QUESTION: Why is there such a negative connotation to going to college (rather than university?) As someone who went to both college and university I don't get it.
My very uninformed guess is that the perception is that those who go to college and learn trades either 1) have no interest in higher education, or 2) are "too stupid for university." The former is completely fine, but I think that if you are part of group 1, people might say you're just some redneck hillbilly or something. The latter is obviously stupid. Not everyone WANTS to study accounting or kinesiology or nano-engineering.
Also, on a quasi-related note, there is a MASSIVE shortage of people enrolling in the skilled trades. As a result, tradesman and tradeswomen are getting paid OUTRAGEOUS salaries, even after only a handful of years working. Anyone that says that learning a trade isn't a safe career bet is a moron.
I agree with what you're saying, but I'd just like to add that college isn't only for skilled trades. There's a huge variety of programmes and programme types such as degrees in media, health care, environment and natural resources, hospitality, agriculture, and so on and so forth. It took me four years of uni to realise that college is where I should have gone in the first place.
That's the mindset most of us have been brought up with. In high school, teachers were always saying that college was for more technical skills and hands on work, while university was for more theoretical stuff. This idea + the idea that hands on work = grunt work leads most people to think university is the superior choice. Plus, university gets pushed as the way to make more money - though this is definitely not always the case.
I think it is the same situation as people going to university for something like liberal arts. There are college programs that are essentially a waste of money in the same manner as some university programs.
If someone says to me they are taking a welding program I will not think any less of them. Someone going for an already saturated program like early child educator is different.
And I'm not sure what other requirements there are to getting into college. Also I don't mean to say that their degree is any less meaningful, in fact college degrees are probably much more useful in finding a job.
Yeah, I think it's easier, but like 5 said, I think university grads and students use this as a means of feeling better about themselves. If you measure the value of an education not by how hard it is to get in and then graduate but by your employability and subsequent job satisfaction, I think a college diploma can be just as valuable as a degree; it all depends on what your goals are.
As a university student in a university environment, I think the negative connotation to going to college just exists because we proliferate it to feel good about ourselves. Undervaluing college makes us university students feel superior.
University and college is ideal if you can afford it but I think it all depends on the program as well. Trades can also be very cyclical but so can other vocations these days and you really have to do massive amounts of research and even then you might get it wrong but a lot of the colleges are offering programs for trades and industries and technologies that are fading out or don't exist anymore due to disruptive technology eliminating whole processes and jobs.
Even in tech, look at Blackberry, tough times hit and gone are the jobs never to come back.
The question I have about the trades, how do you get in? you need to know someone in the union, the unions are keeping the numbers artificially low to keep wages high for existing members, you then need a company to take you on as an apprentice, good luck in this economy.
Skilled trades shortage engineered so perfectly that companies easily qualify to bring in workers under the federal temporary worker program and pay them much less.
Companies don't train people anymore, they are actually bringing in helicopter pilots from other countries now, paying them 1/4 of the wages a pilot would get here but they are fully trained and experienced from their home country.
It's cuz all the "less intellectual" from high school go to college instead of university, so naturally if you looked down upon them in high school you would think college is subpar.
College is to university in Canada like community college is to college in the states. It's perceived as being 'lesser education' because it's not as technical or academically focused, which is stupid. Half the people in uni in Canada won't even go on to pursue a post-secondary educational degree anyways, so they might as well be going to technical colleges.
My very uninformed guess is that the perception is that those who go to college and learn trades either 1) have no interest in higher education, or 2) are "too stupid for university." The former is completely fine, but I think that if you are part of group 1, people might say you're just some redneck hillbilly or something. The latter is obviously stupid. Not everyone WANTS to study accounting or kinesiology or nano-engineering.
ReplyDeleteAlso, on a quasi-related note, there is a MASSIVE shortage of people enrolling in the skilled trades. As a result, tradesman and tradeswomen are getting paid OUTRAGEOUS salaries, even after only a handful of years working. Anyone that says that learning a trade isn't a safe career bet is a moron.
I agree with what you're saying, but I'd just like to add that college isn't only for skilled trades. There's a huge variety of programmes and programme types such as degrees in media, health care, environment and natural resources, hospitality, agriculture, and so on and so forth. It took me four years of uni to realise that college is where I should have gone in the first place.
DeleteThat's the mindset most of us have been brought up with. In high school, teachers were always saying that college was for more technical skills and hands on work, while university was for more theoretical stuff. This idea + the idea that hands on work = grunt work leads most people to think university is the superior choice. Plus, university gets pushed as the way to make more money - though this is definitely not always the case.
ReplyDeleteI think it is the same situation as people going to university for something like liberal arts. There are college programs that are essentially a waste of money in the same manner as some university programs.
ReplyDeleteIf someone says to me they are taking a welding program I will not think any less of them. Someone going for an already saturated program like early child educator is different.
Isn't it easier to get into college, grade wise
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not sure what other requirements there are to getting into college. Also I don't mean to say that their degree is any less meaningful, in fact college degrees are probably much more useful in finding a job.
DeleteYeah, I think it's easier, but like 5 said, I think university grads and students use this as a means of feeling better about themselves. If you measure the value of an education not by how hard it is to get in and then graduate but by your employability and subsequent job satisfaction, I think a college diploma can be just as valuable as a degree; it all depends on what your goals are.
DeleteAs a university student in a university environment, I think the negative connotation to going to college just exists because we proliferate it to feel good about ourselves. Undervaluing college makes us university students feel superior.
ReplyDeleteYeah, neither do I. Tbh, I feel many of them are better prepared for the real world than we are. Good tradespeople make a shit ton of money.
ReplyDeleteUniversity and college is ideal if you can afford it but I think it all depends on the program as well. Trades can also be very cyclical but so can other vocations these days and you really have to do massive amounts of research and even then you might get it wrong but a lot of the colleges are offering programs for trades and industries and technologies that are fading out or don't exist anymore due to disruptive technology eliminating whole processes and jobs.
ReplyDeleteEven in tech, look at Blackberry, tough times hit and gone are the jobs never to come back.
The question I have about the trades, how do you get in? you need to know someone in the union, the unions are keeping the numbers artificially low to keep wages high for existing members, you then need a company to take you on as an apprentice, good luck in this economy.
Skilled trades shortage engineered so perfectly that companies easily qualify to bring in workers under the federal temporary worker program and pay them much less.
Companies don't train people anymore, they are actually bringing in helicopter pilots from other countries now, paying them 1/4 of the wages a pilot would get here but they are fully trained and experienced from their home country.
It's cuz all the "less intellectual" from high school go to college instead of university, so naturally if you looked down upon them in high school you would think college is subpar.
ReplyDeleteCollege is to university in Canada like community college is to college in the states. It's perceived as being 'lesser education' because it's not as technical or academically focused, which is stupid. Half the people in uni in Canada won't even go on to pursue a post-secondary educational degree anyways, so they might as well be going to technical colleges.
ReplyDeleteTL;DR: Elitism
Uninformed elitism. Everyone wants to be better than the next guy.
ReplyDelete