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whose education is poorly matched with the national economy. Undergraduates face various options. Thousands continue their studies at the graduate level, hoping the additional
credential will generate better opportunities. Others exchange
their mortarboards for admission to a trade- or career-oriented
program; in 2005, about 13percent of university graduates continued their studies at a college, while the rest headed into the
workforce. But those who choose the latter route can encounter surprising difficulties, struggling as Isard did to find paid
employment or, increasingly, accepting unskilled, low-paying
jobs to stay afloat.
The majority of Canadians believe in the value of a university educationif not to strengthen the economy, then simply
for personal gain. Surveys show that most Canadian students
and their parents believe that high school graduates should go
on to post-secondary education. A 2010 study, Youth Decision
Survey Report, by the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and
Advanced Education, showed that 60percent of high school
students believed their parents wanted them to go to university.
According to Statistics Canada, 67percent of parents wanted
their children to go to university, compared with the 15percent
who hoped for a college or CGEP diploma. A mere 2percent
wished for their kids to get a trade certificate.
According to a 2001 Conference Board of Canada report,
a shortage of a million workers is expected in this country by
2020. Even now, thousands of skilled trades and specialized
technical jobs go unfilled: the Merit Contractors Associations
Saskatchewan branch reported in June 2012 that 74percent of
its members had trouble hiring tradespeople when they needed
them, and 42percent couldnt find them at all. Firms have begun
recruiting in other countries, as far away as Romania and the
Philippines, and classified ads across the country advertise jobs
in advanced manufacturing, IT, skilled construction work, and
health care. But for those with a basic bachelors degree in English, chemistry, outdoor recreation, or psychology, jobs that fit
their qualifications seem impossible to find.
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The Walrus o c t o b e r 2 0 1 2
That statistic is key. Most university graduates get jobs, but more
than a third accept positions that require no post-secondary qualifications, such as barista or car rental agent. Thus, universities
can and do claim that their graduates find jobs, even while graduates complain that their career hopes have been dashed.
Markets, to return to our first-year economics lecture, are selfcorrecting, and so it is with unhappy graduates. One of the most
common strategies for coping with the poor returns from a degree
is to go back to college for practical, career-oriented training.
Rick Miner wrote a startling 2010 report, People without Jobs,
Jobs without People, that highlighted the growing gap between
the skills of the Ontario workforce and the needs of employers.
There is a recent and interesting trend by which Ontario colleges are becoming finishing schools for four-year university
graduates, he observed. Students are increasingly completing
a degree and then enrolling in a one- or two-year postgraduate
certificate or diploma program in a college. [These decisions]
reflect a recognition by students that an academic education
is often not enough, that an employable skill is also required.
While the intellectual and even civic benefits of certification
creep may be considerable, so are the costs and the strains on
young adults and their families.
Other students cope with the underemployment problem
by heading for graduate or professional school. The lucky and
qualified find positions in medicine or other well-paying careers and do extremely well. Those who pursue a teaching certificate or a graduate degree in education are seeking a secure
job, but find themselves running against the receding tide of opportunities. Harsh as it is to reduce graduate school to a financial calculation, Statistics Canadas return on investment data
from 2001 shows that the monetary benefit of advanced studies ranges from negative (for humanities students in Quebec)
to marginal (for most social and basic sciences). Only the professional schools, particularly the top ones, show a solid return
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