SUBJECT: INSURANCE FOR POST SECONDARY EDUCATION
PURPOSE: This
briefing note is a recommendation for changes in policy pertaining to the
matriculation of post-secondary education.
ISSUE: There
is not enough action to provide graduated students of post-secondary educations
equity.
Background:
Education is
the primary tool by which individuals in the society can utilize to gain the
skills they need in order to be able to qualify for positions in society
offered through business. It is a social
lever designed to help people if they decide to matriculate. Post-secondary education is a means by which
students can earn a certificate by which attests their competency. It is a meritocracy-based system which gives
students their due privilege of being able to attain positions that
before employment, position postings specify qualifications in which are
required in order to gain employment.
Such posting often come with requirements that hopeful applicants should
attain some form of education. Higher
level positions require post-secondary studies.
This is the case for many professions such as nurses, doctors,
paralegals and lawyers amongst others.
These professions and other professions gain education through academia
by which it are stipulated by the government, specifically the Ministry of
Advanced Education. Most universities
have workshops in order to be able to convey that education has a value in
society and specifically that education helps students attain desired
employment. Universities also have what
are referred to as “employability stats” these are the demographics as it
pertains to the university that graduates were hired in specific jobs in the
community. For example, Times Higher
Education claims that “Nine Canadian universities appear in the Global
University Employability Ranking 2020, designed by HR consultancy Emerging.” The University of Alberta specifies on their
website that in 2020 they had an “employment rate” of 78% with an average
salary of $52,567 and in 2019 it was 85% with an average salary of $51,236 for
the Bachelor of Commerce. McGill on the
other hand claims a 78% “placement rate” in 2020 for their BCom Program, the
MBA Program, the MMA Programs. Concordia
specifies on their website that their “employment rates” for 2020 are as
follows; Supply Chain 100%, Economics
100%, Marketing 93%, HRM 90%, Management 88%, Accountancy 86%, Finance 86%, BTM
82% and Int. Business 71%. What is interesting to note here is that
having employability statistics is not really mandated by the government
however, programs that relate to business, Universities collect these
statistics to depict the employability of their students so that they can
“sell” the program to prospective students.
Business faculties collect this information because it is part of their
discipline to do so. Business involves
the collection of data from a specific population to create a representative
sample, in this case, the sample is the placement of students that graduate
from their programs. They collect this
data so that they can convey to the prospective students in an accountable way
the statistics which they can considered if they matriculate. The difference between the business faculty
and others is the fact that business is designed to “sell” and indeed they are
“selling” the program to the prospective students via the actual sample
statistics collected each year. What is
important to note here is that academia needs a check and balance. They should no longer be taking a “carefree”
attitude to the employability of their graduates. It seems that universities do not collect the
statistics for undergraduate programs unless they are business related however,
for graduate level programs such statistical data are collected. This is the case with law degrees and medical
degrees. For example, UBC Peter A. Allard School of Law claims that they have an
“employment success rate” of 95.74% in 2020 and in 2019 97.8%. Further, U of T claims that in 2020 there
were a total of 197 law graduates- the JD, however instead of expressing a
percentage to represent how many of these graduates attained employment, the
aforementioned university chooses to express the direct numerical value of 188 referring
to it as “post-graduate employment”. In
the class of 2019, there were 220 graduates and of these 205 ascertained
employment. The problem and issue of
contention is the fact that those with the least education are not given the
data they need to determine the probability of employability unless they are
potential business students. In short
what has been depicted herein is that the universities lack a standardized
method by which to express what are essentially employment attained after
graduation. To recap U of A and
Concordia refers to this as “employment rate,” while McGill, “placement rate,”
however, McGill’s is in Montreal which essentially is in Quebec which means the
legislation that are effected in that part of the country are different because
of civil law as opposed to common law used in other parts of Canada. Moving on, UBC calls this “employment success
rate,” and U of T refers to it as “post-graduate employment.” Now there is also differences in the
expression of values, some choose to express the “employment attained after
graduation” as a percentage others like U of T chooses to use direct numerical
values.
Considerations:
STEM PROGRAMS
are Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programs available in the
universities. Universities promote these
programs however there is a surplus of graduates who are unable to find
employment. According to the US Bureau
of Labour Statistics as it pertains to STEM jobs, “the academic sector is
generally oversupplied, while the government sector and private industry have
shortages in specific areas.” For
example, in the academic category, there is an “oversupply of Ph.D.’s vying for
tenure-track faculty positions in many disciplines (e.g., biomedical sciences,
physical sciences),” while in the “government-related job sector, certain STEM
disciplines have a shortage of positions at the Ph.D. level (e.g., materials
science engineering, nuclear engineering).”
The issue here is that these jobs are going overseas where cheaper
labour exists. Further, according to
Fair US, immigrant workers from foreign countries are attempting to qualify for
visas’. To qualify for a H-1B visa, these
foreigners have the STEM education in which employers in the USA higher them
with cheaper salaries rather than hiring domestically educated students with he
same STEM qualifications. Working more
cheaply than similarly experienced U.S. workers is just the cost of doing business
(Fair US 2020). Universities need to be placing
more emphasis on education that has a significant demand. For example, in Canada, there is a clear
shortage of RN’s. According to CBC “a
2009 report [by the] the Canadian Nurses Association predicted that Canada
could see a shortage of 60,000 full-time nurses by 2022.” This is a serious issue. The universities need to use statistical
information to reassure its students that there will be jobs available further,
they need to be able to use persuasive techniques to get students to
matriculate.
In the USA
there have been multiple lawsuits because graduates were unable to find
employment. For example according to
Financial Review, “Anna Alaburda [who] graduat[ed] from the Thomas Jefferson
School of Law in 2008, has yet to find a full-time, salaried job as a lawyer”
as of 2016. She is suing the university
for “US $125,000 in damages,” and is indebted “$170,000.” Another student, “Trina Thompson, 27, of the
Bronx, graduated from New York's Monroe College in April with a bachelor of
business administration degree” was unable to find employment according to
Curious Read and CNN. She is suing for “$72,000.” Clearly there is an issue in academia and a
check and balance needs to be created to protect the interest of the students. In the UK according to Daily Mail, Kristy
Meadows filed a lawsuit against Tufts University because she was unable to find
employment. She sued in 2019 for $1
million. Although not a case pertaining
to the program, it is a case which proves that a need for a check and balance exists. She claimed that she reported
university misconduct and faced severe retaliation which subsequently affected
her ability to find employment.
As suggested
previously there have been multiple lawsuits because graduates were unable to
ascertain employment, and these are essentially a manifestation of the fact of
the matter that there is no check and balance to the universities which stems
from the fact that universities lack a streamlined standard for collecting
statistical data for employment attained after graduation. Moreover, there is not an insurance program
in place to protect the students who upon matriculation are impressionable
because they are in a point in their life by which they are in a need. And such “need,” occurs from attempting to
avoid the negative aspects of Ericksons Stages of Development. By matriculating
into university, students are persuaded by the university via information
sessions and so forth, further some universities, especially when it pertains
to higher level degrees such as masters or doctorates use statistics to
reassure those that are matriculating.
Essentially, those matriculating perform a cost/ benefit analysis by
which matriculation seems to provide more benefits than the alternative
resulting from the foregoing process. Henceforth
the objective of university admission and recruitment are then to provide reassurance
via the stats and persuade students into matriculating. The role of the government then should be to
provide assurance in the form of optional insurance for the years these
students take their programs. This is
the accountable action by which the government can affirm that they have
provided the right social lever to students and graduates in a labor market
that is always changing and always demanding.
The insurance program should use statistics for employment attained
after graduation of each university in each semester. This value is then used to determine the
premium. And the premium is higher if
more students at the university attain employment for that year. And this can only occur if there is a
standardized method by which to collect such statistical data. Henceforth legislation pertaining to the
administering of post- secondary education needs to be amended to include this
process. The stakeholders for this matter are the
universities, the government and the students.
Options:
Option
1: Standardize a statistical data collection method for graduates.
This is a
very feasible option. By standardizing
the data collection pertaining to employability rate after graduation, programs
can be created to help students achieve success in the labour market. Collecting data will also be sustainable
because it will allow the government and the universities to have a clear
picture of what the actual demands of the labour market are. This is an accountable option, as using such
data is going to promote universities to push programs that society needs
rather than having students matriculate in programs that they may perhaps be
unable to find employment in. From a
security perspective, the collection of such information provides data which
can serve the universities and the governments well as mentioned.
Option
2: Provide an insurance program.
This is the least
feasible option. However, selecting this
option gives the students equity. By
providing an insurance program, students can rest assured that the time they
put into university is going to provide a benefit to their situation. This is the best option from a security stand
point, it keeps the universities in check and it helps them promote programs
that are actually in demand. By having
an insurance program, it is going to keep competition between universities as
they attempt for a lower premium.
Option
3: Mixture of option 1 and option
2.
This is option
is both less feasible than option 1 and option 2. However, selecting this option allows the
government to slowly implement an insurance program for university students,
essentially giving them equity. From a
security perspective, it is clear that when selecting this option, the
government and the universities can negotiate based on their microenvironments as
it pertains to the macroenvironment. This
option allows for the slow implementation of changes to administering post
secondary studies and that’s the sustainability here as more streamlined
solutions can be conjured. This option
admits that there is a problem that exists and works to fix it.
Option
4: Status quo.
This is the
most feasible option however; it continues to do a disservice to the
students. Selecting this option means
that universities will continue to collect data independently without a
standard. This option also means that
students will continue to face a great risk as they enter university. Such uncertainty can only be absolved through
an insurance program.
Recommendation:
Option three
is recommended.
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