This is a sad story, and there is a warning here for us.
College graduates in Europe are having a hard time finding jobs.
The story in the New York Times begins like this:
“Alba Méndez, a 24-year-old with a master’s degree in sociology, sprang out of bed nervously one recent morning, carefully put on makeup and styled her hair. Her thin hands trembled as she clutched her résumé on her way out of the tiny room where a friend allows her to stay rent free.
GraphicShe had an interview that day for a job at a supermarket. It was nothing like the kind of professional career she thought she would have after finishing her education. But it was a rare flicker of opportunity after a series of temporary positions, applications that went nowhere and employers who increasingly demanded that young people work long, unpaid stretches just to be considered for something permanent.
Her parents were imploring her to return home to the Canary Islands to help run her father’s fruit business. It was a sign of the times, though, that even her own father probably would not be able to afford to pay her.
“We’re in a situation that is beyond our control,” Ms. Méndez said. “But that doesn’t stop the feelings of guilt. On the bad days, it’s really hard to get out of bed. I ask myself, ‘What did I do wrong?’ ”
Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
Alba Méndez, 24, preparing for a job interview in Madrid.
The question is being asked by millions of young Europeans. Five years after the economic crisis struck the Continent, youth unemployment has climbed to staggering levels in many countries: in September, 56 percent in Spain for those 24 and younger, 57 percent in Greece, 40 percent in Italy, 37 percent in Portugal and 28 percent in Ireland. For people 25 to 30, the rates are half to two-thirds as high and rising.
Those are Great Depression-like rates of unemployment, and there is no sign that European economies, still barely emerging from recession, are about to generate the jobs necessary to bring those Europeans into the work force soon, perhaps in their lifetimes.
This link should direct you to the graph comparing unemployment rates among youth in different countries.
Let me say upfront that I think anyone who wants to go to college should be able to do so.
The best way to make that happen is to lower the cost of college.
That won’t happen by collecting data about college costs and completion rates, but by public subsidies to make college affordable.
President Obama has set a goal that by 2020, the U.S. would have the highest college graduation rate in the world.
But why?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that two-thirds of the new jobs created between 2008 and 2018 would not require a college degree.
They will require on-the-job training, as well as responsibility and character, with such traits as showing up for work every day on time.
These are jobs in the construction trades, health aides, fast-food workers, customer-service agents, retail clerks, etc.
It is interesting to note in the New York Times graph that Germany, whose college graduation rate is far lower than ours, has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe.
Why? They have not outsourced their manufacturing base; they have high quality school programs for students who do not want to go to college. They have good jobs and a strong economy.
What is the lesson here?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at that graph, Americans and people in Britain are suffering as well, probably because it doesn’t include the many millions of people who have taken low paying and part time jobs out of desperation.
Interestingly, England’s former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major just outted his country’s unfair bias towards the privileged, “A Tory Icon Decries Class Privilege in Britain”
Wish we had at least ONE honest American who would admit to the very same thing going on here.
“Wish we had at least ONE honest American who would admit to the very same thing going on here.”
We’ve got a few…too few. I think it is probably time for a vocal youth movement before they lose their idealism. What kind of society do they want to see? What’s the new vision for the future? Our government is no longer operating in the best interests of a democratic society. Our economy has deified a free market system that worships profits at the expense of humanity and ethical conduct. We have abandoned a sense of stewardship for the natural resources we depend upon. We allow the voices of those who suggest that we need to change course to be stifled.
Youth trample over such hypocrisy; I am waiting for the stampede.
I’ve thought about this question for a while. If everyone goes to college, does everyone get the rewards of a “high-paying” job or career? There are statistics that reflect that more education, in general equates to more pay. But can that trend continue?
So I guess I have two thoughts that are oversimplified. First, if we have massive amounts of engineering majors that graduate in the next decade, does that drive down the value of having an engineering degree? It would seem so given the way the market (that great resolver of all problems) works. The competition for engineering jobs would be intense and supply could well exceed demand. The argument would then be that other fields have shortages. But what happens to those who invested money into becoming an engineer. Do they become baristas?
The second thought relates to Germany. Germany seems to have geared its education system to meet the needs of its economy rather than say “everyone should go to college.” Not every job requires a degree. Many are specialized enough to require on the job training. (Of course, Arne Duncan wants k-12 and higher education to fill this gap but that’s impossible to know because the market will guide the economy into an unknown and unpredictable direction. Ever listen to two economists make predictions? They rarely agree.)
Yes, it is desirable to have a society that has a high level of education. But people are motivated by opportunity. The two have to match up. I don’t know how that can be done. But then, I can’t imagine that anyone can know that answer.
We already have a glut of college graduates who can’t find decent paying jobs (and Korea and China have the same problem): “millions of college graduates over all—not just recent ones—suffer a mismatch between education and employment, holding jobs that don’t require a costly college degree.”
http://chronicle.com/article/Millions-of-Graduates-Hold/136879/
Nice link. After Sam Lipsyte’s book, “The Ask”, came out last year there were several reviews that discussed Lipsyte’s portrayal of Generation X. Interestingly, reviewers noted that Gen X would be the first generation in American history that was better educated and economically worse off than the preceding generation. Looks like the trend will continue.
My brother, an electrical engineer with 13 years of experience, was laid off from his job when his employer lost the military contract due to the sequester. That was in July. His wife is a stay-at-home mother and they have 8 children. He has interviewed all over and made the final cut several times, only to have the other person get the position. It’s really scary for him.
He has one of those coveted “STEM” degrees, and he’s been unemployed for four months now with no end in sight. According to the pundits, this shouldn’t be happening.
In keeping with what you are saying, I believe Germany also has quite a few laws in place to protect their factories (import/export laws) and business workers (not so much outsourcing going on). So on a governmental level Germany has done a much better job protecting their workers, which we are not seeing here in the U.S.
One interesting thing about what is happening with the people currently graduating from college in the U.S. and the U.K. is they have the knowledge that there are not opportunities waiting for them (and the majority have a lot of college loan debt). So they young people are angry (can’t blame them) and this is what Russell Brand keeps talking about. This is what is fueling protests (in the U.K. especially).
Lawmakers need to start addressing these issues. Because if the:
1. Suffering economically masses meet up with the
2. College graduate/no opportunity folks and the
3. Quit trying to dismantle public education advocates
I believe we are going to get the chance to see what a perfect storm of rebellion looks like and I doubt it’s going to be pretty.
“But people are motivated by opportunity.”
Yes, but opportunity does not mean the same thing to everybody.
We need to bring back vocational education for those who want to pursue trades. Plumbers make make a whole more more than I’ve ever earned and I’ve been through four college degree programs.
The unemployment rate is an aggregate measure. It is not a “real thing” though it reflects real consequences. It is actually made up of thousands of small decisions and non-decisions by individuals about creating and eliminating jobs. Creating jobs is very difficult to accomplish on a sustained basis, as anybody knows who has tried to start and grow a business. Creating jobs seldom works if it is the actual objective rather than a desirable side benefit. When I used to hire PhDs, I asked them what they could offer or do that a client would want to pay for? Most never saw it as their responsibility to create something that someone else wanted or needed. They thought that jobs existed independently of meeting real needs and that it was my responsibility to create an interesting well paid job for them and to absorb the uncertainty of the marketplace and life – in one sense they and many others were “Waiting for Godot”. Those who had thought it through and understood the need for them to create or justify their own job by adding measurable value were worth their weight in gold and the ones I was looking for, even if they were ones who were most likely to strike out on their own and become likely competitors.
Most new jobs are created by entrepreneurs starting new businesses – people who see a need and are willing to organize the resources required to meet that need over a long period of time. Good jobs are created by entrepreneurs who have technical skills. Entrepreneurs flourish in free markets and where entrepreneurs are viewed with admiration, respect and as worthy of emulation. Germany places a premium on technical skills, hard work and personal responsibility.
Click to access Pew-Global-Attitudes-Project-European-Crisis-Report-FINAL-FOR-PRINT-May-29-2012.pdf
Parents, schools, and their communities need to encourage students to create jobs for themselves and for their peers and how to become the future Bill Gates, Andy Groves, and Steve Jobs. They need to encourage students to think about how to create businesses that pave our driveways in half the time and half the cost, install cheaper and more efficient heating systems, manufacture low cost energy efficient replacement windows, produce inexpensive healthier foodstuffs and build energy efficient vehicles.
And there is not ONE public school educator who understands and believes what you said. This is why the public schools are under attack, because they don’t have a clue about reality.
HU, HU, HU, said in that exasperated PUBLIC SCHOOL teachers voice. I would think by now you would know that overly hyperbolic statements such as are the first ten words of your post are almost always false. You can do better than that.
As one who has attempted his own businesses and not succeeded for many reasons as well as I wanted and as one who has worked in most all sizes of businesses (except the truly large corporate ones), I’d like to think I know the value of “producing” goods and providing services which the COMMUNITY desires and needs.
So much for “not ONE”, eh!!
I rather suspect there is a reason that there are so few Bill Gateses, Andy Groveses, and Steve Jobses. (All these “s”s!) There are plenty of people who innovate on a small scale every day. I need someone to pave my driveway with the tools he has at his disposal now, and perhaps one of the guys on the crew will come up with a suggestion that improves the process along the way. Innovation is not the sole property of the uberentrepreneur and, I hope, that their immense wealth was a side benefit rather than the main goal in their ventures (although a certain ruthlessness sometimes makes me wonder). The job of a teacher really is to teach students how to problem solve. A lot of that process is in helping students master the tools they need, but ultimately the aim is to be able to use the tools creatively, whether it is in writing original, thought provoking poetry or designing a virtual reality computer system.
2old2tch:
I agree with you but there is more. Students need the information to make sensible decisions and to have realistic expectations along with dreams which is why I referenced Tony Carnavale’s piece on unemployment rates and salaries by college major. The equivalent facts are needed for those not going to college.
Click to access unemployment.final.update1.pdf
Reliable, good-paying jobs in the vocational arts aren’t going to come back to America unless organized labor is allowed to come back. As it stands, it’s worth gambling several thousand dollars worth of debt on a college degree for the puncher’s chance at a “white collar” job. If jobs in our manufacturing and service industries weren’t so degraded by terrible wages, job insecurity, and no benefits perhaps this wouldn’t be the case. I think much of the problem comes from the pernicious view of worker’s rights that’s gotten so much traction the past few decades. The employee/employer relationship is completely skewed. We don’t take our vacations, we work unpaid overtime and we feel lucky because we have a job. There has been a collective devaluing of the employee and it’s not healthy. Unfortunately, I don’t see any of that changing unless a big domino falls; something like the successful organization of Walmart or fast food employees. But as long as those companies can keep paying those slap-on-the-wrist fines for their labor violations, they will have no incentive to change.
It is not really a college graduate unemployment problem in Europe, it is a youth unemployment problem. Making it difficult to fire an employee is great if you already have a job, but terrible if you are seeking a job. Making it hard to fire makes employers very reluctant to hire in the first place.
Did you know that, by law, labor has a say in corporate decisions in Germany? That has prevented their companies from off-shoring many jobs.
Ponderosa:
Workers councils are an important element of the German workplace but they do not tend to be opposed to investing overseas – direct outsourcing may be another issue.
Of the 5 million cars VW produces, 2.8 million are produced in China in 2012 (according to Wikipedia though there seems to be an inconsistency in these numbers and it may be less than 1 million). Here is a list of German Companies with a presence in China.
http://www.eurochinajob.com/en/career/139-list-of-german-companies-in-china
Speaking of employment, I’ve been thinking of your comparison of teachers to Drs etc. Diane,
And then I realized something, even being a barber in NY (not exactly a high paying job) requires a license and 2 years of apprenticeship.
It’s forbidden under the law to practice without a license.
We expect less training for our teachers than those that cut our hair (which I don’t mean to demean by any stretch – it’s a noble job – I’m simply saying that even though many people would not think an incredible amount of their barber, they are less paid and have higher requirements than teachers – think about that).
Interior designers require at LEAST 2 years of POST SECONDARY education and a 2 year apprenticeship.
Why do we expect that teachers need less to be certified professionals? Why is this acceptable? I know you’re on our side on this one – just thinking maybe rather than trying to hold us up next to Doctors which might be met with disdain, that even a comparison to professions that people likely don’t consider professional have stricter requirements than those that teach.
Are you a teacher?
In NYS you need a four year degree plus a Masters. You also have to pass a national exam. Then you need some experience to get permanent certification. After that you need so many hours of in service training a year to maintain it.
Pul-eeze, you don’t know what you are talking about. After all of the above, a beginning teacher makes a salary varying between 30 to 40,000 dollars a year, depending on the affluency of the district (if they can get a job beyond subbing). Many work a second job to pay back their student loans. Many live at home.
If only teachers were considered professionals, like doctors and lawyers. Now you think that a barber has more credentials than a teacher. What a slap in the face.
I think there is a wide variety of salaries and qualifications required. No master degree in my state, for example.
Perhaps what M is talking about, Ellen, is the recent agreement that, as part of the deal to end the sequester, TFA grads are now “highly qualified.” Therefore, that means (in numerous cities and states) that TFA grads CAN replace certified teachers or be hired instead of certified teachers, because only the “highly qualified” distinction is required for teaching in that city/state. Additionally, charter schools (which are also public schools) are hiring TFAs rather than certified teachers, seemingly no matter where they are
located.
(& I would wager this is happening in NYS, because it’s sure as shootin’ happening in NYC!)
I am a teacher. I have a 4 year degree, a master’s, and 2 teaching certifications.
I am indeed referring to the TFA phenomenon (many of which have been in my schools and have been my colleagues – some continued on to be teachers – most not).
I am also referring to the alternative certification movement that seeks to find non-degree paths to teaching.
In short – you don’t see alternative paths to certification for a barber. There’s no way out of a post-secondary education for an interior designer.
Clearly, NYS teachers deserve less according to our legislature.
Aren’t there alternative teaching paths for poeople like me with a Ph.D. and teaching experience in post secondary education but no education degree?
Teaching at a post-secondary level is far different than teaching at a secondary or primary level. You may undoubtedly have a wealth of knowledge about your content, but, teaching is more than that (though content is part). Teaching 400 college students in a lecture hall or even in a smaller classroom is teaching adults who have a motivation to be there and generally (though not always) to at least try to succeed.
You don’t have to deal with their personal problems – those are their issues. You don’t have to be part of their community. You don’t have to be aware of how their brains change from one year to the next. You don’t generally get evaluated by a supervisor on your ability to teach though the trend nowadays is to give surveys to students.
You don’t even need lesson plans – you just stick to the syllabus – 3/4 of the time teachers don’t have a clear curriculum to be covered in a certain time frame – we have to make it up as we go to accommodate our students.
Teaching post-secondary has a very vague resemblance to primary/secondary school – and alternative certification usually refers to people in outside fields that want to become teachers – which makes about as much sense to me as saying that because I’m a science teacher I should be given an alternate certification to be an electrician.
Actually I write the syllabus.
I teach 18 and 19 year olds introductory economics. How different is it to teach 17 and 18 year olds introductory economics in AP classes? My smallest class was 12 my largest about 430, so there has been a range.
What additional training would you think I require to teach AP Economics?
Sounds like you are planning on coming in as a “guest lecturer” rather than as a full blown secondary teacher. Don’t you dare ask me what a full blown secondary teacher is.
I am not planning to do anything. I am trying to find out what additional training poster am would require for someone like me to teach in a secondary school after several decades teaching in post secondary schools. I hope that he responds.
It’s a warning for us here??? Tell that to my BFF’s son who graduate college 4 years ago and is working for UPS on it’s loading dock. And that job only came because he knew someone who worked there. Tell it to all the college grads still living at home trying to pay off their college loans with low-paying jobs.
Today it’s all about contacts not openings. My nephew was unemployed for 2 years and just recently found a job in his line of work, He was a stay-at-home dad until this came along while his wife was the only source of income.
I wonder how many HS teachers and College instructors make sure their students have read and understood the implications of this type of research:
Click to access unemployment.final.update1.pdf
Certainly the young lady in the article who chose to invest her time and money in a graduate degree in Sociology may have made a different decision if she had considered her future job prospects.
Probably about the same amount who have read and understood the implications of Wilson’s “Educational Standards and the Problem of Error” found at:
http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/577/700
NPR story about poverty in Philly schools.
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/21/246413432/weighing-the-role-of-poverty-in-philadelphia-s-schools?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook
________________________________
It’s perfectly obvious that there is a huge oversupply of college graduates so we need th subsidize college education like we need a hole in the head.
Why did Mendez believe that a degree in sociology of all things would prepare her for productive work? She should have learned something useful, not gotten a degree in a bogus field like sociology.
“Going to a college or university is about more than acquiring job skills. It is a time to study different subjects and fields in depth; to explore one’s interests and to give full range to one’s curiosity about ideas; to study under the tutelage of scholars who have devoted their lives to their field. It is a time to develop one’s intellectual and cultural life. It is a time to gain the political, historical, and economic understanding that was not contained in high school textbooks, to explore issues that were once thought settled, to acquire and exercise the critical perspective that prepares people to become actively involved in civic life and democratic politics.”
Jackson Lears
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/print/35196
Ang:
This is all well and good, but there is no evidence she gained any economic understanding via her additional years in school obtaining a Master’s degree in Sociology. Nobody owes this young lady an interesting well paid job any more than someone who decided to spend 6 years surfing around the world. The issue the article fails to address is how jobs are created and what students need to do in order to find jobs. We do our young folks a huge disservice by continuing to allow them to live in a dream world as they are supported by their parents or by the taxpayers via loans.
Obtaining a degree in Sociology is equal to spending 6 years “surfing around the world”. Wow, just wow.
An education teaches one to think, reason, evaluate, analyze.
An employer can easily train an educated person for a specific job.
Ang:
The equivalence is that they reflect individual choices both of which have consequences in terms of employment options.. The benefits of the two choices for employers are to be determined. The skills acquired via the degree may or may not be generalizable.
Reblogged this on 21st Century Theater and commented:
While there are admirable aspects of Germany’s society, they hopped on the neoliberal bandwagon years ago, and it has had horrible consequences:
“With no national minimum wage and a fifth of workers in insecure mini-jobs, critics say German prosperity is being built on exploitation of the downtrodden”
“Sometimes referred to as McJobs, mini-jobs are a form of marginal employment that allows workers to earn up to €450 a month tax-free. Introduced in 2003 by the then Social Democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder as part of a wide-ranging labour market reform when Germany’s economic doldrums earned it the title “sick man of Europe”, they keep down labour costs and offer greater flexibility to employers.”
This happened around the same time German’s insurance costs began rising.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/30/low-paid-germans-mini-jobs
&
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-germany-jobs-idUSTRE8170P120120208
Labor market reforms. Education reforms. “Entitlement” reforms. They all lead back to corporations and the politicians they buy using neoliberal policies to privatize and squeeze labor for increased profits. Our struggle is their struggle. It’s the same all over the world. We need to make these connections in writing and action.
I remember reading about the Arab Spring as it started in Tunisia. It had a lot of educated and unemployed people. So what the 1% may not realize is that if they don’t give it up willingly (not likely) it will be taken from them by masses of the young, energetic, single, hungry, angry,in debt and educated unemployed.
Kim:
What is it that the 1% have to give up and how will their giving whatever it is up, create the jobs that are the issue in this story? And in what way would this be limited to the 1% as opposed to the 30, 40, 50, 60 or 70% Do you think the counter forces that emerged in Egypt were the 1%? In France, the 1% have simply begun to move out of the country. Tax equity is one thing, but it will not in itself create jobs.
See for example,
http://www.nber.org/papers/w16300.pdf?new_window=1
All four of my children have always worked. They each had paper routes, worked at Wegmans (a grocery chain), and worked on campus while attending college. My two oldest have good jobs, one as a project manager at a bank and one as a nutritionist at a hospital. My son, who did not go to college, is pursuing a career as a chef. One daughter is, at the moment, finding herself. However, she recently held a job she excelled at and I am sure, when she has excised her personal demons, she will find decent employment (and her degree is in Psychology).
What makes my kids stand out is their work ethic. They are sought after because they actually do their job and do it well. They all come home with horror stories about co workers who are basically slackers.
It is important that we teach our children to put their full effort into what they do in life. This lesson is more important than most of what they learn in school. A good attitude is a key to success. Someone has to get the jobs – why not our kids.
(This is not to denigrate those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. I am referring to “children” who are just entering the workforce.)
Ang – Six years spent surfing around the world is probably a better preparation for the real world than getting a degree in a bogus subject like sociology. Maybe our surfer could get a job as a lifeguard or as a salesman for surfing equipment.