But note that the number of college graduates is smaller than the number of college entrants. The overall BA/BS graduation rate is about 63%, while the two year college rate of attaining an AA/AS, certificate, etc) is 34%.
So those 45% of high school graduates going to four year colleges eventually results in 28% of them attaining BA/BS degrees. Of the 17% going to two year colleges, it is unlikely that 15% (88% of the 17%) eventually attain BA/BS degrees that 43% of jobs supposedly will require.
So the answer (according to NPR) is that even more marginal and less motivated students should attend college and drop out at huge cost both to their families and the student loan system? And then work in those jobs that didnât require a degree in the first place to pay off their college debts?
How about simply supporting the current students who attend college to complete their degrees and supporting those who donât want to attend college to go into the âtradesâ?
For many current college students, the risk of dropping out is mainly financial, so supporting them to complete college would mean lowering net costs.
But also, there may be misallocation of students to post-HS paths. High SES students may be pushed to college (for a BA/BS) even when they are not interested or suited for it (and probably make up many of the non-financial dropouts), while low SES students who are interested and suited for it in an academic sense may be blocked by financial limitations.
The skilled trades require post-HS education, whether or not it is called âcollegeâ. Indeed, the idea that the skilled trades are easily accessible to all of the non-college HS graduates seems to be common, and also seems to come with an implied disdain of those professions (as in, âwhy does a plumber cost so much?â and the like). But I remember C/D students in HS who would fail out of any education for the skilled trades unless they greatly turned around their attitude toward learning. One of the reasons that skilled trades pay well is that they are not things that âanyone can do easilyâ.
My sister is in her 50s and has spent many of her years caring for our elderly relatives. (We have a lot of aunts / uncles / cousins in the generation before us, but few people in our family in our generation, and even fewer willing to care for family.) Itâs likely that the last of these relatives will pass on soon, so my sister had the idea that she would like to take up a trade such as electrical or plumbing. She is a fairly handy person and likes doing repairs around the house, etc., so she could see herself in this role.
She attended a âwomen in the tradesâ workshop that talked about training and apprenticeships for getting into the trades. She was disappointed to tell me that everyone there told her to give up on the idea, because absolutely no one would train her or take her on as an apprentice, because of her age (mid 50s). Sheâs healthy, of normal weight, does strength training, etc⊠but everyone at this workshop told her that her age would be an absolute disqualification for any work in the trades.
Would that be a possible path for her? She was really discouraged (as you can imagine). I would appreciate any practical advice that I could forward on to her! (If thatâs allowed.)
Itâs location dependent but Iâd bet many management companies would be happy to have good people around that are good at addressing needs of residents. Our neighbors have hired handymen to do many different tasksâbuilding a fence, repairing odds and ends, etc. Maybe ask a trusted realtor if there is a good management company who does in-house management? I think many companies find older employees more reliable, especially if they have no childcare obligations. Or maybe she could even check her NextDoor in her area.
See if any particular person/company is frequently referred to as great for service/repairs and ask that company if she could apprentice and or be a helper to learn on the job.
I know the good contractors we use are happy to train good workersâsome are quite young and some are older.
If she can use YouTube, they often have videos on doing a lot of simple repairs and tell/show you what tools are needed. That can be invaluable as well, so she can be more helpful and know what the terms for different things are, if she watches some of them (the people she will be helping may expect her to know basic terms for different parts and tools for repairs). Sometimes people are really clueless and discourage the best workers. They THINK choosing the young kids will give them decades of skilled work, not thinking that the young kids may lose interest entirely and go off in a different direction, causing them to have to train a new person next month/year.
Thanks for the ideas and encouragement! My sister already uses YouTube for doing repairs around the house. She has been living with older folks for many years and sheâs the primary home repair person in that household. I will talk to her again and pass on your thoughts
If sheâs interested in caregiving, she may wish to become a LPN or a RN and she can get paid well as a nurse. If she is burnt out of caregiving, I think being a handyman/repair person may well be a natural for her.
Many of us do a lot of learning by doing and do not follow traditional paths to find our way forward. 30 years ago, I hadnât envisioned starting a nonprofit, yet Iâve now been running one for 18 years & am vice chair of a related national nonprofit.
For what itâs worth, one of the âhandiestâ repair people I know is my Hâheâs 82! He repairs things that stump others. Your sister could have another 3+ decades of repair work if thatâs something she desires!
Some Community Colleges offer certification programs in different fields. She may wish to inquire if her nearby one does and whether any of the programs they offer may match her skill set or interests. I still think sheâd probably do great just finding a handyman/repair person she really likes and apprenticing that way. Realtors and property managers often have repair people they like and can recommendâthat may be another source of good leads.
I love the idea of your sister becoming a handyman (handyperson). I am fortunate enough to be married to a guy who is very handy, but many folks I know are not. Or there is a lack of time. And a lot of women would be more comfortable having a woman in the house to do these jobs. My advice is that if she chooses this route she not sell herself short. Someone who can do this kind of work has skills and she deserves to be paid accordingly.
People may not want to hear this, but it is a rational position for a contractor to not want to take on a 50 something as an apprentice. In the trades, a 50 year old would be running jobs and training apprentices, while young apprentices would be doing the heavy physical âgrunt workâ like carrying cast iron pipe, loading and unloading supplies and carrying them up flights of stairs, or spending hours on end on their hands and knees. The trades can be hard on the body.
One other field that she (and many people!) may want to consider is becoming a dental hygienist. I skimmed the thread so Iâm not sure if itâs been mentioned but itâs a 2yr program and the average salary in my city is 103K. More than I expect my art major kid to make
Seems like a physical fitness test would be a better screen than age, since some 50+ year old people (both female and male, including those working in the trades and not merely supervising) have better physical fitness than many 20-30 year old people.
Agreed. A fit 20 year old, however, will be better able to do the heavy lifting than a fit 50 something, and an out-of-shape 20 year old will do better than an out-of-shape 55 year old (though both will have a hard time). Moreover, the older person is more likely to have repetitive motion and wear issues with their back, knees, etc.
Another consideration is that the apprenticeship may take several years so someone starting in their mid/late 50s would be closing in on retirement shortly after becoming a journeyman (ie, working largely unsupervised, and therefore more productive to the contractor).
Is she handy to do small tasks like painting a room or restoring a piece of furniture? Cities and HOAs sometimes hire maintenance people who do some hands on work but for most part hire and supervise contractors when it comes to serious issues. Her main problem is lack of experience on her resume so getting a foot in the door would be essential.
Here is another path that does not entail going through an apprenticeship: learn everything related to a specific job like renovating a bathroom and specialize in that. As long as you are not moving drains and water supplies, or bringing new electrical out of the panel she can do the work herself. She will need to get good at pouring and leveling a floor, and doing tile work. This would also give her a chance to be a bit creative with design recommendations.
A similar gig might be building out walk-in closets. The big guys like California Closets are really expensive, and sometimes try to foist cookie cutter solutions on clients, and there might be a real opportunity for someone with the âpersonal touchâ.
Both these options allow her to do similar jobs repeatedly, and therefore get very proficient, very quickly.
