This Admissions Season, Let’s Rethink How We Talk about Opportunity in America
As a father of four, ages 14 to 24, I know teens and young adults are anxious. A dozen factors contribute to this stress, but a significant one is pressure to not only go to college, but an elite one. Youth today are raised on the notion that, without a four-year degree, they will not find a fulfilling, well-paying job. Ninety-one percent of Americans with children under 18 want their children to go to college.
I’m one of them, but, as college admissions and acceptance season gets rolling, I’m reminded that we need to try to change the narrative.
Why?
Because anxiety is in order when the adults in the room expect every child to wrestle themselves into a single mold. Forty percent of high school graduates don’t enroll in college, 37 million started college, but didn’t finish, and 15% of Americans do not have a high school diploma. The college-or-bust message disregards these people — people who, like my oldest child, chose a different path and are successful and fulfilled.
It's time to rethink how we message opportunity to young people. Purpose and passion do not always come right away in a job, but they are elements we should teach our children to strive toward regardless of what learning and career paths they choose.
Parents, teachers, and guidance counselors also must show students that employment security and career advancement are easier to come by when a person finds a job that interests them, fuels their curiosity, and capitalizes on their unique aptitudes and desire to contribute. Because it does: a 2022 study by Harvard and University of Wisconsin researchers found having a sense of purpose is associated with better health. An earlier study found having a sense of purpose led to higher household income and net worth.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has one of the simplest outlines to help young people map job and life success. The university’s career advising team says students should identify their values and what they love to do, and “map their heartbreak.” What that last piece of advice means is students should identify the problems or causes that matter to them and map it to a learning path and career that could enable the student to help address that problem.
There are then a host of ways young people can acquire the skills that will help them earn a job in the industry where they want to work. College is one, but there also are trade schools, apprenticeships, upskilling programs, certifications, and more.
The Make It Movement (MiM) illuminates the multiple learning pathways from high school to a rewarding career. By engaging with students to understand their interests, exposing them to careers aligned with those interests, and developing a roadmap toward that career, MiM puts young people on a path toward fulfillment.
The University of Maryland’s Snider Enterprise and Leadership Fellows Experience is a fellowship for high school students that asks them to explore what drives them. One student said they learned “succeeding in business is as much about knowing yourself as it is about knowing your discipline.”
The Manufacturing Institute created a digital STEM education program for students in grades 6-9. Through interactive gameplay, young people explore a variety of professions, including manufacturing, where they can use their talents.
Helping young people identify their aptitudes and purpose is a win for schools too.
A Gallup poll of grade 5-12 grade students asked about their schools’ performances. The average grade given by the 2,152 youth was a B-. More than a third gave their school a C or below. Students from lower-earning households graded their schools more harshly.
These students weren’t most distressed about the quality of instruction. Schools earned a solid B on that marker. When it came to helping students find a career they would love, 56% of students gave their school a C or lower. More students failed their school on this question than any other.
The best way to discover what is ailing our youth today is to ask them. Students do not want to be told college is the only option. They want to feel there is a path for each of them. This admissions season, schools can improve upon the Gallup grades — and improve outcomes for students and our society as well — by broadening how they talk about opportunity and mobility in the United States.
