Looking at the current economic situation in this country, students cannot help but want to stay in school as long as possible. Recent statistics show the March 2001 recession has affected people with college degrees more than any other group.
So, college students have to make smart decisions when looking for a job, thinking of their jobs as long-term investments ensuring future employment.
According to economist Karen Kosanovich, since December 2000 the unemployment rate for college graduates has more than doubled from 1.4 percent to 3.4 percent, while the rate for those with less than a high school degree only increased by 2 percent from 6.3 to 8.2 percent.
She said the economy periodically goes through times of economic growth and recession, but since March 2001, white-collar jobs are being affected more than ever.
“More folks have more college degrees,” Kosanovich said. “So more were affected by the recession.”
CNN reported in the 1999-2000 school year that nationally, business, social sciences, education, health, psychology, engineering and biological sciences/life sciences were the most popular undergraduate majors.
While those may be the most popular majors, according to the Bureau of Statistics for the U.S. Department of Labor, professions related to computer programming and software technology, medical care and research and communication fields are the fastest-growing jobs for the future.
Mary Belleau, associate director for Career Services, said she encourages students who may be conflicted with job decisions to consider careers in communication.
“The sales of cell phones, Internet and cable are hot jobs,” Belleau said. “And they’re looking for all majors.”
She also said other jobs in the popular upcoming fields of computer research and biomedical research would require the student to move out of Louisiana, which many students she talked to did not want to do. Someone in communication could live anywhere, she said.
Courtney Walden, a communication studies senior, said she thinks communication is going to be one of the most popular jobs in the future.
“Due to the increase in communicating through technology, there will come a point when people will have to fall back on their interpersonal communication skills in the workplace,” she said.
Walden does not think people interested in getting computer-related jobs will be successful in America because she said many technology-based jobs are being exported to India and South America.
Belleau said students in biological engineering classes should not expect to get a job right out of college as a biomedical engineer.
While these jobs may be the most promising for the future, they are understandably more difficult to attain than a typical job.
“I cannot stress how important it is for students to get job-related experience,” she said.
As an example of how important internships are in getting jobs, she said as a rule, IBM does not hire anyone who has not done cooperative education with them.
“That way they can complete basic training and pay students less,” she said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics, the number of women getting their bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate and first-professional degrees has significantly increased.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of women with bachelor’s degrees was 57 percent in 2000, a 16 percent increase since 1987, while the number of men was 43 percent, only a 5 percent increase since 1987.
Even with these significant increases of women in higher education, pay is still not equal to that of men.
In 2002, the median weekly earnings of Caucasian men was $702 while women only made $549 per week. African American men made $523 per week in 2002 and African American women made $474, almost half of what Caucasian men make per week.
Even with numbers like this, some students think there are little to no inequalities between women, men and minorities.
Jordan Buras, a business freshman, said he thinks women, men and minorities are treated the same in the workplace and are paid the same because they are just as capable.
Chris Bruno, a biological sciences junior, said everyone gets paid the same and that now the white man is the last person to get a job.
Other students, however, still see inequalities in employee pay.
Caroline Row, a psychology freshman, said she thinks men sometimes get paid more than women and that for minorities, it depends on the employer.
“If your boss is black, he’ll favor the black person, if he is white, he’ll favor the white person,” Row said.
Waddah Saeed, a biological sciences freshman, said he thinks men make more money than women and much more money than minorities.
Jamie Smith, a political science junior, said she thinks things are still not equal, however, she thinks a black man would get paid more than a white woman.
She also said she thinks in 50 years, white people will be in a minority, so it will not be as big of an issue then.
So, when deciding on a major, these factors must be taken into account. A job’s future potential for growth should be considered, including which jobs have the largest opportunity for increases in salary.
Another factor that has remained somewhat consistent is how long college graduates stay at their jobs.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for both men and women, the average amount of time people between the ages of 25 and 34 stay at their jobs is for three years.
While that statistic has been fairly consistent, most students hope to keep their first job for more than five years.
With the right planning and ideas, their hopes may one day become a reality.