Times change.
There used to be a day when everyone was so hot to get to college to get started on a high-paying career (because you can’t get a good paying job without a degree), it didn’t much matter if you were ready or if you had your mind made up about what you wanted to be. Oh wait — that’s now, too. Anyway, the conventional wisdom was that you can go higher and advance further and get mo money if you go to college.
That ain’t necessarily so.
Teachers, social workers and pastors come to mind. I know some who have advanced degrees — something that would catapult their salaries in the business world — but who still make the same dismal wages, year after year. College doesn’t always mean higher pay, or even an assured job. An interesting article about it in the Times yesterday stated:
Among the top 10 growing job categories, two require college degrees: accounting (a bachelor’s) and postsecondary teachers (a doctorate). But this growth is expected to be dwarfed by the need for registered nurses, home health aides, customer service representatives and store clerks. None of those jobs require a bachelor’s degree.
My son has been a steel hauler for a year. He often takes in more on a weekly run than what I make per week after 18 years in the public schools and two masters degrees. He provides a nice living for his family and likes his job.
The sacrifice, you may say, is in the time spent away from home. Anyone who knows the life of a high school choral director — or is one — knows that the sacrifice is comparable. The same could be said for many other “degreed” professions for which the time spent on task is not commensurate with the salary.
The article mentions that “…some high school graduates would be better served by being taught how to behave and communicate in the workplace.” Why stop at the workplace? But that’s another post altogether…
Can the words “happy” and “Monday” occupy the same sentence? Icky. But at least it’s the penultimate Monday for me this school year. Yay.
FO
Amen to that!
You’ve seen it firsthand on both fronts!
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Yes there is a demand for RNs – there has been for many, many years. But it’s traditionally a woman’s field of work (I won’t say profession – why? – no standardized entry-into-practice). Nurses are overworked and underpaid to an unconscionable degree. Ask me – I did it for 20 years. The clerk at the grocery store made more than I did, and she had union benefits to boot. I can’t recommend nursing to anyone, male or female; and it’s about to get worse. Have you seen the recent headlines where hospitals are talking about ‘expanding’ the nurses’ roles in patient care? What do you want to bet that they’re not going to ‘expand’ the paychecks accordingly? Anyone who thinks hospitals are not-for-profit has their head in the sand. Hospitals are businesses, just like a bank, an insurance company or an accounting firm.
Women still only earn approximately 0.74 for every 1.00 a man makes for doing the same job. This includes traditionally women’s workplace roles. Who wants to go into a field, any field, with those kinds of numbers? I worked just as hard for my degrees as any man did, but somehow my work isn’t worth as much on a weekly basis because I have a different set of chromosomes. What’s up with that?
More to the point, why should anyone work like a dog for a degree when someone with no degree (or a ‘Y’ chromosome) can make more money? As I said, this is nothing new.
PK, Grumblin’ on a Monday
Just came across this article today. Interesting.
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-worst_paying_college_degrees-1263
Preach it! In some ways, it’s still a man’s world. The numbers don’t lie. And regarding the article: funny how the arts made the list THREE times. What are we doing?!?!? LOL
Well, dearie, I’m doing what I must do – following my muse. I’m sure on some level you are doing the same thing. *sigh*
PK