Category: Green jobs

College Graduates and Employment Prospects

As thousands of college students graduate this month, including our students here at Roosevelt, many are concerned how they will fare in the current job market. And that market continues to be challenging as we slowly recover from the Great Recession of 2008-2010.

Recent news, however, show that the economy is adding new jobs (albeit not quite at the rate one would like to see this far into the economic recovery; and this 5 May 2013 report from the New York Times illustrates how much better off college graduates are in terms of employment levels than those who have some college but no degree, or no college at all. For workers without a high school diploma, employment prospects are very tough indeed, unlike in decades past when the US economy sported an abundance of unskilled labor positions. As the news article notes:

The unemployment rate for college graduates in April was a mere 3.9 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for the work force as a whole, according to a Labor Department report released Friday. Even when the jobless rate for college graduates was at its very worst in this business cycle, in November 2010, it was still just 5.1 percent. That is close to the jobless rate the rest of the work force experiences when the economy is good.

Among all segments of workers sorted by educational attainment, college graduates are the only group that has more people employed today than when the recession started.

The number of college-educated workers with jobs has risen by 9.1 percent since the beginning of the recession. Those with a high school diploma and no further education are practically a mirror image, with employment down 9 percent on net. For workers without even a high school diploma, employment levels have fallen 14.1 percent.

The news is not all good here, as the article raises an important point about what sort of jobs college grads have been taking.

But just because college graduates have jobs does not mean they all have “good” jobs.

There is ample evidence that employers are hiring college-educated workers for jobs that do not actually require college-level skills — positions like receptionists, file clerks, waitresses, car rental agents and so on.

“High-skilled people can take the jobs of middle-skilled people, and middle-skilled people can take jobs of low-skilled people,” said Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. “And low-skilled people are out of luck.”

In some cases, employers are specifically requiring four-year degrees for jobs that previously did not need them, since companies realize that in a relatively poor job market college graduates will be willing to take whatever they can find.

Does this mean that the cost a four-year college degree is not a good investment anymore? Decidedly not, whether one takes the short-view (immediate employment prospects in a difficult job market) or the long-view (return on investment over one’s lifetime). College grads have a marked advantage either way. As the article continues to note:

The median weekly earnings of college-educated, full-time workers — like those for their counterparts with less education — have dipped in recent years. In 2012, the weekly median was $1,141, compared with $1,163 in 2007, after adjusting for inflation. The premium they earn for having that college degree is still high, though.

In 2012, the typical full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree earned 79 percent more than a similar full-time worker with no more than a high school diploma. For comparison, 20 years earlier the premium was 73 percent, and 30 years earlier it was 48 percent.

And since a higher percentage of college graduates than high school graduates are employed in full-time work, these figures actually understate the increase in the total earnings premium from college completion, said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an independent research organization.

So, despite the painful upfront cost, the return on investment on a college degree remains high. An analysis from the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington estimated that the benefits of a four-year college degree were equivalent to an investment that returns 15.2 percent a year, even after factoring in the earnings students forgo while in school.

Today’s graduates will need to aggressively and strategically seek employment opportunities, to be sure; and they may have to settle for a less-than-optimal job or internship the first time around. But they’re still in a far better position than their less-educated peers to get gainful employment in their area of expertise, especially as the economy continues to recover.

Position Available: Assistant Professor of Sustainability Studies at RU

Roosevelt University is seeking an Assistant Professor in Sustainability Studies for a tenure-track position beginning 15 August 2013. Applicants should have the ability to teach multiple courses in the Sustainability Studies (SUST) undergraduate curriculum as well as interdisciplinary social and/or natural science seminars to adult learners in the Professional and Liberal Studies (PLS) program. Teaching load is six courses per year. Courses are offered at Roosevelt’s Chicago and Schaumburg campuses as well as online.

Duties: (1) Teaching courses within the SUST major as well as adult general education seminars with the PLS program. (2) Assisting with SUST program development through curriculum enhancement and assessment, service learning project development, community outreach, and online social media writing. (3) Maintaining an active scholarly research program within one’s academic discipline and/or the emerging field of sustainability studies. (4) Advising undergraduate students. (5) Performing departmental, college, university, and professional service.

Roosevelt’s Sustainability Studies program, founded in 2010, is the first of its kind in the Chicago region. Housed within the Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies, it maintains a close relationship with the College’s PLS program, a longstanding leader in educating returning adult students. Roosevelt University was founded in 1945 on the principle that higher education should be available to all academically qualified students. Today, Roosevelt is the fourth most ethnically diverse college in the Midwest (U.S. News and World Report, 2011) and a national leader in preparing students to assume meaningful, purposeful roles in the global community.

Minimum Qualifications: PhD or terminal degree in a sustainability-related discipline (or interdisciplinary field) within the natural or social sciences. Active scholarly research program and the ability to apply research to the classroom and communicate findings to a general audience. Evidence of excellence and versatility in teaching. Ability to teach with technology and in multiple formats (such as hybrid and online courses). Understanding of interdisciplinary teaching and curriculum development.

Highly Desirable Criteria: Expertise in multiple areas within sustainability, especially urban agriculture, energy and climate change, and/or waste and recycling. Experience in service learning initiatives and/or academic program development. Experience with both adult and traditional-age students. Enthusiasm for teaching general education seminars as well as more specialized SUST courses. Experience teaching critical thinking, research, and writing.

To Apply: Visit the Roosevelt HR webpage and click on “Full Time Faculty” to find the SUST Assistant Professor listing. Applicants should provide a letter of interest outlining their teaching experience, research program, and suitability for the position; an up-to-date curriculum vitae; and a list of three to five professional references.

For More Information: Consult the SUST program website for details on the  curriculum, faculty, and degree options for students. Applicants may address questions to the search committee chair and SUST program director, Professor Michael Bryson (mbryson@roosevelt.edu).

Application deadline is 1 December 2012. Position begins on 15 August 2013.

Speak Your Mind on RU’s New Website

Roosevelt has just launched a new media campaign called “Speak Your Mind” that features a highly interactive “microsite” that’s really more like an online discussion course than a typical media ad. In fact, it’s better than a regular course, because it’s designed so that viewers can post comments and engage in dialogue with several RU professors on a range of critical topics of the day, from housing to education to media to biotechnology to the environment to the state of the US economy.

Each of the topics within the site features one of several RU academic departments. The Sustainability Studies program here at RU is, I’m happy to report, one of those featured programs — and yours truly is the discussion monitor on the topic of Green Jobs: the green economy’s present state and future prospects. I encourage folks to visit the site, look around, and post a comment if you are so moved. Those of you who are SUST majors or who have taken a SUST class at RU will likely have very valuable thoughts and questions to contribute! Your participation can help connect RU to the general public in this important social media outreach campaign.