College Education and the Job Market: Change is in the Air
Any parent faced with the challenges of funding higher education for their child will find important information in a new report recently released by Georgetown University that is titled Help Wanted: Projection of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018.
It is generally accepted that more future jobs will require advanced education. For example, in 1973, nine percent of jobs required a bachelor’s degree. By 2018, that figure is expected to be 23 percent. But the report finds that colleges are not doing enough to prepare their students for the projected workforce.
Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown center said that colleges "need to streamline their programs, so they emphasize employability." If put into action, the result would be "a dual system" in which a select few receive an "academic" college education while most students receive a college education that is career preparation.
At the same time, it is expected that many positions will require less training than is currently demanded. For example, nearly half of education administrators today have a master's degree, and 13 percent have a doctorate in education. The bureau, however, predicts that education administrators will typically require no more than a bachelor's degree in 2018. Similarly, 43 percent of nuclear technicians have at least a bachelor's degree, and sometimes a more advanced degree. But the prediction is that in 2018 typically there will be no need for anything past an associate's degree.
The changes will also have significant effects on income. The prediction is that as more people obtain post secondary degrees, it will become more difficult for them to join the middle and upper income classes.
The report covers a range of critical questions about the emerging economy, including:
• When will the jobs come back?
• Where will the jobs be? Which states? Which industries? Which occupations?
• What post secondary certificates and degrees will be required?
• Will the education system be able to keep up?
• How much will it cost to fund the post secondary education America needs?
If you would like to access the full report, go to http://cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018/
