Dive Brief:
- A recent study suggests technology is the primary reason for slowed growth in the earning gap between high school and college graduates over the last 6 years.
- Non-cognitive jobs once filled by people are being replaced by digital programs and systems, while abstract jobs are supported by technological innovation. Mid-level and management jobs are now sources of heavy competition between graduates with bachelor's and advanced degrees, creating a new emphasis on credentialing which makes higher education more costly and time-consuming.
- Since 1980, the number of employees with bachelor's degrees had quadrupled as the wage gap between high school and college graduates has doubled.
Dive Insight:
Workforce development and college education are inextricably linked, and this research suggests that colleges should work harder to inform students about entry-level and professional mobility trends in specific majors.
Beyond healthcare; computer, applied and health sciences and other majors within fast-growing industries, students in the liberal arts and social sciences will need full support to understand the industrial likelihood of struggling to find work, or to move up in fields where even a graduate degree no longer promises high salary or upward mobility.