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OL624 Artifact Summary
Susan H. Page
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
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OL624 Artifact Summary
OL624 Collaboration and Teambuilding was a course that helped students to analyze
personal strengths and weaknesses, evaluate communication issues within teams, and learn
methods for developing higher performing teams. The course objectives for OL624 strongly
align with the program objective number three in the MAOL program (“Saint Mary’s
University,” 2015). Through the learning within OL624, the students did personal strength
assessments and learned to build upon those strengths and weaknesses within the work
environment. By examining the roles of managers and leaders, students were able to examine
the differences between managing and actually leading through example and teambuilding.
This artifact was selected from the OL624 course work because of the importance of selfassessment as the building block for team relations and dynamics. Using the self-assessment
tool was useful to understanding better competencies and weaknesses that can be strengthened in
order to improve results in communication and leadership. The assignment for this paper was to
take a self-assessment to better understand the student’s strengths and weaknesses and to conduct
a team analysis of communication strengths and weaknesses, develop methodologies for
improving communication and team dynamics, and to build a personal plan for improvement.
The skills learned in OL624 provided a strong foundation for understanding future concepts
within the program and for developing stronger leadership skills.
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References
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. (2015, March). 2013-2015 catalog and student handbook,
Organizational Leadership, M.A. Retrieved from http://catalog.smumn.edu
/preview_program.php?catoid=17&poid=1710&returnto=1041
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Teambuilding Skills and Self-Analysis
Susan H. Page
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs
OL 624: Collaboration and Teambuilding
Christa Kalk
January 26, 2014
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Teambuilding Skills and Self-Analysis
Learning My Own Strengths
In May 2013, one of our team directors gave each person on our management, student
services and admissions teams who served the same university partnership a copy of
Strengthfinders 2.0, Rath, (2007), and asked that everyone read the book, take the assessment
and then come together to discuss our findings. We were provided with group data for the
results of the assessments and I will use that as a basis for discussing how we work together and
a plan for how we can work together better. I will also explore how using my own strengths I can
try to facilitate that goal.
My strengths were identified as: Strategic, Achiever, Learner, Maximizer, and Relator.
From this research I am able to identify how these skills are valuable to me and to my team. As
a Strategizer I have the ability to offer valuable insights into systems and processes in order to
improve outcomes. Being an Achiever means that I can usually do much more than I have been
given responsibility for in the performance of my job. As a Learner I took advantage of our
company scholarship program and entered the Saint Mary’s University MAOL program,
recognized as one of the most challenging graduate programs that we offer through any
partnership. I am a Maximizer and sometimes the monotony of my current job functions is
unsatisfying. I love motivating people to be great and maximize their own opportunities and that
was one of my best utilized skills in a previous job as a Regional Sales Manager. I am also a
Relator, which means that I care deeply about the personal and professional lives and successes
of those that I work with.
Our Team Analysis – How that is Successful and How that Fails
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The combined results from all members of the three groups identified that as a group our
greatest strengths are; Achiever, Learner, Relator and Empathy. On the face of that data one
would assume that we have a great sense of mutual purpose that works like a well-oiled machine,
but after one of our recent university term starts, many of us felt a sense of failure on reaching
our goals.
The first issue for any team to function well and achieve excellence is to have a welldefined mutual purpose, Patterson et al (2002). I believe the lack of a defined mutual purpose
was one of our fundamental failures. Members of each unit failed to focus on the three elements
that are equally important to attain our overall goal for each university term start. Each unit has
separate and often conflicting goals, so without a well-defined purpose as a team it is unlikely
that we will have “focus on the achievement of collective results,” Lencioni, (2002).
Management focuses on budget, Student Services focuses on Best Practices for student retention,
and Admissions focuses on sales goals to have as many students start a university term as
possible. As a unified team our first task should be to recognize our mutual purpose.
Deltak =
Budget
Students =
Best Practices
University
Partner =
Grow and
Build
Relationship
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The next step in solving this problem is to come together as a unified team made
up of three different areas to design a collaborative solution to meet this goal. Unfortunately, we
lack the forum and skills to collaborate in respectful dialogue that allows for contrary points of
view. As Lencioni, (2002), describes when discussing the team pyramid, the foundation is built
upon trust which allows open dialogue to hash out a problem. People on each team and even
within the separate teams have conflicting viewpoints but are too afraid to voice a conflicting
opinion or concern. This forces individuals to make the Fool’s Choice, Patterson et al (2002),
when they must make a decision between to perceived bad alternatives; 1.) Speak up and risk
alienating powerful people with all the danger this implies or 2.) Stay silent and watch bad
decisions create bad policy. As Roth, (2002), pointed out, “Most companies under-utilize
employee knowledge and expertise.” The good news is that the company I work for was voted
one of the best companies to work for in the state of Illinois and for great reasons; we have the
foundation of a company culture that promotes collaboration and dialogue, and we have an
enormously talented pool of people who work here.
How to Solve our Problem
Conflict resolution skills are a healthy component to any relationship, be it personal or
professional and conflict resolution skills can be learned and practiced. Conflict should generate
productive dialogue in order to find creative solutions to problems.
As a combined three units we need to come together in a series of meetings with a
mediator to help identify the goals, set the ground rules for respectful disagreement, and facilitate
conflict dialogue skills to collaborate and use our entire talent pool to create a plan to meet our
mutual purpose. In setting up ground rules where everyone has a chance to speak and where it is
safe to disagree, we can begin to drill down into the problems and focus on how to get resolution.
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Through this process we will build our team using the first two levels of the team pyramid by
Lencioni (2002), to overcome an absence of trust and fear of conflict. “Teams that lack trust are
incapable of engaging in un-filtered and passionate debate of ideas,” Lencioni, (2002). When
everyone on three units has a chance to engage and voice ideas and contrary viewpoints we can
reach a level of ‘buy-in” that will create a sense of three units coming together in a larger,
unified team. This is a process and not a “one and done” meeting. Building trust takes time and
the experiences of being able to participate in this kind of dialogue to problem solve without
repercussion when the meeting is concluded is a process and will have to be demonstrated to be
valid in order to build trust. As Patterson et al (2012) stated, “In the best companies, everyone
holds everyone else accountable – regardless of level or position.” Accountability is a higher
level on Lencioni’s pyramid and cannot be reached without the first two levels being mastered.
Holding a person accountable at any level is difficult without practiced constructive dialogue that
moves two-ways, meaning it is not enough to have a supervisor regularly ‘coaching’ or
delivering criticism or feedback and not having the opportunity for the employee to engage in the
same type of dialogue toward the supervisor.
A Personal Plan for Building on My Strengths
I want to employ my strength as a Strategizer to anticipate potential issues in our
processes and help to build solutions. I need to be careful about how I communicate with my
team because this skill can be perceived as having a negative view point even when the intention
is to figure out solutions to meet our mutual purpose. As an Achiever, Rath (2007) recommends,
“continuing your education by attaining certifications…,” and we have a system for that in place
at my company. Because that system is not tied to compensation, Armache, (2012), I have made
it a lower priority, however internally in the company it is recognized as important so I need to
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re-align how I prioritize getting my remaining certifications. For the Learner part of my
strengths, I will continue to pursue my Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. Rath,
(2007), also suggests, “As far as possible, shift your career toward a field with constantly
changing technologies…,” and a possible opportunity as come up within my company in a new
channel of custom curriculum sales that I hope I get consideration to pursue. To be a Maximizer,
Rath suggests aligning myself with other people who discover and focus on their strengths, and I
have become part of a community of ‘like souls’ in my graduate program. And finally, as a
Relator, I should “let your caring show. Find people in your company to mentor, help your
colleagues get to know each other better,” Rath (2007). I hope to meet that goal by helping to
mediate team meetings to build a better team pyramid and sense of mutual purpose while we
practice healthy conflict resolution and dialogue skills through collaboration.
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References
Armache, J. (2012). Effect of Compensation and Other Motivational Techniques on
Organizational Productivity. Conflict Resolution & Negotiation Journal, (1), 27-37.
Arbinger, I. (2010). Leadership and Self-deception : Getting Out of the Box. San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team : a leadership fable /. San Francisco :
Jossey-Bass.
Patterson, K. (2002). Crucial conversations : tools for talking when stakes are high /. New York:
McGraw-Hill,
Rath, T. (2007). Strengths finder 2.0 /. New York : Gallup Press.
Trujillo, M.A. (2008). Re-centering culture and knowledge in conflict resolution practice.
Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
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OL615 Artifact Summary
Susan H. Page
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
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OL615 Artifact Summary
OL615 Critical Thinking and Research developed skills for the student to be able to
conduct research and to successfully communicate the results of the research. The coursework in
OL615 aligns with program learning outcome number seven (“Saint Mary’s University,” 2015).
This work was selected because it was a very challenging project that encompassed many levels
of learning, including; developing a research question to build a literature review upon, learning
to assess and scrutinize relevant literature, analyze positions from several points of view, and
synthesize all of the various resources to develop a concise and in-depth review of the body of
literature. This course also taught the student invaluable lessons regarding time management
while working on a large project covering the span of eight weeks.
The research for the literature review proved to be intense and hugely interesting. In
order to align research with the student’s career field, a literature review concerning the return of
investment for higher education was conducted. The information gained during the research and
synthesis of the literature review is information still used in the student’s daily work life when
discussing graduate school education with prospective students.
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References
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. (2015, March). 2013-2015 catalog and student handbook,
Organizational Leadership, M.A. Retrieved from http://catalog.smumn.edu
/preview_program.php?catoid=17&poid=1710&returnto=1041
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Literature Review: The Economics of Graduate School after the Great Recession: Is there a
Return on Investment (ROI) for Attaining a Degree?
Susan Page
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Schools of Graduate & Professional Programs
OL615 Critical Thinking and Research
Mary Ellen Lynch
December 15, 2013
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Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………3
Changes in the Job Market…………………………………………………………………….5
Economic Benefits Associated with Degree Attainment………………………………………9
Unemployment Data Related to Degree Attainment……………………………………...….12
Differences in Earnings Based on Field of Study………………………………………...…..13
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….16
References……………………………………………………………………………………..19
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What is the ROI of Graduate School After the Great Recession?
Introduction
Against the backdrop of the Great Recession from 2007-2009, many adults have sought
refuge in education, be it completing bachelor’s degrees or entering graduate school. There are
four primary questions I will review concerning the investment in higher education:
1.)
How has the job market in the past decade and post Great Recession
economy changed, by virtue of structural unemployment and how does
that impact higher education attainment?
2.)
Do degree holders earn more money now and are they projected to earn
more money in the future on the basis of attaining their degree?
3.)
Do people who attain a bachelor’s, masters, professional or graduate
degree have lower rates of unemployment because they have attained this
degree?
4.)
How is earnings potential impacted by the selection of type of degree or
field of study?
As a graduate school admissions counselor and being employed for an education management
company, I am frequently asked the above questions regarding the investment of time and money
in higher education. There is a significant amount of literature regarding the value of higher
education with specific data to underscore that now, due to changes in our economy and job
market; there is justification for higher education. (Hicks, 2013), reported that “In the aftermath
of the recession, the gap between workers with a college degree and others has remained at more
than twice the pre-recession level, while other unemployment rate gaps have largely returned to
trend.” Despite arguments from Charles Miller, who wrote in a letter to Gaston Caperton,
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president of the College Board, in an indictment of the College Board’s slogan that ‘a college
education is worth a million dollars,’ (Lederman,2009), there is much data to argue in favor of
the ROI on higher education. Degree holder’s from a bachelor’s level to a doctoral level are able
to have ‘boundaryless careers,’ (Buchanan, Kim, Basham, 2007; Arthur et al, 1999), meaning
that the greater degree attainment gives them the leverage to move either laterally or vertically
within or outside of their organizations (Buchanan, et al, 2007; Erby and DeMatteo, 2000;
Sullivan, 1999; Sullivan et al, 1998).
According to a United States Census Bureau Report from 2012, (Ewart, 2012), only a
small percentage of U.S. citizens attained post-secondary degrees:
Degree Attained:
Percent of Population:
Doctoral Degree
1.1
Professional Degree
1.4
Master’s Degree
6.7
Bachelor’s Degree
17.1
Associate’s Degree
8.2
Vocational Certificate
10.9
Some College
15.6
High School Completion
25.6
Less than High School
13.4
Also in the same Census Bureau report, (Ewart, 2012), it was reported that, “Fifty-three
percent of people with managerial jobs held a bachelor’s degree or higher and 69 percent of
people in professional positions held a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
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Changes in the Job Market
How has the job market in the post Great Recession economy changed, by virtue of
structural unemployment and how does that impact higher education?
Structural unemployment is defined as: “A longer-lasting form of unemployment caused
by fundamental shifts in an economy. Structural unemployment occurs for a number of reasons,
but is primarily attributed to workers lack of requisite job skills.” i According to Hicks (2013),
“…the frictional (or normal) national unemployment is rate at about 5.0 percent, but with the
growth of structural unemployment (due to skills mismatch) that rate will grow to nearly 7.0
percent. This means that the unemployment rate will not decline significantly below 7.0 percent
until the jobs mismatch is remedied.” Skills-mismatch is a term associated with structural
unemployment and was spoken about during the 2012 Democratic National Convention by
President Bill Clinton. Skills-mismatch is “what happens when people in the labor pool lack the
skills to do what the market demands.” (Carnevale, Smith, 2013; Atchinson, 2007). The decline
in manufacturing jobs and move toward office jobs or services has altered the job market and the
skills and credentials necessary to gain employment proficient enough to support a middle-class
lifestyle. “We show increased skills mismatches (Estevao & Tsounta, 2011), in states with worse
housing market conditions (say, as measured by larger increases in foreclosure rates or larger
house price declines) are associated with even higher unemployment rates, after controlling for
all cyclical factors.” In a report for The Educational Policy Institute, (Williams, Swail, 2005;
Carnevale, rose, 1998) stated “People working in offices now hold 41 percent of the jobs in the
United States and earn 50 percent of the income.” Over the past thirty years, (Hicks, 2013) the
significant changes in the labor market in the United States “suggests growing wage gaps along
levels of educational attainment.” “It is just as easy and much less expensive to make actual
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products outside the U.S., so Americans now manage processes instead of making things.”
(Williams, Swail, 2005) also add, “…US society is using it’s human resources more efficiently
by employing high-skilled labor at high salaries and out sourcing lower-paying manufacturing
jobs to countries with low wages.”
How does this impact the pursuit of higher educational degrees? “…More adults are
going back to school to increase their work skills as the new economy is filled with positions that
require workers with a more technology sophisticated skill set.” (Compton, Cox, & Laanan,
2006). Cohen, (2005), agrees. “Workers will need more technical and profession training: their
careers will also require them to be verbally, visually, historically, and culturally literatecompetencies that the humanities, the fine arts, and the social sciences help provide.”
As Anthony Carnevale, Director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at
Georgetown University stated in a November 16th, 2013 interview on National Public Radio,
“What’s happened in the labor market is that occupational skills are more and more important
and more and more lucrative. In graduate degrees, almost universally, that is probably 80
percent of graduate degrees, prepare you for a specific occupational role and, as the requirements
in occupations go up, employers prefer people with graduate degrees.”
Carnevale (2012), discussed in his article, ‘The Great Sorting,’ while graduate degrees
can provide greater opportunities, the system of graduate school is also creating barriers and
greater stratification between socio-economic classes. Egan (2006) discussed the fate of two
individuals who worked for the Kaiser Aluminum Plant in Spokane, Washington, until the plant
closed in 2000. Both workers had only completed high school level educations, but they had no
fear about the future at the time due to high income employment opportunities at the nearby
Kaiser Plant. While friends went off to college, both Jeff Martinelli and Mark McClellan were
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content to go to work at the Kaiser Plant, making a better living than their friends who attained
college degrees. That bubble burst when Kaiser closed the plant. Jeff Martinelli was a smelter
and his top salary was $60,000 per year which afforded him a solid middle-class life-style in
Spokane. After the plant closed, fifty year old Martinelli can not find work other than low
paying, menial jobs, and his job prospects are dismal due to his lack of a college education.
McClellan came from a different back ground but made the same choices. His father was a
doctor, but even his father supported McClellan’s choice to go to work for Kaiser and not pursue
a degree. Within a short time of being hired by Kaiser after graduating from high school,
McClellan had multiple promotions until he was eventually elevated to a management position.
He made over $100,000 a year plus bonuses at his high earnings point. Again, he is struggling to
find work as a 45 year old man with only a high school diploma. Of the 2 million jobs that go
unfulfilled today, (Carnevale, Smith, 2013), about 69 percent of them consist of jobs that require
more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. “This is the new middleclass. If you want a decent job that pays living wages – which, by our reckoning, means a wage
of at least $35,000 per year – you have to invest in some amount of post-secondary education
and training.” (Carnevale, Smith, 2013).
November 2011 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the unemployment
rate for people who only had a high school diploma was 8.5%.(Avery, Turner, 2012). For people
who had attained a master’s degree, unemployment was at 3.9%. As Williams, Swail (2005)
reported, “Americans now manage process instead of making things.”
There is a projection that between 2008-2018 jobs that would require a master’s degree
would increase by 18% (Wendler, Bridgeman, Markle, Cline, Bell, McAllister, & Council of
Graduate, S., 2010).
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Not everyone agrees with the merits of attaining graduate education, especially in lieu of
decreased government support to finance education and higher education facilities. Surowiecki,
(2011) compared the current ‘higher education bubble’ to that of previous economic bubbles in
the stock and housing markets and that this surge in students seeking post-secondary degrees
would also burst. Lederman(2008), in reporting on the Charles Miller attack on the College
Board, quoted this response from Sandy Baum, the College Board Senior Policy Analyst,
“According to the board’s analysis, a public college graduate breaks even at the age of 33, and a
private college graduate at 40. As the price goes up, the age of the break even point would be
older and older.” She added, “If it turned out to be 80, that would be a different story. But we’re
a long, long way from that.” Debra Clark, a certified financial planner with Hornor, Townsend
& Kent (Nash, 2012), stated that she thought returning for her graduate degree was necessary to
her future, but ten years down the road, has never been asked by a client if she has the degree or
where she obtained it. Mark Cendella, CEO of TheLadders job search website stated (Nash,
2012), “It’s not worth it to go back to college full-time. That said it is worth it to complete your
undergraduate degree with University of Phoenix or an adult-education university. Your
experience matters much more, but the signaling effect of not completing your BA or BS is
negative enough that you should complete it.” The ‘sheepskin effect,’ signals to potential
employers that a person may not necessarily have skill enhancement but that the degree holder
must have desirable qualities such as persistence, and other abilities necessary for admittance and
graduation for most college or graduate programs. (Buchanan, Kim, Basham, 2007; Belman and
Heywood, 1991; Frazis, 1993).
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Economic Benefits for Degree Attainment
Do degree holders have greater earnings and are they projected to have greater earnings
potential after attaining their degree?
Day, Newburger & the Bureau of Census (DOC), (2002), reported that a survey over
three previous decades concluded that the more education a person attained corresponded
favorably with higher earnings levels. Wendler, Bridgeman, Cline, Millet, Rock, Bell &
Educational Testing, (2010) provided statistics from 2008 that proved this out; the average salary
for employed person with a bachelor’s degree was $52,624, for a person holding a master’s
degree $64,116 and for a person who had attained a doctoral degree, $81,172.
“When considering the question of whether earning a college degree is worth the
investment in these uncertain economic times, here is a number to keep in mind: 84 percent. On
average, that is how much more money a full-time, full-year worker with a Bachelor’s degree
can expect to earn over a lifetime than a colleague who has no better than a high school
diploma.” (Carnevale, Strohl, Melton, 2011).
Hicks (2013) reported that in Indiana, the wage gap between adult men is “roughly
$20,000 per year for workers with a bachelor’s degree compared to those with a high school
diploma only.” Buchanan, Kim, Basham, (2007) reported that a survey of MBAs who tracked
them for two years post graduation showed that “more than half reported changing functions and
two-thirds reported an increase in their salary and benefits packages (Simpson, 2000).”
As Anthony Carnevale told Michel Martin in a 2012 interview on NPR, “Employers
prefer people with graduate degrees. On average, a graduate degree in America is worth
$400,000 over a 40 year career.” Day, et al, (2002), stated, “Over the past 25 years, earnings
differences have grown among workers with different levels of educational attainment.”
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Outside of external factors such as compensation, universally graduate students develop a skill
set that employers increasingly seek; critical thinking skills, creative problem solving, better
group and interpersonal relationship skills, necessary technical skills and greater confidence.
(Day, 2002). Cohen, Greenburg (2011), did a study that ranked the reasons that students were
pursuing a master’s degree and on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the high point, and participants in the
study gave a 4.26% rating of ‘advancing in career,’ and a 3.88% rating to ‘increase salary.’
“Adults have many possible reasons to pursue advanced degrees (Buchanan, et al, 2007), but
there is general consensus that graduate degrees enhance skills and increase wages for recipients
(Grubb, 1993; Heywood, 1994; Hungerford and Solon 1987).” Atchinson, (2007), noted that
after the decline on the return on investment for higher education in the 1970’s, there was a
dramatic increase in the return on investment for education in the 1980’s and the 1990’s.
The wage gap between male and female workers with the same level of educational
attainment still remains at this time in our current job market. (Day, 2002). “Men had higher
average earnings than women with similar educational attainment. Among full-time, year round
workers age 25 to 64, the female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.67 during the study period. This
wage gap occurred with very little variation at every level of educational attainment.” (Day,
2002). White non-hispanics male and female earned more at any educational level than
Hispanics or African Americans, (Day, 2002), but also had higher earnings by virtue of higher
education attained, at each level, demonstrating a similar phenomena which is that ‘educational
investment still pays off.’ (Day, 2002).
In a 2012 Census Bureau Report, detailing data on field of training and economic status
from 2009 (Ewart, 2012), reported, “Higher levels of educational attainment are associated with
higher earnings. In 2009, adults with professional degrees earned more than any other education
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level, with mean monthly earnings of $11,900 for full-time workers. On average, adults with a
master’s degree earned $6,700 per month and those with a bachelor’s degree earned $5,400 per
month.”
Many organizations and municipalities offer tuition reimbursement. Cohen, Greenburg
(2010), reported that out of 226 companies they surveyed, approximately 94% offered some
form of tuition assistance or tuition reimbursement. Debra Owens got her MBA at the age of 50
using tuition reimbursement from her company (Nash, 2012), and credits the degree attainment
with the content of her book, A Purse of Your Own.
Financing higher education is part of the evaluation regarding return on investment
(Avery,Turner, 2012) for those who do not have tuition reimbursement programs in their
companies. “Total student debt rose to over $800 billion in June 2010, overtaking total credit
card debt outstanding for the first time.” (Avery, Turner, 2012). The average student loan debt
numbers are reported in 2009 were $51,950 for master’s degree holders and $77,580 for a
doctoral degree (Wendler, et al, 2010). In a 2010 poll of college seniors found that 85% were
planning to move home with their parents after graduation due to financial concerns or
constraints. (Avery, Turner, 2012; Dickler, 2010).
However, Surowiecki (2011) argues the value of higher education as he stated, “…that
young people today are radically overestimating the economic value of going to college, and that
many of them would be better off doing something else with their time and money.”
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Unemployment Data Related to Degree Attainment
Do people, who attain bachelors, graduate, professional or doctoral degrees have lower
rates of unemployment?
Data exists that supports the notion that obtaining higher education results in lower
unemployment rates for degree holders. (Hicks, 2013; Cohen, 2005). “A well known feature of
labor markets is that workers with high levels of human capital (education and experience) not
only receive higher wages, but also experience less unemployment.” Cohen (2005) found that
people who attained graduate degrees did not only receive credentials but greater skill
development sought after by employers. “…These (skills), plus a greater sense of competence,
helped students gain more marketability and career advancement, increases in salary, and more
respect in the workplace.” (Cohen, 2005). Most of the unemployed from the start of the Great
Recession are unemployed due to structural unemployment and suffer from being undereducated as well as lacking the requisite skills or qualifications for either mid-level or high-level
high-paying service jobs. (Atchinson, 2007). Atchinson also found that most jobs have changed
due to the technology advancement of the computer which eliminated many types of positions
and replaced them with new skilled low level positions (such as data entry) or very highly skilled
technical positions. Low-skill and under-educated workers (lacking post-secondary education),
are impacted the greatest (Estevao & Tsounta, 2011). “Low-skilled individuals with 25 years of
age or older (with at most a high-school diploma, representing 37 percent of the civilian labor
force) have been particularly hit. Moreover, (Estevao & Tsounta, 2011), one in seven
individuals without a high-school diploma and one in ten high school graduates are
unemployed.”
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Differences in Earnings Potential Based on Field of Study
How is earnings potential impacted by the selection of type of degree or field of study?
Miller (2012), during an NPR interview with Anthony Carnevale asked him about the
importance of selecting a field of study and if it would impact future earnings. His response:
“Rule number one in choosing colleges and programs, graduate or undergraduate, is that what
you will take will determine what you will make.” In a comprehensive study completed by
Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce in 2011, it was determined that
“the highest earning majors earn 314 percent more at the median than the lowest-earning major
at the median.” (Carnevale, Strohl, Melton, 2011). The low-end median earning bachelor’s
degree major was for Counseling Psychology at $29,000 per year earnings, and the high end was
Petroleum Engineering at $120,000 per year average earnings. (Carnevale, Strohl, Melton,
2011). Elementary Education is one of the top ten most popular majors, but has a
disproportionate amount of women in the profession; 91%, then men at 9%. Medium earnings
for Elementary Education majors is $40,000, however, many school districts structure teacher’s
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salaries around attainment of graduate degrees, certificates and endorsements, raising income,
Fig. 1
but also increasing student loan debt. (Carnevale, Strohl, Melton, 2011).
People with professional and doctoral degrees (Ewart, 2012) in medicine, the natural
sciences, and law earned the most out of all education level and field of training combinations
from the U.S. Census Bureau Report detailing field of study and the impact on earnings from
2009.
In a survey done by (Zhao, Truell, Alexander, Hill, 2006), graduates from an MBA
program were asked to rank on a scale from 1-5, 5 being highest, the answers to the following
questions regarding their choice of a degree:
1. Was their MBA education a good investment
Score: 4.3
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2. Would they recommend the pursuit of an MBA Degree
to their friends and relatives
Score: 4.2
3. Did they have more career opportunities as a result of
attaining an MBA than associates without one?
Score: 4.0
Zarifa (2012) in an examination and comparison between Canadian and American higher
educational systems and the impact of family background, wealth and choice of field of study
found that, “Some students are setting themselves apart from the masses by continuing on into
graduate school, but for most, the prestige or selectivity of their institution or field of study have
become incredible avenues for securing better labor market opportunities (Betts et al.,2000;
Finnie, 1999; Finnie and Frenette, 2003; Goyette and Mullen, 2006; Guppy and Davies, 1998;
Marini and Fan, 1997; Mullen et al., 2003; Walters, 2004).” The impact of the graduate schools
ranking also has impact on the employment outcomes of its graduates. Stock and Alston (2000),
reported that “In terms of job-market results, Barbezat (1992) and McMillen and Singell (1994)
found that candidates from top-ranking programs were more likely to find employment at both
another top-ranked academic program and in the nonacademic sector.” After completing a
survey of graduates from three Ph.D. granting economics programs, Stock and Alston (2000),
obtained data that showed that the survey participants from the top-ranked institutions had twice
as many interviews as those from lower ranked programs. “Although the probability of
obtaining on-site interviews and offers did not differ substantially by program rank, the number
of on-site interviews and offers was higher for those from top-ranked programs.” (Stock, Alston,
2000).
In the 2012 Census Bureau Educational Attainment in the United States report, the
industries with the largest number of graduate or professional degrees attained were:
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1.)
Education and Health Services
2.)
Professional and Business Services
3.)
Manufacturing
4.)
Financial Activities
5.)
Public Administration
6.)
Wholesale and Retail Trade
7.)
Other Services
8.)
Information
9.)
Leisure and Hospitality
10.)
Transportation and Utilities
In data reporting on educational attainment’s impact on earnings from 2009 (Ewart,
2012), she reported, “Degrees in technical fields, including engineering and computer science,
pay off at all education levels. People with bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in technical fields
and people with vocational certificates in engineering fields, earned more than those with
degrees in nontechnical fields.”
Conclusion
Graduates from higher education institutions in the United States have been responsible
for some of the greatest innovations in our history. Wendler et al (2010), remarks that “from
1997 to 2009 over half the Nobel prize winners in chemistry, physics, medicine, and economics
have received graduate degrees in the United States.” Also noted, was that from The Fulbright
Program over 20 graduate students have gone onto become Heads of State, including former
U.S. President Bill Clinton. (Wendler et al, 2010). In the same paper the authors remarked, “Our
competitiveness in the global economy hinges on our ability to produce sufficient numbers of
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graduate-degree holders.” President John F. Kennedy, in a Commencement Address at San
Diego State College on June 6, 1963, while receiving the first honorary doctorate of laws degree
conferred by San Diego State College, said, “No country can possibly move ahead, no free
society can possibly be sustained, unless it has an educated citizenry whose qualities of mind and
heart permit it to take part in the complicated and increasingly sophisticated decisions that pour
not only upon the President and upon Congress, but upon all the citizens who exercise the
ultimate power.”
The United States job market has changed and structural unemployment has occurred
(Hicks, 2013; Carnevale, Smith, 2013; Atchinson, 2007). Atchinson noted that the disparity
between low earnings and high earnings in the United States can be attributed to three major
factors: increase in skill based technology, international trade as it equates to United States
companies outsourcing traditional low-skill jobs overseas, and the growth of the high-skill
services occupations replacing low-skill manufacturing jobs. (Atchinson, 2007). The long-term
economic, public, and health impact for displaced workers was documented by Estevao and
Tsounta (2011), who stated, “Workers displaced from long-term jobs n the early 1980’s
recession faced large income losses even 20 years after displacement (Von Wachter, Song, and
Manchester, 2009) and serious health consequences for them (Sullivan and Von Wachter, 2009;
and Autor and Duggan, 2003), and their families (Oreopoulos, Page and Stevens, 2008; and
Stevens and Schaller, 2009).
As much as the data provided in this paper indicate a shift in the economy and job market
that will necessitate more individuals with post-secondary education there are growing problems
with funding. “At the end of the 20th century and now, in the early 21st century, we are
experiencing significant reductions in state support for higher education. Clearly, a decision has
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been made, whether actively or passively, that higher education is not the best use of state
resources.” (Williams, Swail, 2005).
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