What does a University Degree mean?

            What does it mean to hold a university degree? Why do people continue to spend extra 4 years of their lives (sometimes more depending on the area of study) upon graduation from high school and invest in higher education? These are interesting questions because it seems that in Turkey (and just like in China which has become a world power) these questions are becoming valuable in recent times. In short, there is a shortage of employment possibilities for those who receive higher education. Hence the question: Why all these people receive higher education? If you say to these young adults “get university education, receive higher degree, improve yourself, and learn a foreign language” and then say well go and work at a factory or a low wage job you contradict yourself.

            Past weekend (on 10.02.2013) there was an article titled “Chinese Graduates Say No Thanks to Factory Jobs” published in Sabah newspaper’s New York Times section. The original article was published on 24.01.2013 in the New York Times.  According to this article there is an increase in the number of people receiving higher education in China but there isn’t enough jobs available. Moreover, these university graduates don’t want to work at factory jobs. In this article, the NewYork Times consulted Mary E. Gallagher who is a professor from University of Michigan.  Ms. Gallagher says in her analysis “Students themselves have not adjusted to the concept of mass education, so students are accustomed to seeing themselves as becoming part of an elite when they enter college”.  In short, with the entire article this means: even if you receive university degree go work at a factory at a lower job. Now I am really curious if Ms. Gallager would advice her students at the Universityof Michigan likewise.

            Nations like China (same problems exist in Turkey) have to problem of not having a free market economy. This means that there is no entrepreneurship or free entry into the market in these countries. If these nations have free market economy just like in the US (I don’t know how it is now) there would be opportunities such as: people can invest in a sector with their saving and open their business, they would not have problems entering into the market (no problem of monopoly power), there would be government encouragements, and easy access to bank loans. Therefore, a university graduate in China can access to a bank loan and open his/her small business or can get employment in a small business built in this way. In another way, s/he can get employed in a bigger firm if s/he is better equipped and therefore there will be mechanics of free market economy in employment as well.

            I am wondering what Ms. Gallager and the New York Times which wrote the article think in these matters because in this article they clearly say: this is China, system works this way, there is nothing you can do, ok you got university degree but there are only factory jobs so forget about the office jobs. I am she cannot say to her students “Students themselves have not adjusted to the concept of mass education, so students are accustomed to seeing themselves as becoming part of an elite when they enter college”.  Students enter into college education not to become part of the “elite”, whatever that means, but to get ahead in life. They believe they can be a few steps ahead in life with a college degree. A university diploma means that they are educable and they can handle positions that are higher-level job positions. You cannot say to someone with this mind set go work at a factory.

Reading to this article and seeing Ms. Gallager’s comments it reminded me an “expert” I watched on CNBC-E back in 2008. I completed my mandatory military service early 2008 and returned home for job search. At the time the country (some parts of the media of course) was in a mood of “economic crises”. This good “expert” said in live TV on CNBC-E:  I urge the young unemployed and newly graduates to choose sales jobs. That is when I said: OH MY GOD! I will not be able to find a job that will suit me even though I had a decent diploma. And I am still searching for that job that will suit me. But now I am 33 and the employers say that I am too old to be hired…:=) When I first returned to Turkey from abroad with my degree they said “you don’t have employment experience”. In time I solved that they really meant: we need the best employee but we will pay a pittance,  you will work 6 days of the week and take 1 day off, no overtime pay of course don’t dream, and there won’t be any self improvement at the job you are working”…:=)

I must say that I appreciate Sabah newspaper for bringing us this article. There are many messages in this article. These are my opinions from this article. Some of it based on information, some of it based on live experience (still on going).