Professor of education Mike Rose was interviewed by the Washington Post’s Valerie Strauss for her blog, “The Answer Sheet” on his latest book, “Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education.” Their Q & A titled, “Where the Action Is in Higher Education” discusses the importance of college for returning learners, and the current skepticism over whether a college education is really necessary for all.
“I do think ideally everyone should have the opportunity to attend some kind of post-secondary institution – that kind of opportunity is fundamental to a democratic society,” Rose is quoted as saying. “The issue being raised, though, is this: We know that only about 50 or 60 percent of students who start a two- or four-year college achieve a degree, so should we be encouraging everyone to go to college, when the success rate is not great, when they might incur significant debt even if they do complete, and when the labor market might not accommodate them anyway?
“Conversely, there are good jobs available in mid-level technical fields and some trades and services that do require training, but not a degree. Still, data from the National Center for Educational Statistics indicate that people with a bachelor’s degree or beyond, on average, will earn significantly more over a lifetime than people without a degree.”
Rose underscores the media’s focus on the effect of reaching for a college degree among the impoverished and its negative impact on their finances and goals. Citing the New York Times story, “For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall” by Jason DeParle, he says that it is important to recognize both success stories and tales of the reality of “the devastation of inequality.”
“There are other narratives involving poor people and school; unfortunately they are perceived by some editors as less dramatic, but they are hugely important,” states Rose. “They are stories of people who do make it, maybe not with great fanfare, but they succeed… There are also stories of people who don’t complete a certificate or degree, but who accomplished something valuable, like the young man I got to know who turned his life away from drugs and the streets during the first year of a welding program and after a lot of thought and consultation joined the Navy to stabilize his life and finish his education.
“If all we read are stories of failure, we can come to think that little is possible for students who start out behind the eight ball, that it doesn’t matter what the institution does. I’ve told both kinds of stories. But give us as well the full range, the less dramatic, but tremendously important testaments to our broad and varied intelligence as a people and to the difference a responsive institution can make as people go to college or return to it, seeking a better life.”
Rose has done numerous interviews on “Back to School” throughout December and January, which were broadcast in markets nationwide including Boston, Northern Texas, Cleveland, and Northern California. These include WHYY’s “Radio Times,” “The Tavis Smiley Show,” WYPR’s “Midday with Dan Rodricks,” and WAMC’s “The Roundtable.”
In addition, “Work and Dignity: A Conversation Between Mike Rose and Matthew Crawford” appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of The Hedgehog Review, which is published by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia.
To read the full Q & A in the Washington Post, click here.