How Higher Education has Changed in 60 Years
Posted on October 27, 2009
Filed Under Education |
This morning I was reading an article on college graduates, and I was surprised to see a mention of graduates earning $10,000. At first I thought it was a typo and should have been $100,000 — but no, the next sentence compared it with an annual salary of $4,000. Then I looked at the date of the article and the mystery was solves: This articles on college graduates was published more than 60 years ago.
A lot has changed in 60 years, not the least of which is the salaries people make. I don’t think 1 in 20 college graduates run for public office these days, for one thing. Also, whereas back then college was almost exclusively for business professionals, today higher education can teach you about a variety of things, from the culinary arts to carpentry to horseshoeing.
Another thing I noticed has changed is the idea that you can only pick your career once. The article talks about how many college graduates regretted their area of study, and wished they had chosen something else. These days, if you spend 10 years in a career in, say, teaching, you can still change your mind and go to a culinary school as an adult. But back then, you were expected to go to college, find a job, and stay with that company until retirement if possible.
I noticed a few other things that haven’t changed much, though. I think women still read more than men, for one thing, and that women especially read more bestsellers than men. (Most men I know who do read a lot prefer nonfiction.) And although the political climate in our country has changed a lot since 1948, I think college graduates are still more likely to vote than those who haven’t been through college.
What have you noticed about higher education that has changed since this article was written?
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