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VOA慢速英语--Study Suggests Many College Graduates are ‘Underemployed’

时间:2018-08-26 09:17:42

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A new study suggests that in the United States, college and university students must think carefully about their first jobs after graduation.

People who take a job that does not require a degree can find themselves in lower-paid positions than their educated peers2 even five or ten years later, researchers say.

Burning Glass Technologies and the Strada Institute for the Future of Work partnered to create the report, released in May. Burning Glass is a software company that researches the labor3 market. The Strada Institute is part of the Strada Education Network, a national nonprofit organization that supports the growth of education in the United States.

The study is based, in part, on data gathered from U.S. companies’ job advertisements and workers’ employment and education histories. Researchers used special software to examine advertisements listed on nearly 50,000 job search websites between 2010 and 2017. They also looked at the résumés of almost 4 million American workers dating from 2000 to 2017.

By comparing this information, researchers found that during those periods, 43 percent of U.S. college and university graduates’ first jobs did not require a bachelor’s degree. The researchers considered a job that does not use a person’s education “underemployment.”

The high percentage of underemployed college graduates may not come as surprise, says a top official at the Strada Education Network. Michelle Weise is the senior vice4 president of workforce5 strategies.

Some of the data from the study comes from a time when the U.S. economy was facing a serious recession6 and jobs were limited. But Weise points out that, in general, many kinds of jobs require little to no formal education. These include jobs in fields like food service or physical labor. The problem, she says, is the serious and possibly long-lasting effects of choosing such a job.

For one thing, there is a major difference in how much money underemployed and fully1 employed graduates are likely to make, Weise notes. The researchers’ study of U.S. government data on pay suggests that recent graduates of bachelor’s degree programs who are underemployed earn about $10,000 less, on average, than the fully employed.

Weise says the other issue is that underemployed graduates will likely be stuck in positions that do not use their education. The study showed that about two-thirds of graduates whose first jobs do not require a degree will still be underemployed five years later.

And about three-fourths of that underemployed group are likely to remain underemployed for at least another five years after that.

Both schools and students are responsible

In a way, both the students and the schools are responsible for solving this problem, Weise argues.

She says students need to be thoughtful about their career path, especially while they are still in school. The sooner they start considering the steps they need to take to help find a job after graduation the better. These steps include asking professors for advice and seeking out internships.

And Weise suggests that if they can, recent graduates should not simply accept the first job offer they receive. Having the desire to work is important, but so is waiting for a job that could lead to better positions in the future.

Field of study is also important, she says. The Strada and Burning Glass study found that graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics are less likely to be underemployed. And students who earn degrees in a liberal arts field, such as history, may have a harder time finding a job that uses their abilities.

But Weiss argues that colleges and universities also have to do better to support liberal arts graduates in their job search.

“Something we have struggled with, especially since the Great Recession, is that we are not great at translating what those … skills are that students are developing in those liberal arts programs and how they translate into the workforce,” Weise told VOA. “We’re not good at showing our students, before they go on the market, how … marketable they really are.”

Developing a number of skills

Another expert points out that underemployment is also connected to how higher education operates in the modern world. Peter Cappelli is a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He says asking students to start preparing earlier to enter the workforce is only part of the solution.

“We’re telling them, ‘Pick your career when you’re 17 and you’re applying to college,’ Cappelli said. “And then if you happen to pick the wrong one and you graduate and there’s no demand there, you’re out of luck. Or you could get a very practical degree that helps get you an immediate7 job, but you haven’t learned anything that will help you later in your career.”

Cappelli notes that in recent years colleges and universities have worked hard to make higher education available to more people. But as the number of degree-holders nationwide has increased, graduates may find it harder to make themselves appear more desirable than others with a similar degree.

Also, employers have increasingly come to expect more from graduates, somewhat unfairly, Cappelli says. For example, many advertisements for positions that normally would be perfect for recent graduates now ask for years of experience.

Cappelli says that, to make themselves more competitive8, college students can seek to gain skills outside of their normal study program. For example, liberal arts students might consider taking classes in computer programming during the summer break. And all workers should continue to seek ways to improve and expand their skills throughout their careers, he says.

Is higher education still a good investment?

The concern about underemployment may make some people wonder whether a college degree is still worthwhile. Nicole Smith says she understands why students and parents would ask that question. Smith is the chief economist9 for the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce in Washington, D.C.

She admits that a traditional four-year degree is not the only path to a meaningful and well-paying job. And, she notes, as the cost of higher education continues to rise, families need to think carefully about the investment.

But Smith stresses that the majority of well-paying jobs in the future will require some kind of degree. She says people need to consider how higher education might help them in the end.

“We don’t want to discourage people from even stepping foot through the door or to discourage people from even thinking of that opportunity,” Smith said.

In addition, Smith says, readers need to look at reports such as the Strada and Burning Glass study with a critical eye. She notes that researchers and employers may have different ideas about the jobs recent college graduates can do. In other words, the report’s definition of “underemployment” may not be entirely10 correct.

Also, Smith argues many recent graduates choose jobs that do not require a college degree so they can more deeply explore their interests and identities. This period of exploration can help them in the end by teaching them more about what they do and do not want in a career.

I’m Pete Musto. And I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

graduation – n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university

peer(s) – n. a person who belongs to the same age group or social group as someone else

résumé(s) – n. a short document describing your education and work history that you give an employer when you are applying for a job

bachelor’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

strategies – n. careful plans or methods for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time

formal – adj. received in a school

internship(s) – n. a position as a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time at a job in order to get experience

translating – v. leading to something as a result

marketable – adj. wanted by buyers or employers

apply(ing) to – p.v. to ask formally for something, such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan, usually in writing

practical – adj. likely to succeed and reasonable to do or use

stress(es) – v. to give special attention to something

discourage – v. to tell or advise someone not to do something

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
2 peers 450f65d3f10fa333d36ca017809f22a2     
n.同等的人,贵族vi.凝视,窥视vt.与…同等,封为贵族v.凝视( peer的第三人称单数 );盯着看;同等;比得上
参考例句:
  • She enjoys the respect of her peers. 她受到同侪的尊敬。
  • She peers into my eyes. 她盯着我的眼睛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
4 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
5 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
6 recession GAozC     
n.(工商业的)衷退(期),萧条(期)
参考例句:
  • Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响,制造业急剧衰退。
  • A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。
7 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
8 competitive yOkz5     
adj.竞争的,比赛的,好竞争的,有竞争力的
参考例句:
  • Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
  • These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。
9 economist AuhzVs     
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人
参考例句:
  • He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
  • He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家,自以为什么都懂。
10 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

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