So, I know you've all been waiting anxiously for my continued discussion on this topic. You probably had a difficult time eating all of that Thanksgiving pie because of the anticipation (by the way, at my Thanksgiving I learned that a food baby and a real baby cannot coexist inside me).
I just finished reading comments from my students about this question (they were reading about the culture of schooling last week), and I wish that we faculty could have more conversations with our students about our shared investment in and concerns for education. My students' comments covered the range of views, but surprisingly more seemed to be on the side of yes, there are too many students in college. (My favorite comment of them all was the suggestion that funding problems might be ameliorated a bit by not, for instance, commissioning large sculptures of say, a bruin). What to make of this leaning towards too many students when all of these students are currently in college? (of course, some of them are likely not in a transfer program, but pursuing a 2-year certificate or degree). Do they feel that they are the exceptions to the various reasons they stated students shouldn't be in college (mainly not serious enough, not focused in a specific direction, etc.)? Or would they prefer that they could pursue a more "vocational" career, but feel stuck in college because of its acquired/ perceived status?
In their discussion, my students presented some solutions to the "too many" problem and the general lack of preparation they feel many have for college (both in terms of general knowledge/ skills and the ability to efficiently navigate an educational/ career path). Many of their suggestions focused on high school: better academic preparation, more transitional assistance, improved career guidance. They expressed a need for more knowledge about what type of education their career goals demanded and more direct connection between their high school and college academic work. One student suggest that only well-established adults (she's a returning student) should go to college because newly graduated high school students aren't mature enough to take advantage of the college experience.
One of the proposed solutions for the "too many" problem was making a societal shift away from the stigma of vocational education and careers. The underlying assumption here, of course, seems to be that while some students would possibly prefer a vocational education, they desire the social/ economic status that a college education implies--a comment that Middlebrow made previously.
Reading all of your comments and those of my students has been really insightful for me, but I still feel like I have no clear response of my own response to the initial question. One of my students declared, "I'm glad I'm not the person who gets paid to make these sorts of decisions." I feel the same way, except I do feel some responsibility with regard to this issue. Not that anyone's going to pay me, or allow me to make the big decisions, but still. . .
I agree that some students are in college because of perceived value, because it's presented as the necessary step for success and economic stability. I suspect that flexibility is the primary attribute for economic stability, and I'm not sure how a college degree would rate on acquisition of this trait in comparison to other educational/ training paths. I also don't feel that I have a clear sense of the range of career options and how a college degree is considered in various careers. I have a cousin who is a bank branch manager, a job I would have originally thought required a bachelor's degree. But she doesn't have one. I don't think the true value of various degrees is clearly known to most people, but what is known is the assumed value of those degrees. More thorough and direct information about career options and pathways would be valuable, I think. (Of course, it's probably hard to generalize on this one since there is likely endless variation in how individuals got the job they have). Ultimately, I think it would be of great value for us to engage in more discussion about the class-based assumptions we place on degrees and careers.
Although I can see that there are problems with continually increasing college enrollments and that there are/ should be more options than a 4-year degree, I worry that suggesting college is only for certain types will shut down the open access that makes our educational system so great (imho).
For me, this is a very personal issue at the moment. I have a niece who is 20(ish?). She has an extremely poor academic record, only recently getting her GED. She is smart, but she has had a difficult time with schooling for a long list of reasons. She is currently pregnant and is planning to raise the child herself. She has a limited work history, and she just started community college. She is uncertain about what she wants to do, but she knows she needs to do something. At the beginning of the semester, she was absolutely terrified, unsure about whether she would be able to manage her coursework. She seems to be doing well, she's feeling more confident, and she's made a start. She is able to make this beginning--as vague and uncertain as it may be--because college of some kind is available for everyone. There is no one telling her that she is too unprepared, that there isn't enough room, that she needs to have a definite plan. She can make a start, and right now that is probably all she is capable of. While I recognize that open access and high enrollments brings a whole collection of challenges, challenges that no one is really sure how to respond to, I can't help but think of my niece and other students I've had just like her, who didn't really know what they were doing and were completely unprepared, but just needed a place to start, a place to hope. How can we take that away from anyone?
Ruth Asawa retrospective in MoMa
5 months ago
