06-06-2015, 10:54 PM
(06-06-2015, 10:02 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: The whole system is pretty messed up. Companies don't want to train people any more, and a college degree has become a lazy way to filter for many jobs that don't need it. I don't think we do nearly enough to direct people to trade schools that are a much better fit.
College experience aside, which has some real social and maturity benefits, there are very few non-technical jobs that actually benefit from a college degree. A business degree will teach you the basics, but very little about actually running a successful business. And the irony is some of the most elite companies/jobs prefer non-business majors and actually - GASP! - run training classes to teach their new hires.
1-2 years of business classes is all most people would need, and the company and student could split that savings. IMO, the vast majority of electives and non-major requirements that round-out a 4-year degree are almost completely useless. There are so many books and free materials/groups where people can enrich themselves, if they choose, that it's almost criminal to have to fork over thousands of dollars to a university for what's usually an inferior experience.
That said, I think math and econ are among the best courses for teaching logic and critical thinking. But even most business majors try to avoid them like the plague.
This is one of those arguments I tend to have with my wife on a regular basis. She has her undergrad and grad degrees in English and so is more humanities focused. Me with my accounting degree and currently working on courses in public administration, I am more focused on the practical. Because of my degree being from a business school I lack all of the gen eds for the school I work at. So I have to take them all and I complain every chance I get. My wife talks about the "well rounded citizen" and all of that, but I think it's just ridiculous.
But I could just be a little bitter due to the snobbery of higher education seeing my degree as meaningless if I want to do graduate work, but I can work for them as an accountant and be a licensed CPA just fine. :snark:
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
