By André Odermatt

My last editorial, “Are We Heading for Big Trouble,” drew some interesting reactions which prompted me to elaborate a little more on the subject. Before reading this, please read the article in this issue, “Dunlavy Scholarship Presented to Joel Mathers.”

Joel explains, “There was so much pressure [at high school] on everyone to go to a big university or college; it made me think that the only way to be successful was to get a four-year degree.”

It is quite a common perception that high school counselors seem to be obsessed to convince every student to go to college and they seem to dismiss those students who are not university –bound.  There is no question that the country needs college graduates, but it needs also skilled labor. This is nothing new although, in recent times, the shortage of skilled labor has become more severe.

Allow me to quote The Kiplinger Washington Letter of August 1, 1997, almost ten years ago:

Finding and keeping good employees is quite a trick these days. Among hard-to-fill jobs: Welders. Truck drivers. Machinists. Tool & die makers. Auto repair technicians. Electricians. Carpenters. Plumbers. Computer programmers. Systems Analyst. Sales professionals. Financial people. Retail clerks. And all sorts of entry-level jobs.

Tightest labor markets: The Midwest, Southeast and the West.

In recent months, the media has frequently reported about the increasing shortage of skilled labor.  Peggy Walton, Director of Work Force Initiatives of the Manufacturing Institute in Washington, D.C. states:

“You won’t find anyplace that’s not crying for welders right now. It’s an incredible in-demand skill. It pays well. And yet, we can’t get people who want to do it.”  

The problem is being compounded by those high school counselors who seem to be primarily pushing students to embark on college or university education.  Training beyond high school may be necessary, but skill training does not need to take two or four years and may be more directly related to the student’s natural talents.

Let me share some numbers about graduation rates. The following bar chart uses average graduation rates over the last available five years for Hobart Institute of Welding Technology and two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities, nationwide.

One may argue that comparing HIWT with other schools is like comparing apples and oranges and there may be a methodical difference in how the different schools measure the graduation rate. However, the end results remain and the difference in the rates is so significant that I don’t think the measuring method matters or varies that much.

Nine out of ten students graduate from HIWT and get a job and become responsible citizens, wage earners and taxpayers. Only seven out of ten students graduate from high school…one of the lowest rates among industrialized nations (Alliance for Excellent Education, Green & Winters, 2005); and only between four and six out of ten students graduate from a college or a university.

According to a study of ACT college entrance examinations, only about half of the college applicants were ready for college-level education. This seems to be very consistent with the graduation rates!  In order to help students, there is such a thing as “remediation”.  Many college freshmen nationwide enroll in at least one remedial course and the cost of remediation is a staggering $ 3.7 billion dollars which is a hidden cost that students, their families, and taxpayers pay in form of higher tuition.  Economically, in industry one would call this “Rework” or “Waste” with no “value added.” Learn how to do it right the first time, on time, and such waste can be virtually eliminated!

Students with reading problems who enroll in a remedial reading course are 41 percent more likely to drop out of college, underlining the fact that remediation is a very poor substitute for proper preparation.  Do it right the first time!

Let us return to HIWT and its high graduation rate. Hobart Institute enforces strict rules established by the various governing agencies. Perfect attendance is valued and rewarded.  However, I think the primary reason for graduating nine out of ten students at HIWT is the fact that our instructors take a personal interest in each and every student.  The instructors take pride in ensuring that the student passes the required tests as prescribed by the American Welding Society so s/he may be certifiable and can graduate!  Further our instructors and support staff provide students with guidance to understand proper workplace behavior in order for them to be employable.  

Not every young person is born for “higher” education.  For our economy to properly function, it also needs skilled labor. If industrial or trades employees cannot be found in the U.S., companies are forced to “outsource” or go “offshore” to find workers in another country.  Therefore, my point is that young people should neither be pushed into a career path that is not what they envisage for their future nor that is appropriate for their skill set.  There are millions of very successful people who do not have a multi-year post secondary education!  The country needs both!  

REFERENCES

Greene & Winters (2005) Public high school graduation and college-readiness rates:  1991 - 2002.  New York: Manhattan Institute.

National Center for Education Statistics (2004) The condition of education 2004, Indicator 31: Remedial coursetaking. Washington, DC.  USDOE.

Alliance for Excellent Education. Issue Brief.  August 2006. Washington, DC.

Education Week. K-12 Achievement.  January 4, 2007.  Bethesda, MD.