Do economic sectors built on prepaid and "pay to play" labor exist? If so, what does it mean?

[Mr Khan]

HappySqurriel said:

Mr Khan said:

HappySqurriel said:

Mr Khan said:

 

A college degree is still hugely important, and should not be underestimated. Try getting an internship somewhere important without being in college, or try getting a real job somewhere without some sort of higher education degree (needn't be college necessarily, but technical school, vocational something or other, but it has to be something). The only thing that this might be doing is forcing change on the traditional college experience to push for something more streamlined and cut down on things like the classics and philosophy, which have been on the downslide in universities anyway...

While there are many degree fields that increase a person's career prospects, the majority of degrees do far less to get a person a job than one of these unpaid internships will ... This is why it was recently reported that 85% of new college graduates move back in with their parents, 54% are unemployed, and most of those who are employed are "under-employed" (because they are doing a job which doesn't require a degree).

Yes, but try getting a meaningful internship without being in college. And just because you don't get a job immediately out of college is no reason to discredit degrees, as you likely will find a job, and your degree is going to have something to do with that

Just to get back to my original point ...

Much like choosing to "work for free" people choose to go to college because they believe that the short term economic downside will translate into greater long term prospects. While the majority of people who choose unpaid internships may not get immediate benefit from them, between those who don't complete college and those who choose useless degrees the vast majority of people who choose college don't get an immediate benefit from them; and those who choose an unpaid internship trade a year's worth of labour for a year's worth of skills development, while a college student pays close to a year's worth of salary for a year's worth of skills development.

The point isn't that "college is bad" (after all I have two university degrees), the point is that everything that is that a college education and an upaid internship are essentially the same; and you can't say one is good while the other is bad.

I'm not saying the other is bad either. I did a for-credit semester's internship in DC, and most colleges recommend at least one semester of internship, and try to push more in business degrees (though i'm IR, and way outside the business school), i've just noticed this trend from some who try to poo-poo the whole notion of having to go to college, when if anything, economics and the demand for skilled professional labor says that more people should be going to college than already are...