Page 165 - Crisis in Higher Education

136 • Crisis in Higher Education

engineer, pharmacist, or other professional. For these reasons, students
should not have a role in setting learning standards. If a university’s
role is to prepare graduates for employment, then standards must be
set by the needs of potential employers working with tenured and pro-
fessional faculty. This approach would tend to set standards that are
similar across different universities, one that does not fluctuate with
students’ abilities and expectations. As a result, the standards at an
elite university and a regional university would not be radically dif-
ferent. This approach also helps to balance the curriculum content
because potential employers tend to focus on the practical nature of
higher education and faculty members tend to focus on theory and
concepts.

6.2.3 Securing a Good Job

Graduates have every right to expect good jobs in their field of study,
and universities have an important role in working with students to
secure such a job. But universities do not create jobs in physical therapy,
automotive design, urban planning, or other fields. Universities must
provide applicants, students, and graduates with information about job
availability, starting salaries, and career paths. Universities can help stu-
dents network with leaders and key managers of organizations and create
mechanisms to bring graduates and potential employers together. A dis-
cussion of how universities facilitate the job search process for graduates
is offered in Chapter 8.
Students also have responsibilities to help themselves find good jobs.
Generally speaking, students must consider the available information
about job descriptions, wages, and career opportunities; try to assess what
they would like to do in their working careers; consider trade-offs among
various jobs; and select their field of study. In some cases, the choice is
difficult. In one scenario, an applicant really wants to be a zoologist, but
job growth is forecasted to be slow. Also, growth is uncertain because it
depends in large measure on government funding, which is subject to
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budget cuts. The second choice is registered nurse, which actually pays
better, and nursing jobs are expected to grow at four times the rate of jobs
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for zoologists. Should the student stick with his or her first choice or
move to the second choice, which provides a better chance of employment
and higher wages? Is the student willing to live with the possibility that a
zoologist position is not available?