A cool report by Georgetown University, “What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors”, just came out and is filled with interesting salary data. The report is based on Census data and found that majors are segregated by race and gender.
Field of study obviously impacts long-term earnings of college graduates with science and technology majors earning more than social science and humanities majors. Another key finding is not a surprise: women’s wages are lower than those of men. The same can be said of other minorities including Latinos:
Hispanics earn the most with a major in Mechanical Engineering ($70,000 median). However, the median for Hispanics is$13,000 less than the median for Whites with the same major.
Hispanics earn the least in Theology and Religious Vocation majors with median earnings of $30,000, which is less than the White and African-American medians in this field.
I was incredibly busy yesterday managing our relocation to Madison, home sale stuff, packing, teaching, kids – but was literally stopped in my tracks listening to this segment (A Penny a Pound) via The Story on NPR.
Hard to believe that farmworkers still struggle to gain the most basic worker’s rights. The Florida farmworkers in this piece are making progress, but it’s quite shocking what they need to do. Shameful what some of these growers and grocery stores are not willing to do.
For most people considering law school, this question is hardly an easy one. Law schools, however, make it much harder than it needs to be by publishing misleading data about their employment statistics. Many law schools all but explicitly promise that, within a few months of graduation, practically all their graduates will obtain jobs as lawyers, by trumpeting employment figures of 95 percent, 97 percent, and even 99.8 percent. The truth is that less than half will.
Latinos today are the fastest growing group in the nation. From 1970 to 2008 the Latino population grew by 417% compared to 49.6% for the general population. With a median age of 27.4 years Latinos are also the youngest in our population. 15 states account for 86.5% of the total Latino population. In 2010, over one-third of the total Latino population was under the age of 18. There are 22.4 million Latinos in the labor force (including employed and unemployed workers). By 2050, Latinos will constitute nearly 30% of the total US population and one third of all working-age Americans. As people age, Latinos are providing an important source of renewal for communities in decline.
According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, Maryland has the lowest Latino unemployment rate – hovering around 8.8%. Still high but much lower than the 12+% national average.
Having been involved in economic development initiatives many years ago for the City of El Paso, I realize how challenging it is to recruit new organizations into a community. Companies consider so many factors: city infrastructure, employment base, education, transporation, tax abatements, and many other things. Cities like San Antonio were very innovative years ago when they focused on creating economic development opportunities around specific industries like healthcare before it was on anyone’s radar. Now the medical industry is one of San Antonio’s largest employers. Today I came across another innovative idea – this one being driven by higher education to rebuild urban communities. Legislation in congress called the “ Urban University Renaissance Act of the 21st Century” focuses on helping rebuild neighborhoods in urban areas around the country. What a great idea. The law would award grants to institutions of higher education to establish and maintain community outreach partnership centers and expand existing community engagement activities that address urban problems. What better way to rebuild communities than by investing in education?
It’s always great to see a 2-minute video that can summarize why employers need to pay attention to the Hispanic workforce. This video and the featured bilingual job fair is courtesy of AL DIA - a Hispanic news and media company based in Philly. Enjoy!
Beyond.com just released results of a survey that provides interesting insights outlining some of the job search strategies used by today’s college graduates. Some of them are surprising. The study was conducted in partnership with the Wharton Small Business Development Center. Here are some of the highlights:
Graduating college students rely heavily on their university career centers…
Graduating college students prefer to use niche job sites over general job boards and social networking sites….
Most college students use social networking sites on a personal level, but are hesitant to leverage these sites for career-related purposes…
Seventy-five percent of students waiti to search for jobs until six months before graduation and are relying so heavily on their colleges to introduce them to employers…
Participants ranked online job boards among their top choices to find employment.
Intriguing results particularly when it comes to college graduates NOT leveraging social media tools as a resource to either network and/or help find employment opportunities after graduation. The disconnect is a bit baffling given that college students are high volume users of Facebook and other social networking sites.
The Wall Street Journal has a quick interview with an MIT career center advisor discussing some trends and where MBA students might have better luck finding jobs. Job market still seems sluggish even for MBAs – unless they’re targeting very specific niche areas such as energy, technology, and some financial areas. Recovery is certainly happening but at a slow and uneven pace.
A cool report by Georgetown University, “What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors”, just came out and is filled with interesting salary data. The report is based on Census data and found that majors are segregated by race and gender.
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