Why Should a Straight White Male Go to College?

[mystery-ak]

 Why Should a Straight White Male Go to College?
American higher education is getting exactly what it asked for.
by Scott McKay
September 8, 2021, 11:41 PM

There’s a famous scene in the classic Matt Damon/Robin Williams movie Good Will Hunting in which Damon, a prodigious working-class young mathematics expert from South Boston, is in a confrontation with a Harvard student over, naturally, a girl.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdsjNGCGz4&ab_channel=Miramax

That scene came to mind as the subject of America’s decline in higher education came to prominence. The Wall Street Journal this week had an article detailing the rather precipitous decline over the past five years in male enrollment at colleges and universities around the country. The numbers are quite stark:

    The number of men enrolled at two- and four-year colleges has fallen behind women by record levels, in a widening education gap across the U.S.

    Men are abandoning higher education in such numbers that they now trail female college students by record levels.

    At the close of the 2020-21 academic year, women made up 59.5% of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5%, according to enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group. U.S. colleges and universities had 1.5 million fewer students compared with five years ago, and men accounted for 71% of the decline. This education gap, which holds at both two- and four-year colleges, has been slowly widening for 40 years. The divergence increases at graduation: After six years of college, 65% of women in the U.S. who started a four-year university in 2012 received diplomas by 2018 compared with 59% of men during the same period, according to the U.S. Department of Education. In the next few years, two women will earn a college degree for every man, if the trend continues, said Douglas Shapiro, executive director of the research center at the National Student Clearinghouse.

    No reversal is in sight. Women increased their lead over men in college applications for the 2021-22 school year — 3,805,978 to 2,815,810 — by nearly a percentage point compared with the previous academic year, according to Common Application, a nonprofit that transmits applications to more than 900 schools.

more
https://spectator.org/why-should-a-straight-white-male-go-to-college/

[AARguy]

"Going to college" is ridiculous phrase. Its all about what you studied in college. If you have a degree in philosophy or "Women's Studies" you might as well have dropped out of high school. Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright. So is sucking on a lollipop. But neither the lollipop or the fluffy degree are actually worth much. If you study physics, math, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc you can design things, build things and make money from manufacturing these things. Doctors save lives. Lawyer assure justice and engineers design and build things that let us communicate, be well fed and live well. Those things are what education is about.

Ok, I am an engineer. The state of California contacted me some years ago to offer me a teaching certificate. They were up to their eyebrows in history and English degrees but had no one to teach math or science.

"Going to college" is a silly phrase. It's about the education, not the enrollment.

[Smokin Joe]

"Going to college" is ridiculous phrase. Its all about what you studied in college. If you have a degree in philosophy or "Women's Studies" you might as well have dropped out of high school. Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright. So is sucking on a lollipop. But neither the lollipop or the fluffy degree are actually worth much. If you study physics, math, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc you can design things, build things and make money from manufacturing these things. Doctors save lives. Lawyer assure justice and engineers design and build things that let us communicate, be well fed and live well. Those things are what education is about.

Ok, I am an engineer. The state of California contacted me some years ago to offer me a teaching certificate. They were up to their eyebrows in history and English degrees but had no one to teach math or science.

"Going to college" is a silly phrase. It's about the education, not the enrollment.

QFT!
Well said!

Here, considering options between a 20-30 dollar/hour oilfield job (they are still out there) or going into a trade (so what If I come home dirty, I can afford the water bill). a lot of youngsters are opting to not go to college, even though a HS grad or equivalent gets to go free for a couple years here.

After being bombarded with BS in High School, with little seen as relevant or useful, it's small wonder the guys are going to work.

At least those who brave the 'wokeism' to get a useful degree will have a better chance of scoring with the straight gals left on campus, but any more, that's a minefield, too.

[Free Vulcan]

Students are skipping college in favor of coding bootcamps

Why it matters: The cost of college keeps climbing, and federal student loan debt sits at a whopping $1.6 trillion. Students are debating whether college is worth it — especially when it may no longer be necessary to get a high-paying job.

What's happening: College enrollment was down around 5% this spring compared with the spring of 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. That's nearly 730,000 fewer students...

...At the same time, a number of large employers — including Google, Bank of America, EY, Apple, IBM and Penguin Random House — no longer require college degrees.

https://news.yahoo.com/students-skipping-college-favor-coding-100013963.html

[Kamaji]

In many instances, a good technical school or training program will put someone onto a better lifetime career path than going to a traditional 4-year college.

[mountaineer]

If you study physics, math, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc you can design things, build things and make money from manufacturing these things. Doctors save lives. Lawyer assure justice and engineers design and build things that let us communicate, be well fed and live well. Those things are what education is about.

Exactly. For all the current talk from conservatives urging sending "your kid to trade school," the fact remains that in future we will need properly educated doctors, lawyers, engineers, chemists and the like - and we'll need properly educated people to teach the kiddies English, history, math and science in K-12, as well. What we really don't need is most of philosophy, psychology, sociology, communications, etc., majors currently populating the institutions of higher ed. My husband was a college administrator for many years, and he'd be the first to tell you most of the kids on his campus would have been better served learning how to be a HVAC technician, auto mechanic or truck driver.

[andy58-in-nh]

There was a time when "college" was synonymous with Higher Education.

The latter is needed. The former has become an expensive joke.

[HoustonSam]

There was a time when "college" was synonymous with Higher Education.

The latter is needed. The former has become an expensive joke.

Higher Education began going off the rails when it became a credential.  Now it is so thoroughly corrupted by indoctrination that the real value of that credential is seen by many to be minimal while the cost has become unrealistic for most.

If both indoctrination and credentialism were eliminated and education again became training in how to think - including how to think in ways we might find impractical, such as in literary and philosophic terms as well as logical and technical terms - it would again become valuable to the individual and to society.  And the value of practical work in the trades would be more broadly recognized as well.

I work among highly educated (sorry, I should say highly credentialed) people and I am continually amazed at how poorly we actually think and how little most actually know.

[Fishrrman]

AARguy wrote:
"Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright."

You mean.... sumthin' like this?

Yep, that's me, taken in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, back around July of 1973.
(that's a D-35 leaning against the sign)

[sneakypete]

The answer is obvious,to bag all the white babes.

Yeah,it's a dirty job,but SOMEBODY has to do it.

[sneakypete]

AARguy wrote:
"Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright."

You mean.... sumthin' like this?

Yep, that's me, taken in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, back around July of 1973.
(that's a D-35 leaning against the sign)

@Fishrrman

Could you possibly have been ANY whiter? You are practically handicapped.

[Wingnut]

AARguy wrote:
"Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright."

You mean.... sumthin' like this?

Yep, that's me, taken in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, back around July of 1973.
(that's a D-35 leaning against the sign)

Nice shoes.

[Bigun]

...the fact remains that in future we will need properly educated doctors, lawyers, engineers, chemists and the like - and we'll need properly educated people to teach the kiddies English, history, math and science in K-12, as well.

And where will these "properly educated" people come from exactly?  Certainly not from most centers of indoctrination we call universities.

[mountaineer]

And where will these "properly educated" people come from exactly?  Certainly not from most centers of indoctrination we call universities.

There are a few decent ones. Even the small state university at which Mr. M worked did not engage in indoctrination that we saw. Most schools, admittedly, are worthless.

[Bigun]

There are a few decent ones. Even the small state university at which Mr. M worked did not engage in indoctrination that we saw. Most schools, admittedly, are worthless.

  But conservatives working at even those "good ones" better not come out of the closet.  I've seen it up close.

[Smokin Joe]

There was a time when "college" was synonymous with Higher Education.

The latter is needed. The former has become an expensive joke.

Duuude, weed is legal now in a ot of places, and from what's coming out of colleges, it's definitely higher...

[Sighlass]

AARguy wrote:
"Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright."

You mean.... sumthin' like this?

Yep, that's me, taken in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, back around July of 1973.
(that's a D-35 leaning against the sign)

Great picture, hope you got a haircut since then, lol. Dad was always telling me to get a haircut.

[AARguy]

That picture is from Nazareth, PA? My favorite gourmet shop is in that town... "Cheeses of Nazareth".

[goatprairie]

"Going to college" is ridiculous phrase. Its all about what you studied in college. If you have a degree in philosophy or "Women's Studies" you might as well have dropped out of high school. Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright. So is sucking on a lollipop. But neither the lollipop or the fluffy degree are actually worth much. If you study physics, math, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, etc you can design things, build things and make money from manufacturing these things. Doctors save lives. Lawyer assure justice and engineers design and build things that let us communicate, be well fed and live well. Those things are what education is about.

Ok, I am an engineer. The state of California contacted me some years ago to offer me a teaching certificate. They were up to their eyebrows in history and English degrees but had no one to teach math or science.

"Going to college" is a silly phrase. It's about the education, not the enrollment.

Yes, STEM careers would be great for everybody. Unfortunately, not only maybe ten-twenty percent of high school grads are capable of STEM careers, there would not be enough jobs for all of them. Considering that many firms have to hire foreigners to fill STEM jobs there should be far more American high school grads attempting STEM careers rather than worthless or semi-worthless degrees in easier subjects.
But degrees in non-STEM fields can still be worthwhile if the student plans on further post-grad study and loves or likes what they're getting into. We still need good history, english, and other fields teachers.
But you're right...we need more students getting into STEM fields.

[goatprairie]

In many instances, a good technical school or training program will put someone onto a better lifetime career path than going to a traditional 4-year college.

True. I was told that fifty years ago by an advisor at my local tech school. I almost got a job as a bookkeeper after one year at my tech school. Unfortunately, it came down to me and one other guy. He got the job.
Fortunately, if I had gotten that job, I might have never met my wife whom I dearly love. So, you never know what path fortune will choose for you.

[goatprairie]

AARguy wrote:
"Subjects which prepare you for sitting under a tree strumming a guitar may be fulfilling alright."

You mean.... sumthin' like this?

Yep, that's me, taken in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, back around July of 1973.
(that's a D-35 leaning against the sign)

Do you still have that guitar, and how does it sound after all these years?

[andy58-in-nh]

Duuude, weed is legal now in a lot of places, and from what's coming out of colleges, it's definitely higher...

Well, I went to college back in the 1970s, when weed was definitely not legal, but we smoked a shitload of it, anyway.

You could still get a pretty decent education back then, even in the liberal arts/Ivy League milieu where I found myself, because not all of one's professors were raving Marxists, but included a lot of WWII veterans who had grown up a whole lot harder, faster and smarter. 

[240B]

Naturally, most people assume that a software engineer is a brilliant, smart guy. I can witness first hand that this is not the case. They know math, computers, and software, but that is absolutely all they know. Ask them anything about history or English Literature, they do not have a single clue, even with the simple well known stuff. They do not even know what makes the moon shine.

Furthermore, if you ask them something 'off topic', not only do they not know, frequently they will become angry that you even asked them. "I don't know that stupid shit man! Get the hell out of here." is a common response. They don't know and they do not want to know anything about anything except what is right in front of their face. And, they get angry that you know. (breaking the rules)

All I could talk about with my coworkers was cars, sports, tv, and movies, at work or at parties. Any subject out of that narrow limited scope was off limits. They were smart people, sort of, but only in extremely defined limited boundaries. They had no breadth of knowledge whatsoever. And they were militantly proud of that.

[Bigun]

Naturally, most people assume that a software engineer is a brilliant, smart guy. I can witness first hand that this is not the case. They know math, computers, and software, but that is absolutely all they know. Ask them anything about history or English Literature, they do not have a single clue, even with the simple well known stuff. They do not even know what makes the moon shine.

Furthermore, if you ask them something 'off topic', not only do they not know, frequently they will become angry that you even asked them. "I don't know that stupid shit man! Get the hell out of here." is a common response. They don't know and they do not want to know anything about anything except what is right in front of their face. And, they get angry that you know. (breaking the rules)

All I could talk about with my coworkers was cars, sports, tv, and movies, at work or at parties. Any subject out of that narrow limited scope was off limits. They were smart people, sort of, but only in extremely defined limited boundaries. They had no breadth of knowledge whatsoever. And they were militantly proud of that.

Outside of STEM courses, college professors are much like that as well. 

[DefiantMassRINO]

My advice is to pursue a vocation, and attend whatever class, school, program, internship, or apprenticeship needed to attain it.

I recommended attending an institution that offers a paid internship, co-op, or apprentice program.

I earned an associate's degree in business administration attending junior college at nights while I worked full-time days.  I transferred into a 4 year college, part-time nights to pursue a bachelor's degree.  I got bored and felt like the school was ripping me off.  I realized that I needed to have skills to differeniate myself in a comptetitive labor force.  I dropped out and enrolled in a technology certificate program, did an internship, and got hired.  I've been working in the field for over 25 years.

My middle sister earned a bachelor's degree in communications, but it really didn't get her anywhere, so she went back to school for nursing.

My youngest sister earned a bachelor's degree in psychology.  It's only value is that is satisfied the arbitrary job requirement of having a bachelor's degree.  She's a supervisor at a Federal agency.

College is not the winning instant lottery ticket that the college preparation and college financing industries sell it as.