug, 2024.

Taylor, Paul, et al. "Is College Worth It? College Presidents, Public Assess Value, Quality and Mission of Higher

Education". Pew Research Center.

https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2011/05/higher-ed-report.pdf. Accessed 5

Aug, 2024.