Degrees, credentials, skills and jobs

I'm wholeheartedly down with the lets-get-our-citizens-degrees efforts of Graduate! Philadelphia (although I'm not nuts about their exclamation point - strikes me as somehow disingenuous) and other organizations and initiatives seeking to boost the percentage of folks either locally or nationally that have a college degree. As a teaching perfesser I'd be stupid not to, right? Naked self-interest aside, even, the push is exciting and the policy sound. Of course, of course, college opens doors economically, makes people better citizens even (dare to dream).

Nevertheless, I was struck recently by a series of inordinate and ultimately unsuccessful struggles to get a variety of folks from the construction trades to so much as return my calls, to exhibit even a glimmer of interest in the fairly big jobs I'd have them do, for good money if need be. I've dunned, nagged, pleaded & begged. I can only conclude that times are purdy good in the construction trades, in spite of the fact that they certainly should be among the hardest hit in the mortgage crisis-driven sour times we're in.

I've no sense how much education the trades require. Shame on me; I aim to do something about that. I've had a roofer (pretty simple, albeit dangerous work) with a master's in mechanical engineering from Drexel and an HVAC contractor performing, from what I could glean by shoulder surfing before he insisted I let him be, pretty complicated calculations and dealing with all sorts of (flaky, unpredictable) computerized equipment, with no post-secondary education at all (the HVAC guy, that is; the equipment had I think a master's in cultural anthropology). Now, I've read SL:LPP and all, and I know that apprenticeship is a major factor here. I think that may further my disquiet. I know this must be silly and/or naive, but given that improved economic prospects is driving this push, shouldn't we see to it that more folks have access to jobs in the skilled trades -- electricians, plumbers, etc. -- maybe even before we undertake to get everyone a degree?

In high school I saw several friends who struggled in school pushed by their parents into the college preparatory track. I also saw two who did well in school drop jaws everywhere by insisting on the vocational-technical track. I lost track of one of the latter, but the other is a way successful general contractor. Of the former, WalMart (literally, although I am happy to report he's a manager now) for one, administrative assistant type positions for several others. It's always troubled me. Probably related to my unease with higher ed's role as a credentialing service.

Community colleges seem an important part of the equation here. So glad I'm taking "The Two-Year College" at Temple in the fall. Should be revelatory. In the meantime, go Graduate!Philadelphia go! (But feel free to lose the exclamation mark).