How many of us spend our career applying the knowledge gained from our college degree?  I wonder …

A general belief in American culture is that a college education is essential for lifelong success. A college degree has for many years been the equivalent of a high-school diploma. But a college degree no longer necessarily gets the job. And during difficult economic times, we know from recent experiences that “something more” is being called for.  But what is that something else?

In Massachusetts, the current mismatch between job openings and skillful labor is staggering.  There are almost 120,000 jobs that are going unfilled because the applicants are lacking the right education.  It turns out that many graduates are now going back to school to focus on a particular vocation, where there is a current and present need in society. This shift is both logical and practical. But what happened the first go around in post high-school studies?

Those directly involved with academics hold a particular view when it comes to curricula. In fact there are two polarizing views: those who advocate a Liberal Arts degree and those who advocate a specialized degree. I don’t believe that one degree is better than another. I do believe there are certain times in society that call for more skilled labor than other times. And, I also believe that academics – studying facts and figures – do not focus on critical thinking, interior self-inquiry, inter-personal evolution and perspective taking. The latter ways of being are essential for society’s evolution.

A recent article in the Boston paper cites three reasons for attending college these days:

The best reason to care about college – who goes and what happens to the people when they get there – is not what it does for society in economic terms but what it can do for individuals, in both calculable and incalculable ways.  The best chance we have to maintain a functioning democracy is a citizenry that can tell the difference between demagoguery and responsible arguments.  College opens the senses as well as the mind to experiences that otherwise would be foreclosed to people. It enriches the capacity to read demanding works of literature, to grasp fundamental political ideas, heightened and deepened alertness to color and form, melody and harmony.

You want the inside of your head to be an interesting place to spend the rest of your life.

– Judith Shapiro, former provost of Bryn Mawr

How can our education system accomplish both what meets the needs of society AND the individual?  Are you utilizing the skills that you learned in college in your present career situation? How has your education contributed to your progress in work, community and personal development?