“Death
by Degrees” analyzes the increasing need for higher education and Ivy League
degrees. This new need mimics what happened in China beginning in 605 BC.
Emperor Yang Guang created a series of difficult exams. These exams, if passed,
could help peasants become part of the elite group, bureaucrats. The exams were
also used to decide how much rice and money people would make. For example
people in higher tiers could receive up to 17 times the amount of rice a person
in the bottom tier would receive. As time went on more and more people were
able to pass the exams and become part of the elite group. With limited space
left in government the emperor decided to make the exams more difficult. Many
people could no longer pass the exams and the majority that did pass were
wealthy, because they could afford tutors and to bribe the examiners. The
difficult exams caused many people to end up in poverty with no way out and in
debt from trying to pass the exams.
What happened in China is beginning to happen in the
United States. It is very difficult to get a job without at least a bachelor’s
degree and it has almost become a necessity to have a master’s degree. Before
long a master’s degree will not be enough and a doctorate degree will be
needed. This can be discouraging to some people, because the cost of school is
so high. To obtain all those degrees costs a vast amount of time and money,
both of which some people do not have.
Is it a bad thing
that jobs are now requiring more education and higher degrees? For some jobs
the amount of education needed can’t be learned in four years, for example doctors.
The authors make a good point when they point out that too many degrees have
useless core requirements. Middle school English teachers shouldn’t have to
take Chemistry or Calculus. The education system in the United States focuses too
much on trying to make a “well rounded student” and not enough on the subjects required
for careers. If the focus were shifted to necessities instead of core
requirements then people could graduate earlier and in less debt.
No comments:
Post a Comment