Topic: Do High Schools do a good job of preparing students for a career and for college? Do colleges do a good job of training their students to go on a great career pathway after college.
I say no.
Most high schools use their guidance counselors as their career and college coaches for students. Meaning, employees who have never worked outside of the education system in most cases are preparing students to go into the big bad world. My issue is that in most cases, these are the two scenarios that happen:
1. College Advisement - Most will led students lead with their hearts. In my case, in Maryland, many students wanted to go to Virginia Tech and Penn State rather than an in-state school. In order to not crush their dreams, most guidance counselors did their best to show students how to get into these schools. Problem is, those universities are out of state and $40-42k per year for tuition + room and board. Unless the student intends to do a 4 year engineering program or pre-med, etc., they should be advised to attend community college for 2 years in a program that leads into a 4 year university OR at least advise them on the student loan debt they'll be in by not choosing an in-state school.
2. Career Advisement - Many will let the student speak of their interests, or advise students to major in what they most enjoyed in high school. Few students enjoy math, English, science, etc., but they take that 1 psychology class and think it's interesting, so they major in that. No issue with Psych majors, but I think high schools shouldn't operate that way. I think they should inform students of growing fields such as IT developers, mobile apps, or even simple fields like being an RN or Dental Hygenist which are ever-growing, less school, and high paying. Essentially, I think high schools should point out what matters in a CAREER such as: good pay, flexible hours, PTO time, career growth potential, etc.
Colleges aren't innocent on #2 either in many cases. My case was different because despite going to a smaller private school, they were able to give more individual attention and did a great job of pointing out growth pathways for students' majors, and for telling freshmen which majors would yield the most long term benefit.
Thoughts?