One view:
In a similar fashion, bachelor degree granting institutions have an obligation to address the employment concerns of new degree-holders. These institutions must take the lead in combating the growing epidemic of underemployment among recent college graduates. The responsibility for university officials does not end when they shake a student’s hand at graduation and issue a diploma. Accountability measures for student success must include real world achievements, not just academic achievements. It is imperative that colleges and universities begin to place just as much emphasis on job placement rates as they do on graduation rates. (Bill R. Path, President of Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, with full blog post here.)
Another view (as highlighted in this Inside Higher Ed article by Scott Jaschik):
Only 49 percent of faculty members at four-year colleges and universities believe that their graduate school training prepared them well for their jobs as professors.
Perhaps that’s why, suggested John H. Pryor of the University of California at Los Angeles, many professors may not place as high a priority as do students on the role of higher education in helping them find jobs. After all, many faculty members had to find jobs and try to succeed in them without much support from those who guided their education. …
[Pryor] outlined data from various surveys by his institute and others to show what he called a “mismatch” between faculty members on the one hand, and students and parents on the other. …
The data Pryor reviewed showed that in surveys of students and parents, there is no question that the most important reason to go to college is to get a good job. In the latest survey of incoming freshmen at four-year colleges and universities, he noted, 88 percent agreed with this rationale, up by about 25 percent since before the recession of 2008 hit — and by far the top reason given.
It’s not that faculty members don’t care about helping students find jobs. But it’s just not the top priority. In a 2011 survey of faculty members, the UCLA institute found the 78 percent of faculty members said that preparing students for employment was a goal for undergraduates. But that was the seventh most popular answer (respondents could pick more than one answer). More than 99 percent said that they believed a goal was to help students think critically (the most popular answer). …
The gaps also extend to more concrete curricular matters. For instance, in a new survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, 78 percent of employers reported wanting to know that graduates had used real-life examples in coursework. But only 55 percent of faculty members in the UCLA survey reported doing so.
And those faculty numbers may not reflect the way students experience their education. In the UCLA survey of college seniors (just before they graduate), 42 percent said that they believed their professors had given them chances to apply classroom learning to “real life” situations, and 29 percent said that they were satisfied with the relevance of course work to real life.
Pryor noted that faculty members are quite open to leaving campus for community work, but less likely to do so when it involves corporations (which may be more crucial to employing graduates). Eighty-eight percent of faculty members believe that addressing local institutions should be an important priority for their institution, but only 49 percent believe that of working with the corporate sector.
Whether it’s reasonable to expect traditional four-year colleges to address the college graduate underemployment problem is a fair question. As the surveys consistently show, career preparation is not the highest priority for many of the faculty at such schools. That shouldn’t be surprising.
Traditional Colleges and Faculty Aren’t Career Experts
Although some of the faculty have substantial real-world experience, much of the faculty doesn’t. Many of the individuals teaching at our four-year colleges have been lifelong students — and very good ones at that. Many have excelled from K-12 through graduate school. Many are incredibly bright and know their subject deeply. But many have little if any experience in the applied world, that is, in applying their knowledge to identifying opportunities and solving problems in trade, commerce or government.
Frankly, many don’t have a good idea what jobs are out there for their graduates let alone what those employers and opportunities are expecting of new entrants. The lines of communication between faculty and employers is often weak or nonexistent. Consequently, curricula are frequently determined by faculty with no input from those persons and organizations that hire in the field. In many respects, there really is a campus bubble.
So it’s not surprising many faculty don’t place job preparedness at the top of the list. If they did, many would have to go about their own jobs very differently. And, of course, no one has prepared them for that role.
There are many exceptions to the world I described above. There are some institutions (mostly technology-oriented ones in my experience) that take the initiative in bridging the gap between the campus and the workplace. And there are many professors who are intimately engaged with their graduates’ workplaces and have a deep understanding of what knowledge, skills and experiences are necessary for their graduates’ success following graduation. But this isn’t the norm.
Whether it should be or not, I leave for others to debate. Colleges and faculty members will make their own decisions. At this point I’m more concerned with helping to equip students with the information they need to make decisions that are in their best interests. Which is why I focus so much on student outcomes.
Prospective College Students Neglect Crucial Job-Placement Data
Each year thousands of students choose to enroll in colleges whose recent graduates have an unusually high un- and underemployment rate. And each year thousands of prospective students don’t bother to inquire into the job-placement track record of the colleges they’re considering attending. They really should. For in the end, un- and underemployment is the graduate’s problem, not the problem of the colleges or its employed faculty members. At least that’s the dominant view within academia.
Sadly, college is a dead-end street for many people. Their experience and degree lead to nowhere (except, of course, in many situations, to financial decline as student loans hang around their necks for years).
In many fields, the value of a bachelor’s degrees has diluted in value substantially. An advanced degree is required.
In many fields, the supply of new graduates exceeds demand by a wide margin. In some cases, the jobs simply no longer exist. The majors are offered by the colleges because that’s what they want to teach, not because the major leads anywhere.
In some cases, the issue is with the college itself. Given an oversupply of graduates, the market simply prefers to hire individuals who graduated from a more selective, academically rigorous institution. Graduates of less-selective schools are often at a disadvantage in the job market.
And, of course, the biggest aspect of this problem is the economy itself. Presently, the supply of labor exceeds demand generally, due in part to technology, globalization and other factors. Perhaps some relief will be forthcoming as more baby-boomers retire. In the meantime, millions of young people around the globe are living with their parents with little hope of launching their careers. Some call it a lost generation.
Taking Responsibility for Yourself
In any case, as a prospective student (and parent) I wouldn’t feel the need to get pulled into the debate over the proper role of educational institutions in preparing their students for real-world opportunities. Rather, I’d start judging a college (and academic programs within a college) by its alumni, the best measure of an institution’s relevancy, effectiveness and competitiveness.
For more information, see this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this post.
Finding My College 