Educating our children re careers and college degrees

amother

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 5:35 pm

There are so many boys and girls who get college degrees or two-year programs and can't find a job because the market is flooded in those fields. When are we going to start talking to our kids about the realities of the job market?

amother

Chocolate

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 6:37 pm

Funny you bring this up. This was a heated discussion fri night in our home. I grew up in a world of a lot of business men. Grad school was pretty foreign to me. Dh grew up around a lot of professionals. He has a lot of lawyers in his family and that was always kinda his plan. Before he actually started pursuing law school he watched a family member struggle finding a job after going to a top 7 law school. Its many years later and sadly that family member still struggles. DH ended up starting from scratch redoing his BA (he had a BTL) and going to med school because of job security of an M.D. I will say this thou. He has many successful lawyers in his family too. So a lot can be contributed to mazal. The road less taken can a lot of times be very painful and not a lot of people are willing to walk that road...

amother

Ginger

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 6:37 pm

The problem is that SO many fields are flooded, and there are naysayers about every career.

For a long time, I wanted to become an actuary. I kept getting comments like "that's not a career for a frum mother" and "the market is going to be taken over by computers."

Now I'm a public school teacher, and I constantly get comments like "It's so full-time, you can't be there for your kids" and "Aren't you scared?" and "that's not an environment for a bas Yisrael."

My SIL is going for PA and was told, "The field is becoming flooded." My sister wanted to go for NP and she was told "The market for PAs is much better." Now she's pre-med and being told "You're never going to get married."

There's so much noise surrounding different careers, and the research is mixed. Sometimes, you just need to try to figure out what makes the most sense for you and do it.

amother

Chocolate

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 6:45 pm

amother [ Ginger ] wrote:

The problem is that SO many fields are flooded, and there are naysayers about every career.

Yes, yes. Yes!!!

ruchelbuckle

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 6:56 pm

My suggestion is not listen to any “noise” about specific careers unless statements can be backed up by reliable statistics (ie- not imamother or Binah magazine). Also, ditto on regional availability- my husband saw how his field was totally flooded in specific metro areas, but empty in others. Also, within some fields, what school you went to and the connections you make are more important than in other fields.
So there are so many variables. You need to do your hishtadlus (different for every person) and daven for siyatta dishmaya.....

tilot37354

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 9:00 pm

As more and more professional jobs get automated and and more lower socioeconomic classes attend college due to easy access to scholarships and loans, every field will get flooded. The reality is that jobs that pay better do so because of the barrier of entry and difficulty to excel at the field. A field with no entry barrier and no job competition will pay less due to the laws of supply and demand. The economy may be growing, but that growth is going mainly to the business owners that can take advantage of the 21st century economy. Everyone else is hurt by the automation and easy outsourcing that enriches those that utilize it instead of professional labor.

nchr

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 9:02 pm

I think we need to expand the concept of what is available. Let kids know about archaeology, anthropology, scientific research, linguists, academia, engineering, management, etc. so kids can pursue what they love.

amother

Ginger

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 9:05 pm

nchr wrote:

This. I know someone who is pursuing aviation management. He got into it on a lark and is now super excited about it. Yes, there are jobs available.

But how is anyone going to know these jobs exist?

amother

Aubergine

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 9:08 pm

Totally agree with you, and I live oot so this is not exclusively an in town problem. I have three!!!! friends living locally who got a totally useless graduate degree, once they were already married with kids. I actually said something to one of them when she told me she was starting the program, like "oh, are there lots of jobs around for that degree?" She was in la la Land about it, so I didn't push it further. Today she actually has a job in that field, though it's very low paying. The other two friends who graduated that program ended up teaching in BY.

Once thing that isn't so predictable is how well it pays and how much of a demand there is in other locations. I got a degree that seemed very secure, and ended up moving somewhere that it doesn't pay well at all. It's been frustrating.

amother

Papaya

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 11:43 pm

nchr wrote:

I like this idea a lot but what if parents don't know about all the different options...

amother

Wine

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 11:49 pm

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

I like this idea a lot but what if parents don't know about all the different options...

The entire community mindset needs to be changed about this. Right now most of the degrees offered hover around jobs that are available within the community. The degrees that will require someone to take a job outside the community are rather discouraged. If we change that, then parents and children will quickly become aware of all the options out there.

amother

Wine

Sun, Dec 29 2019, 11:57 pm

amother [ Wine ] wrote:

To add to the above - this is also partly why the fields are flooded. If everyone is going after the same few degrees, of course the fields get flooded. If we expand the range of degrees offered, then that problem will be lessened.