Diplomas do not guarantee job security

Daniela Perez/ Staff Writer

With graduation coming up for the Class of 2017, many students face the predicament of what comes after. Their adolescent safety net is beginning to rip as responsibilities begin to put a heavy weight upon this invisible net. The role of just being a student begins to branch out towards being a statistic in a millennial labyrinth.

Graduate school may be within the horizon for some, creating a sense of comfort in many students on their journey towards finding a successful job. On the other hand, some students with their undergraduate diploma feel just as lost as they did at their high school graduation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, it’s predicted that Generation Y will make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2030, yet in 2016, the millennial unemployment rate remained “stagnant” at 12 percent as discovered by Millennial Job Reports. With these findings, competition is another brick added onto the aforementioned “safety net.”

Unless you’re lucky, an undergraduate diploma merely passes the mark for employers. With the words  “A Master’s Degree Preferred”  rising on job applications, Generation Y begins to scratch their head and open their empty wallets in utter confusion while their dreams begin to go adrift.

This situation begins to question the integrity of a college diploma. Barbara Ehrenreich from Alternet, titles a college diploma as “Higher Education Conformity.” She introduces her article by arguing that a college degree is “chiefly a signal to employers that you’ve mastered the ability to obey and conform.”

Ehrenreich also comments on the 2007 Marilee Jones case. Marilee Jones was the former Dean of Admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). According to Nick Semenkovich, the Associate News Editor at the Tech MIT Newspaper, Jones resigned after it was discovered that her academic credentials were “misrepresented.” After being employed for 28 years, Jones apparently never received an undergraduate degree despite claiming a bachelor’s and a master’s on her resume. Jones is just a morsel in a big bowl of academic fraud.

Conformity isn’t something that can be seen with a naked eye. It’s a psychological phenomenon that many people fall into. Instead of sulking about their futures, college graduates must distinguish themselves and prove that their competence is reflected on their diplomas.

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo taken from Flickr.