Comments on: Do You Really Need a College Degree for That Job?

By: floyd

floyd — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 04:18:24 +0000

89.4% of jobs requiring degrees, could be performed without a degree! See i said that without a degree in statistical analysis![lol]

By: mark

mark — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 03:31:23 +0000

software engineer

Is this serious? Have you ever seen the mess that bad programmers make? It takes tons of time and money to fix their crappy code.

I have 14 years experience training software developers in new technologies.

By: Tano

Tano — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 22:59:39 +0000

Intersting post James. It never occurred to me that what we need to make this country greater is an even more ignorant population.

By: ranman

ranman — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:26:40 +0000

If you want a high paying job with a high-school education come work for the U.S. Government. Hard work, determination, and education won't get you anywhere, ass-kissing, sucking-up, and covering for the inept boss is how to move up. When I finish my degree I'm going back to the private sector.

By: dick

dick — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 19:20:49 +0000

I would be interested in where you find colleges that teach decision making skills and an understanding of the civil liberties and law. What I see being taught in most of the colleges is far from that. They teach you how to hate your country and how to blame the US for daring to go against the LLL philosophy. They teach you some technical stuff but they do not teach you a grounding against which to plan what to do with the technical stuff.

I agree with DCL that most of what is needed could be taught in vocational classes. What is the possible use for gender specific classes and diversity classes, especially as majors. The days when the colleges and universities taught how to think logically are for the most part in the distant past. Good idea but the current execution does not pay.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:41:51 +0000

While we're on the subject there are lots of jobs for which seniority is not particularly a qualification, either.

By: Bandit

Bandit — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:33:06 +0000

It's the prolonged adolescense industry

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:32:04 +0000

JJ - Vocational schools used to teach practical mathematics and such. Just look at what a machinist needs to operate a modern CNC machine - math (algegra or trig), computer science, machine design, etc. Good votech schools should and can teach these subjects if they relate to the duties required for people to enter the work force. We need these things to be taught at the junior and community college level, not at the four year schools.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:22:24 +0000

DCL:

We agree, I think. People working in factories or even highly skilled vocations like plumbers, electricians, and the like, don't need college degrees.

It's questionable as to whether the manager of a Wal-Mart or McDonald's needs one, either--although perhaps it would be helpful to a general manager. Certainly, it would at levels higher up the ladder.

Some jobs that didn't used to need college--say, nurses--may well these days simply because of the increasingly technical nature of the industry. I suppose one could divorce nursing school from a college--again, Lit and History are probably not all that useful--but you'd still have much of the overlay of a college education because of the need for a decent level of science training.

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:17:05 +0000

If everyone had college degrees, that only serves to diminish the worth of such a degree. What we need more is quality vocational education that prepares students for the real world working place.

By: Blogniscient

Blogniscient — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Outside the Beltway | 10/16/2006 12:4:45 cover story that, contrary to our self-image as reluctant warriors who flex our muscles only when absolutely forced into it, the United States has been... [IMG Right] Do You Really Need a College Degree for That Job?