Want Fries With That Degree?

[MasonC2K]

It's not like that here. You cannot get a retail type job with a college degree. You are considered overqualified. They also see you as just using them as a temporary stepping stone to something else when they want people to be with them for a while.

[SaintTawny]

I think there's a fundamental problem with assuming that everyone who pursues higher ed can/should pick a degree in a STEM field just because the job market is better. This accurately displays almost everything that's wrong with our society. We don't place enough value on the arts, or history, or education field. Not everyone is tech/science/math-smart, so not everyone can pursue those degrees. But what about the kid who could recite a world history text book from memory? He's no less intelligent just because history clicks and math doesn't, and no less deserving of a job that utilizes his talents. If he took your advice and got a degree in medicine anyway he could very well be the fumbling screw-up that never gets a diagnosis or dosage right because he isn't wired right for that line of work, raising the need and cost of liability insurance for everyone who actually belongs there.

Simply put, society needs people in every field that exists, we just have a problem with acknowledging the value of alternate studies.

[Raven01]

I think there's a fundamental problem with assuming that everyone who pursues higher ed can/should pick a degree in a STEM field just because the job market is better. This accurately displays almost everything that's wrong with our society. We don't place enough value on the arts, or history, or education field. Not everyone is tech/science/math-smart, so not everyone can pursue those degrees. But what about the kid who could recite a world history text book from memory? He's no less intelligent just because history clicks and math doesn't, and no less deserving of a job that utilizes his talents. If he took your advice and got a degree in medicine anyway he could very well be the fumbling screw-up that never gets a diagnosis or dosage right because he isn't wired right for that line of work, raising the need and cost of liability insurance for everyone who actually belongs there.

Simply put, society needs people in every field that exists, we just have a problem with acknowledging the value of alternate studies.

We don't place enough value on art?
Tell that to singers with more money than most will ever have.
What we have a problem with is people having unrealistic expectations that their "artistic basket-weaving" should be of the same value as say a geneticist or mechanical engineers or even skilled craftsmen/tradesmen.
A good cabinet maker is still artistic (with a side of math and engineering skills) and not hurting for cash. But, do you create a university or college course for them and then wonder why with 3000 new cabinet makers none of them are able to make a decent living?