College graduates don't have the skills needed for today's economy - Discuss
EssayChat / May 3, 2017
Given how competitive the higher education environment is, colleges and universities commonly seek to brand themselves as more specialized and more in touch with the labor market than their competitors. Despite these marketing exercises, the higher education system is unable to cope with the ever-increasing specialization of today's economy. This essay will argue that college graduates in the U.S. and elsewhere do not have the skills needed for today's economy because they are not taught in ways that reflect how work is carried out in many workplaces, Also, they do not gain a deep-enough understanding of their fields, which prolongs the period before they can get genuinely meaningful jobs with fair pay.
It is often said that the college experience is about learning how to think, about arguing your point well, and accommodating the perspectives of others. These are sound objectives, but they are counteracted by the modus operandi of many college degrees. Although there are differences between colleges, and even more so between countries, many institutions focus too much on individual work. Paradoxically, other institutions put too little focus on it. For example, many political science degrees involve individual work only. Once graduates start working they will be expected to collaborate with colleagues in teams. Another example is how many aspiring lawyers do not learn the basics of negotiation and public speaking as part of their degrees. These problems should be taken seriously by institutions as well as students, especially given the increasingly automated and robotized economy where social abilities and related human skills are becoming more and more critical.
Regardless of whether the teaching methods are adequate or not, there is an overarching problem of depth in students' learning at many institutions. It manifests itself when student who have paid hefty fees for a degree, particularly in the US, find that they are often employable only as interns. Additionally, many internships are unpaid so graduates end up shelving their dignities and working for free to build a professional network. On the one hand, the forces of supply and demand are at play. Significant portions of the population in many countries get higher educations and subsequently seek entry-level positions, at which point excess supply drives salaries into the ground. On the other hand, the students themselves commonly do not deserve the brunt of the blame. They simply do not learn enough in college because their degrees are not detailed enough. Whereas the specialization needed in many professions naturally cannot be gained in college only, students should not need to participate in a graduate scheme for up to three years before they possess skills that command a dignified entry salary.
The mission of higher education institutions is frustrated by students' academic groundings from high school and before. They can commonly be described as patchy at best. A worrying proportion of students' essays are full of online slang, basic grammar mistakes and poor sentence structure. As a result, college students cannot properly absorb the knowledge available at their institutions from the start. By having to teach basic academic skills, colleges are unable to impart deeper knowledge on all but the strongest students. Consequently, most students reach a labor market where their knowledge is basic and thus not worth much at all. Before they can add value through their labor, they must receive more specialized training. This brings us back to the abundance of (often unpaid) internships and long graduate schemes.
In conclusion, college graduates do not have the skills necessary for today's economy. While they are responsible for choosing degrees through which they are given the best chances of success in the job market, institutions also have a responsibility to provide more profound and tailored educations that reflect the workplaces that students are expected to go into.
It is often said that the college experience is about learning how to think, about arguing your point well, and accommodating the perspectives of others. These are sound objectives, but they are counteracted by the modus operandi of many college degrees. Although there are differences between colleges, and even more so between countries, many institutions focus too much on individual work. Paradoxically, other institutions put too little focus on it. For example, many political science degrees involve individual work only. Once graduates start working they will be expected to collaborate with colleagues in teams. Another example is how many aspiring lawyers do not learn the basics of negotiation and public speaking as part of their degrees. These problems should be taken seriously by institutions as well as students, especially given the increasingly automated and robotized economy where social abilities and related human skills are becoming more and more critical.Regardless of whether the teaching methods are adequate or not, there is an overarching problem of depth in students' learning at many institutions. It manifests itself when student who have paid hefty fees for a degree, particularly in the US, find that they are often employable only as interns. Additionally, many internships are unpaid so graduates end up shelving their dignities and working for free to build a professional network. On the one hand, the forces of supply and demand are at play. Significant portions of the population in many countries get higher educations and subsequently seek entry-level positions, at which point excess supply drives salaries into the ground. On the other hand, the students themselves commonly do not deserve the brunt of the blame. They simply do not learn enough in college because their degrees are not detailed enough. Whereas the specialization needed in many professions naturally cannot be gained in college only, students should not need to participate in a graduate scheme for up to three years before they possess skills that command a dignified entry salary.
The mission of higher education institutions is frustrated by students' academic groundings from high school and before. They can commonly be described as patchy at best. A worrying proportion of students' essays are full of online slang, basic grammar mistakes and poor sentence structure. As a result, college students cannot properly absorb the knowledge available at their institutions from the start. By having to teach basic academic skills, colleges are unable to impart deeper knowledge on all but the strongest students. Consequently, most students reach a labor market where their knowledge is basic and thus not worth much at all. Before they can add value through their labor, they must receive more specialized training. This brings us back to the abundance of (often unpaid) internships and long graduate schemes.
In conclusion, college graduates do not have the skills necessary for today's economy. While they are responsible for choosing degrees through which they are given the best chances of success in the job market, institutions also have a responsibility to provide more profound and tailored educations that reflect the workplaces that students are expected to go into.