Is a College Degree Right for Everyone? Guest MINDSETTER™ Artigas

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Steven Artigas, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™

There is no question that an educated citizenry is an asset to a twenty-first-century democracy such as ours. We live in an era of increasingly complex technology that calls for skill sets and learning unanticipated as recently as a generation ago. Not only are there new fields of endeavor, notably computer sciences, but traditional bodies of knowledge have also grown as well, thanks to ongoing research. For these reasons, there is a growing call for universal taxpayer-funded post-secondary education, i.e. a college degree.

While a well-meaning proposal, this blanket approach does a disservice to those who are not suited for and/or desirous of a career with roots in a traditional college degree. Though it is certainly beneficial for everyone to develop critical thinking skills as well as a sense of history, these insights are not synonymous with nor exclusive to a collegiate setting. Since a high school diploma is arguably not sufficient formal preparation for a lifetime, perhaps an alternative to a four-year degree could be two years of post-secondary liberal studies coupled with hands-on training in any of the fields formerly referred to as manual arts, or trades.

Of course, society needs doctors, engineers, and the like, but Siri is not going to build your house or re-line your car's brakes. Alexa cannot give you a haircut. A recent report suggests that only about half of the needed auto technicians will be trained in the next few years, a projected shortage of some 20,000 mechanics. And a plumber or electrician is not born by viewing video clips on YouTube, especially considering the absence of vetting there.

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My own career path began with a college scholarship and substantial pressure to enter the white-collar world, but after drifting aimlessly through several majors, none of which held any interest, I dropped out in my junior year. I went on to become a carpenter by choice, and from there a building contractor, specializing in upscale residential projects. I looked forward to going to work every day, weather permitting, and took pains to build to the best of my and my crew's abilities. We typically had more work than we could handle.

Looking back from the perspective of a dozen years into retirement, I wouldn't change a thing. I had a rewarding and well-paying 40-year career that generated a true sense of satisfaction. It was always gratifying when leaving the job site at the end of any given day to take stock of our progress and what we had accomplished. But over the last decade or two, I have observed a tendency to disparage these jobs, while at the same time, manufacturers are producing various substitutes for proven, durable construction materials.

The common elements with these substitutes are that they are cheaper, less skill is needed to work with them, and the quality of the result is greatly inferior to that obtained using traditional methods and materials. The upshot of all this is that the long-established body of know-how is being lost.

This leads to a question- who will be able to fill these needs, with their concomitant essential skills, when my generation is gone, if we don't present these career paths as viable alternatives to the four-year college degree?

 

 

Steven Artigas: I am some years' retired from 40 years as a self-employed building contractor in RI.  I have lived my entire life here and despair to see the results of decades of short-sighted leadership in our state. It is time that voices are heard on behalf of the million or so of us who lack connections in the state hierarchy. 

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