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OT: "half of college grads are working jobs that don't use their degrees"

The student who majors in Art History isn’t going to pursue a STEM degree or become a plumbers apprentice if AH degrees are eliminated. Saying that Liberal Arts degrees are worthless is a sign of a limited mind.
Reread what I posted. Data supports my POV and so does this thread.
 
I read the study. Did you?

There’s no “data” that says a liberal arts degree is worthless. The value of an education is subjective.
Interesting enough- having a similar discussion on LinkedIn. Talking about how some owners and leadership will require a BA even in jobs where you don’t need it. And they will even eliminate someone who has been successful in the exact roll for over 10 years just because they don’t have a degree.
LA or even French Literature would have someone jump another person with 10-20 experience- in these cases- any BA is a benefit.
 
I read the study. Did you?

There’s no “data” that says a liberal arts degree is worthless. The value of an education is subjective.
Plenty of data to suggest that "most liberal arts degrees are worthless in the real world". If you want to have an adult conversation, you need to be accurate and react to what I actually said. Thanks!
 
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I think the problem is that it is easy to get injured doing a lot of those, and then what happens when you're 30s 40s 50s without anything else to fall back on? And for cosmetology, eventually women "age out", fairly or unfairly, customers want the pretty young face.

With an education, unless you lose your mind, it cannot be taken away. And it can be used outside of a career just as much as inside.
They retire like any other profession. You think there aren't plumbers out there in their 50s and 60s?
 
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Plenty of data to suggest that "most liberal arts degrees are worthless in the real world". If you want to have an adult conversation, you need to be accurate and react to what I actually said. Thanks!

worth​

1 of 4

noun

ˈwərth

Synonyms of worth
1
a
: monetary value
farmhouse and lands of little worth

b
: the equivalent of a specified amount or figure
a dollar's worth of gas


2
: the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held
a literary heritage of great worth


3
a
: moral or personal value
trying to teach human worth

b
: MERIT, EXCELLENCE
a field in which we have proved our worth


4
: WEALTH, RICHES

Maybe get someone with an English degree to explain that worth is not defined only in monetary terms.

While you are at it have an Economics major explain utility to you.

You don’t have the data. You have a few data points that you don’t know how to use.
 
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Interesting enough- having a similar discussion on LinkedIn. Talking about how some owners and leadership will require a BA even in jobs where you don’t need it. And they will even eliminate someone who has been successful in the exact roll for over 10 years just because they don’t have a degree.
LA or even French Literature would have someone jump another person with 10-20 experience- in these cases- any BA is a benefit.
Educational bigotry is a real thing
 
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worth​

1 of 4

noun

ˈwərth

Synonyms of worth
1
a
: monetary value
farmhouse and lands of little worth

b
: the equivalent of a specified amount or figure
a dollar's worth of gas


2
: the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held
a literary heritage of great worth


3
a
: moral or personal value
trying to teach human worth

b
: MERIT, EXCELLENCE
a field in which we have proved our worth


4
: WEALTH, RICHES

Maybe get someone with an English degree to explain that worth is not defined only in monetary terms.

While you are at it have an Economics major explain utility to you.

You don’t have the data. You have a few data points that you don’t know how to use.
Your reading comprehension is horrible and you continue to miss key words in that sentence. Try again if you would like. This shouldn't be hard for a RU grad.
 
Your reading comprehension is horrible and you continue to miss key words in that sentence. Try again if you would like. This shouldn't be hard for a RU grad.
About that reading comprehension - I didn’t quote you in my first comment. I didn’t even reply to you. My reading comprehension is fine. There are other posters besides you in this thread.

As to your argument that there’s a difference between “worthless” and “worthless in the real world” - since we exist in the real world, you are making a distinction without a difference. Something that is valuable is valuable in the real world. Something that is worthless is worthless in the real world.
 

“The positing of a false dichotomy between a liberal arts education and preparation for work and life has contributed to a decoupling of higher education from the American Dream, obscuring the reality that colleges and universities continue to represent powerful institutional forces in catalyzing individual and societal transformation.”

“Consistent with findings from six earlier surveys commissioned by AAC&U as part of its ongoing Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative, employers overwhelmingly endorse broad learning and cross-cutting skills as the best preparation for long-term career success. The college learning outcomes they rate as most important are oral communication, critical thinking, ethical judgment, working effectively in teams, written communication, and the real-world application of skills and knowledge.“
 
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About that reading comprehension - I didn’t quote you in my first comment. I didn’t even reply to you. My reading comprehension is fine. There are other posters besides you in this thread.

As to your argument that there’s a difference between “worthless” and “worthless in the real world” - since we exist in the real world, you are making a distinction without a difference. Something that is valuable is valuable in the real world. Something that is worthless is worthless in the real world.
SMH. Still missing. Sorry my AC friend, time to move on.
 
Interesting enough- having a similar discussion on LinkedIn. Talking about how some owners and leadership will require a BA even in jobs where you don’t need it. And they will even eliminate someone who has been successful in the exact roll for over 10 years just because they don’t have a degree.
LA or even French Literature would have someone jump another person with 10-20 experience- in these cases- any BA is a benefit.

Plenty of data to suggest that "most liberal arts degrees are worthless in the real world". If you want to have an adult conversation, you need to be accurate and react to what I actually said. Thanks!

It's not just owners. I've seen people promoted to managers in corporate simply because they had a degree and another candidate did not - even when they were the worse candidate. That sort of thinking is changing, but to the older guard a degree matters - no matter what that degree is in.

I had a liberal arts degree (BA in English) that never applied to any job I had (currently in IT) - but my degree wasn't "worthless" because it was an important element to my journey to this job. It could have been French Lit or Music Theory or whatever and my career would have likely progressed along the same path - but if I hadn't had that piece of paper, it wouldn't have.

Some degrees can draw a direct line to a job, and others you can't - but that doesn't mean they're "worthless". Some people with "hot" degrees in thriving fields end up falling on their face, too - it's often about the person holding the degree rather than the degree itself.
 
They retire like any other profession. You think there aren't plumbers out there in their 50s and 60s?

Retire in your 60s ok. Retire in your 50s...outside of the police or someone else with a massive pension in NJ seems increasingly unheard of these days. That is a pipe dream for an 18 year old in 2024.
 
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I find that bad “listeners” tend to think everyone else is a bad listener.

Maybe some people should have taken more history, sociology and English classes, which could have helped them hone their critical thinking skills.

People who distill education to a jobs program are sad. I am expect nothing else from people with multiple handles. As you correctly state, it's all about teaching critical skills and thinking skills and we all know why some people don't want the younger generation questioning anything or doing anything but being chained to a desk (or construction project).
 
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Econ major who had bad grades because i never went to class but somehow graduated in 4 years. Went into financial sales(insurance/investments), hated it. Now help run the federal social security disability program, a million miles from where I thought i would be. I like what i do now but regret not taking college classes more seriously. Am i using the degree i earned, not really, did I need a college degree to get the job I have now, yes.

Someone else earlier mentioned a fellow RU alum who was their car salesman, my best friend sells cars for Nissan. He is their top guy every month selling about 25 a month. He earns 250-300k a year.
 
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Econ major who had bad grades because i never went to class but somehow graduated in 4 years. Went into financial sales(insurance/investments), hated it. Now help run the federal social security disability program, a million miles from where I thought i would be. I like what i do now but regret not taking college classes more seriously. Am i using the degree i earned, not really, did I need a college degree to get the job I have now, yes.

Someone else earlier mentioned a fellow RU alum who was their car salesman, my best friend sells cars for Nissan. He is their top guy every month selling about 25 a month. He earns 250-300k a year.
I don’t believe most sales job sales require a college degree. One of my nephew who has a Rutgers computer science with barely passing grades, has been in IT sales for 20 some years and his wife will HS degree got into IT sales years later. Lot of money if anyone can survive in sales. When I was working at WTOP, 25 years ago, the sales people making $300-500k.
 
I don’t believe most sales job sales require a college degree. One of my nephew who has a Rutgers computer science with barely passing grades, has been in IT sales for 20 some years and his wife will HS degree got into IT sales years later. Lot of money if anyone can survive in sales. When I was working at WTOP, 25 years ago, the sales people making $300-500k.
I know from family experience that, while it is possible to get into sales without a college degree, it is *very* helpful to have a college degree. This is one of those many situations in which most employers ask for a degree even though the job can be done quite well by someone without a degree.
 
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Having a college degree is a mating signal for young people looking for a sexual partner. Just like other things us men use to signal to women, consciously or unconsciously that we are capable of providing for the female and her offspring. The lizard brain (limbic system) in females is powerful, and I tend to think their ability to think rationally is overpowered by it.

If the female has a college education, in most cases she will have zero interest in the male with no college education. So in my opinion, a college degree of any kind, is better than no college degree... because who you decide to reproduce with (if you choose to do that) is so critically important to the outcome of your life and happiness.
 
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Econ major who had bad grades because i never went to class but somehow graduated in 4 years. Went into financial sales(insurance/investments), hated it. Now help run the federal social security disability program, a million miles from where I thought i would be. I like what i do now but regret not taking college classes more seriously. Am i using the degree i earned, not really, did I need a college degree to get the job I have now, yes.

Someone else earlier mentioned a fellow RU alum who was their car salesman, my best friend sells cars for Nissan. He is their top guy every month selling about 25 a month. He earns 250-300k a year.

That was me. I was just mentioning it because the salesman said it and I thought it was quite a coincidence. Obviously, some salesmen do very well. One of my fraternity brothers majored in Psychology and went into sales and did great for himself. He didn't need a college degree for his job, but he did use connections he made in college to get it.
 
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Having a college degree is a mating signal for young people looking for a sexual partner. Just like other things us men use to signal to women, consciously or unconsciously that we are capable of providing for the female and her offspring. The lizard brain (limbic system) in females is powerful, and I tend to think their ability to think rationally is overpowered by it.

If the female has a college education, in most cases she will have zero interest in the male with no college education. So in my opinion, a college degree of any kind, is better than no college degree... because who you decide to reproduce with (if you choose to do that) is so critically important to the outcome of your life and happiness.
I'm sure you would agree that we men have at least as powerful a lizard brain --and our "ability to think rationally is overpowered by it."
 
Lucky to have used my degree (BS and Grad school) not only in the military but after retirement. Once full retirement comes (soon) I will not give a fleeting thought to it. 😎
 
Having a college degree is a mating signal for young people looking for a sexual partner. Just like other things us men use to signal to women, consciously or unconsciously that we are capable of providing for the female and her offspring. The lizard brain (limbic system) in females is powerful, and I tend to think their ability to think rationally is overpowered by it.

If the female has a college education, in most cases she will have zero interest in the male with no college education. So in my opinion, a college degree of any kind, is better than no college degree... because who you decide to reproduce with (if you choose to do that) is so critically important to the outcome of your life and happiness.

ab887372-7118-4e43-97b3-eec2a2f1af2c_text.gif
 

It is actually proven that women- increasingly- are choosing college educated men.

Generally, having a degree generally reflects higher lifetime income and better health outcomes...which begs even better the question...WHY would anyone tell someone to not go to college?
 
Having a college degree is a mating signal for young people looking for a sexual partner. Just like other things us men use to signal to women, consciously or unconsciously that we are capable of providing for the female and her offspring. The lizard brain (limbic system) in females is powerful, and I tend to think their ability to think rationally is overpowered by it.

If the female has a college education, in most cases she will have zero interest in the male with no college education. So in my opinion, a college degree of any kind, is better than no college degree... because who you decide to reproduce with (if you choose to do that) is so critically important to the outcome of your life and happiness.
Nurses are the exception to the rule. If you want to bag a nurse, you'd better be a cop or a fireman.
 
And I knew there'd be one guy to have to be that guy...🙄
In the interests of full disclosure . . . I didn't marry a nurse. But I've known several guys who did who were not cops or fire fighters. I was once told that the problem in marrying a nurse is that she will give you zero sympathy when you have a cold: "I'm not going to wait on you hand and foot! I deal with really sick people!"
 
In the interests of full disclosure . . . I didn't marry a nurse. But I've known several guys who did who were not cops or fire fighters. I was once told that the problem in marrying a nurse is that she will give you zero sympathy when you have a cold: "I'm not going to wait on you hand and foot! I deal with really sick people!"
I shared a shore house with multiple nurses for many years. It was fun.
 
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So reports the Wall Street Journal today. Because the item is behind a paywall, let me summarize it:

* This isn't just a problem for new graduates; 45% of those ten years after college are still underemployed.

*Most of the grads who don't find work using their degree are in jobs that require a high school education or less.

* Not surprisingly, the grad's college major matters: the best majors are health sciences, engineering, business (but only if math-intensive, such as accounting), architecture and education. But even for these, approximately a quarter to a third of grads are underemployed. The worst ones are public safety, recreation/wellness, business (marketing, HR, management), humanities/cultural studies, and visual arts. For these, 54% or more are underemployed.

* A choice of early jobs is very important. It is easy to get pigeonholed by today's algorithms, e.g, if a grad takes jobs in the food-service industry, he is likely to be considered only for other jobs in that field.

* It is *very* helpful to have had some kind of internship during college.

* If a grad does get a job that uses his degree, he is going to do fine. He will make 90% more in his twenties than people with only a high school diploma The problem that that many grads don't get jobs that use their degrees.


Half of those degrees are worthless to begin with. Other than teaching African studies who makes money off of African studies?

If your kid wants to take art history or music appreciation they need a beating.
 
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Half of those degrees are worthless to begin with. Other than teaching African studies who makes money off of African studies?

If your kid wants to take art history or music appreciation they need a beating.
People that major in art history or music appreciation don’t need to worry about money
 
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Half of those degrees are worthless to begin with. Other than teaching African studies who makes money off of African studies?

If your kid wants to take art history or music appreciation they need a beating.
getting my popcorn and some don't want to hear the truth
 
It is actually proven that women- increasingly- are choosing college educated men.

Generally, having a degree generally reflects higher lifetime income and better health outcomes...which begs even better the question...WHY would anyone tell someone to not go to college?
Depends on the person

We have one daughter and will be doing the whole private school deal shortly
The expectation is for her to go to school and do well in life
It helps that we only have one child and are able to focus our full attention on her

If we had multiple kids, or if our daughter was not interested in school and clearly not cut out for college, and showed an interest in other money making ventures at a young age (hair, makeup, etc.), we would not send her to college just for the sake of sending her

Typically though I'd agree, going to college is generally the best move long term
 
sarah's take

comedic

 
They're truly a delusional, and frozen from Halloween to Memorial Day, bunch of clowns
I'll be honest, I read their board from time to time for the comedy. If they only saw themselves outside of the self-supportive group think clique, they'd see just how lost they are.
 
I'll be honest, I read their board from time to time for the comedy. If they only saw themselves outside of the self-supportive group think clique, they'd see just how lost they are.
They provide comedic gold, but I've never had an issue with them at any events (here or in Cuse) - they seem arrogant but not over the top
 
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