Summary: The Occupational Divide

The Occupational Divide The supply and demand for degree production has faced considerable discrepancy in recent years. Reports indicate that half of bachelor-degreed graduates under the age of twenty-five are currently experiencing employment difficulties. Of the Americans receiving master’s degrees and doctorates every year, 600,000 of them are on public relief. While I do concur with Mr. Krasnikov’s belief in the need to resolve this incongruity, I am not in accord with his proposed solution. By requiring universities and academic institutions to abide by a restrictive production system, the rights of the students, as well as the private institutions, would be infringed upon. Postsecondary schooling is predominantly voluntary; therefore, …show more content…
Krasnikov’s research was primarily concerned with the overproduction of graduates seeking certain occupations that require a college degree. Once of the causes for this overproduction dilemma is the not the type of degree the students are receiving, but rather the fact that they are receiving a degree at all. It is important to note that a college degree is required by merely twenty-seven percent of jobs in the current United States economy. There are 600,000 vacant U.S. manufacturing jobs currently, so the aforementioned graduates on public relief could meet all of these jobs. The myth that colleges and universities were created to guarantee individuals employment has plagued the aspiring and naïve graduates who had to face the harsh reality that their reputable bachelors degrees amounted to nothing more than their current bartending jobs and parking attendant statuses. To assume that an exemplary academic record and a diligent worth ethic would ensure job security is an assumption made far too often. Forty-seven percent of persons in the workforce posses at least an associate degree, so why are they not benefiting from their hard work? Based upon a survey conducted by Marketplace, employers prioritize extracurricular activities that reflect the student’s interest and commitment over the prestige of the potential employee’s academic record or the school he attended. Employers hire individuals that possess certain skills and talents, the individuals that have value. They want those who go beyond the classroom, beyond the examinations, and beyond the dimensions of their campus to showcase innovation and success in society . More than half of the employers surveyed noted that despite having an abundance of potential employees and an overproduction of graduates, they have great difficulty finding qualified candidates for the