I was checking on my degree and lost the thermometer... could someone help me out? :D

Hey there is something about humility...

Exactly.

That's why I think if 26% of the total US population has a 4 year degree, that's about where it should be.

My sense is there probably could be some reallocation, though, of those degrees from the anthropology types to the hard sciences.

The best developmental chemist I ever knew only had his BS. He had the same probs as you. He had more patents and more papers cited than the whole R&D team combined yet only had a technician level pay grade.

He figuered out how to beat the system. He applied for MS/PhD work, did his course work at night - one at a time and did his thesis research in the lab. Great work and applicable. It was easy to get grant money because he wrote it with industry advancement in mind and used a bunch of work form the technical marketing guys to help him write it. Everything he did that was novel had a patent disclosure written around it so he could publish and still have protection.

I also knew a Women at Poloroid that got her PhD from work her technicians did for her. Pretty slick!

There really aren't too many degrees that provide U with any kind of skill or trade.

The only thing a regular a$$ degree learns U is how to present ideas in an acceptabe or coherent fashion. Whether it be written or verblah....

I don't know, my older Brother just retired at 52 - he was a history / poly sci major. He was invloved with weapons software for Subs - helped start up a company. He now lives in FL for 7 months and CT for 5. His Wife is retired as well (50). They have well over 4 mil in stable investments and another mil in low risk bonds. Not bad for a history / poly sci major...

I am not so sure it is what you major in but how well you get along with people, your desire to learn and your ambition. If you have those three things going for you and your a little lucky I am pretty sure you will do well. people make fortunes recycling chicken blood.

That may be true for those seeking degrees in one of the professions, but I'd like the number to be closer to 40%, with the increase being in Economics and the Liberal Arts, instead of being merely a vocational schooling. What I'm saying here is we need more people that know how the things work, and how to find out how they work. People educated the way Thomas Jefferson, Washington, and others were would be an improvement.

MATH or ENGLISH LIT (a double major in both would be the best!)

English Lit and Economics would be a great combination.

phD. is that like


Pliers,hammers,drills......

Naw, Piled Higher and Deeper

Do I hear an echo or is that just the sound of Pats voice echoing in his skull.

Tabs, ole boy, when you hold the seashell up to your ear, just do one ear, not both ears. If you'll do that the effect will go away.http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...ool_shades.gif

Orginality is not one of your strong points is it Pat? U should stick with what they taught U in remedial school and thats the Paste, bet they had a hard time teaching U how to put it on the paper instead of eating it.

Weak comeback, Tabs, you can do better.

I consider the level of competition, and weak is all I need with U.

Ok, this is getting good! Now somebody trashtalk Chicago and islam so CC can get into the mix with some dirty talk!

Tabsy says: http://images20.fotki.com/v366/photo...949/hdr-vi.jpg

I doubled in Computer Science and English, with a minor in Econ. I'm not proud. Or tired.

Ask me how much of my hard earned degree I put to use every GD day? Or if it helped me get a job? Or if I'm even in a field where my degree holds water?

Given the fact that education has gotten astronomically expensive, university's are clueless for the most part on the needs of the average student, I'd be surprised if that statistic goes up rather than down.

Unless you're foreign student over here on a full ride engineering scholarship taking a programming class as an elective that others had to petition into because it's mandatory and only offered once per year...or an athlete...you know, something of value...what's the point?

A quote for Pat to live by..."When all else fails Paste."

If Chicago is Islams Paradise where are they gona find a virgin let alone 72 of them... I think that about covers them both with one bold statement.

All things considered, my degree in philosophy was tougher than chemistry but a chemistry degree will always get you a job while a philosophy just gives you training in forming an argument not to so.

I'll have to take toothpaste off "ignore" again to watch this one develop.

I got a C note on Tabs....

sorry Wayne, but you're wrong. Cultural anthropologists are a hot commodity right now.

The US has lost the manufacturing battle, and is about to lose the design/creative battle as well. We need to teach people how to be life long learners, not strictly "facts and skills."

I've made the prediction in recent public talks that in 25 years 50% of the colleges and universities will be out of business unless they radically alter their approach. The value proposition is no longer there and will be replaced by more innovative and relevant institutions. And I'm aimin' to build one or more of them...

Exactly.

Someone in here has a quote about RIAA and the dinosaur in their sig line.

Same could be said for the current college education model.

What might some main stream jobs in that fied look like?

Fourth, most chinese and indian engineers are not engineers by US standards, a large chunk are comparable to US associate's degrees or "technical" degrees. Supposedly China graduates 500,000 engineers per year, yeah right.

It's easy to undermine the value of arts degrees, but I think it depends what you want from them. I know a few people with degrees in sociology, philosophy and history who complain incessantly that they can't find decent jobs... as though their degree would guarantee employment. Others get a degree in subjects that interest them, without employment as an objective.

I have a good job at one of the larger corporations in my region, but I haven't finished my degree yet. I started in 1995, and have been taking courses at my leisure. I take them when I have the time & enthusiasm.

My reputation at my job has been build through performance and hard work; my lack of a degree hasn't held me back yet. I'm majoring in french & history, so it's not like it's going to give me a "leg up" in website management. ;)

Not in the physical sciences. Many fields do require payment.

Ask Tabs.

A lot of those Indean degrees are general science degrees that cover a lot differant areas but will need more training in the area they end up settling in. Also Todd the USA leads in productivity and our manufacturing prowess is second to none. "Life learning" comes from the home not the professional teacher. It does not take a community, it takes a family.

I think we all know people with seemingly worthless degrees that have turned them into great careers. So I'm not discounting an eduction in anything proving you can be educated to an employer. That being said, I can't picture a cubicle farm filled with Cultural Anthropologists pounding out the days work:D

In my 20s, I managed a Domino's Pizza on Chicago's north side. Two of my delivery guys were engineers (India, Iran), one was a dentist (Russian).

Coming generations will also see the growth of the current small monied elite for whom education will increasingly play a role similar to the role it played in classical times.

These people will not go to school to learn a job. They will go for an education in the classical sense. For enlightenment and betterment.

a colleague of mine is a cultural anthropologist. She is way overbooked as a consultant by Intel, Nokia, Microsoft, etc. She studies cell phone use by teens, and issues of gender related to digital media. I know plenty of other social scientists looking at issues related to technology and the sector now realizes that they know how to make chips but know *zip* about the cultural aspects of uptake, the history behind other technological advances, and social science in general.

most of you guys are thinking way too narrow. But at least you're in good company...along with the lionshare of corporate America and educational institutions.

My phd was in chemistry (for which I did not pay tuition, and was paid a stipend to live on during my full run...that is typical in the hard sciences), but today I use ZERO of the technical knowledge I received. Hell, even if I was still in chemistry my tech knowledge would be outdated. What I did learn was how to learn, how to think critically and analytically, and how to understand data. Turns out those are applicable across almost every field. Part of the work we're doing is trying to understand issues of creativity and leadership, and how to train *that* as opposed to memorization of facts. Difficult stuff, but the one area where we still maintain a competitive advantage over the rest of the world. For now...

Cultural anthropology?

My wife retired at 55 as a VP in HR from a fortune 100 company with just a BA in cultural anthropology. Many people in HR and similar fields have these so called useless degrees.

We may not churn out many engineers but we turn out more lawyers than the rest of the world combinded. What's wrong with this picture?

Wonder how many other people on this board ended up not employed in a field having anything to do with their degree?
I have a double in microbiology/chemistry ended up as an applications programmer and partner in a software firm. Who knew?

I think we are on the same page. A degree in anything (even moreso in a difficult/challenging field) proves to those that would employ you that you can learn and your willing to work at it.

Point this one out to Tech

A post highschool degree improves your chances of getting to the upper middle class. But there are plenty of self made people doing quite well. I'd hazard a guess that the pretty wealthy ($5-20 mill) have a large contingent of non-degreed peope. How about the Girls Gone Wild guy?;)

I agree. However, when I enlisted in the USAF in 1968 right out of college I seriously doubt that whoever decided I should go to programmiing school was thinking along those lines. A guy I was in basic training with and had a similar degree was sent to weapons and mutitions school to learn how to load bombs on
F-4s?? The military works in very mysterious ways. :D