The Rise and Rise of the Cognitive Elite

hessian writes "As technology advances, the rewards to cleverness increase. Computers have hugely increased the availability of information, raising the demand for those sharp enough to make sense of it. In 1991 the average wage for a male American worker with a bachelor's degree was 2.5 times that of a high-school drop-out; now the ratio is 3. Cognitive skills are at a premium, and they are unevenly distributed."

Comments

Class Difference

[dintech]

In 1991 the average wage for a male American worker with a bachelor's degree was 2.5 times that of a high-school drop-out; now the ratio is 3.

Isn't this more an indiciation of a widening income gap between working class and middle class backgrounds? There are a lot of not-so-smart people with degrees.

Re:Class Difference

[olsmeister]

It may not get you the job, but it will get you interviews and consideration, which gives you a leg up on people that lack similar 'papers and documents.' Don't underestimate how important getting your foot in the door is. If you're lacking a degree, it's much more difficult to get people to take you seriously.

Re:Class Difference

[Ephemeriis]

In 1991 the average wage for a male American worker with a bachelor's degree was 2.5 times that of a high-school drop-out; now the ratio is 3.

Isn't this more an indiciation of a widening income gap between working class and middle class backgrounds? There are a lot of not-so-smart people with degrees.

It isn't so much a widening gap between working and middle-class...

Once upon a time, skilled labor was the middle class. But the middle class is slowly disappearing. We're outsourcing and offshoring everything we can. All the skilled labor jobs are going overseas.

Here in the US we've basically got unskilled labor, and management.

And that gap is widening. We replace more and more labors with machinery. We make individuals more productive with technology. We offshore what we can.

And the laborers become less and less skilled, and more easily replaced. So they can be paid less.

And the managers we actually have left here in the US are those that are harder to replace. So they must be paid more.

And eventually we have just the upper and lower classes.

Re:Class Difference

[tverbeek]

I strongly suspect that the gap is widening not because "smart" people are more in demand, but because "not so smart" people are becoming less in demand.

Take one economy. Remove the manufacturing jobs. Watch as the percentage of jobs held by people with college degrees goes up, and the wages on the rest of them go down due to the oversupply of people without.

Re:Class Difference

[ArcherB]

It's not the degree that shows competency. It's the drive required to get the degree that tells you what you need to know about a potential employee. For example, a high school drop out is probably not a high school drop out because he's stupid. He's a high school drop out because he is lazy, has a problem with authority, can't/won't follow rules or some other issue that prevented him from finishing high school. (Yes, I understand that there are special circumstances that force some people to drop out of high school that are beyond the person's control; like a sick mother or something.)

On the other hand, take your typical liberal arts graduate. Sure, they may not have learned how to perform advanced math on hex numbers while in college, but they have shown that they are willing to learn new ideas, do the hard work, follow the rules, see a task through to completion and generally put up with the bullshit that you have to put up with in order to get the degree.

It's not the degree itself that matters. It is what getting the degree says about the person who got it.

Re:Class Difference

[ArcherB]

On Slashdot we don't like to talk about class. We'd rather just pretend it doesn't exist, it makes ineffectually complaining about the government while continuing to support the status quo easier.

Srsly though, not a troll. Come on guys.

Earning a degree has nothing to do with class. Anyone can get into college. Can't afford it? Join the military, get loans, scholarship or work three jobs while going to school. I served two years in the US Army, took out loans and worked two jobs to put myself and my wife through college. I have a bachelors and my wife earned her masters. We were both raised by single parents who worked multiple jobs to put food on the table. Neither of our parents paid for our education.

Of course, it helps to have mommy and daddy pay your way so you don't even have to hold a job while in school. I knew some of these people, and frankly, I got much more out of college than they did. Sure, they may have better stories to tell as they were available for every kegger on campus. But I learned how to work to midnight on the far side of town, complete my assignments and still make my 8:00am class.

Re:Class Difference

[quetwo]

But the big problem with HR departments is all the unqualified people who do apply for a job.

I just filled a position for a telecom tech. Our simple requirements were that they had to have at least 5 years experience with voice, 1 year of data, and not a convicted felon.

I got > 300 resumes. I think it was closer to 400 actually. But what it all boils down to is, when you get me your resume, you have 30 seconds to impress me -- for it go to into the "I'll look at this one more closely" pile. Not having a college degree makes you much less impressive when I have a stack of 200 people who do. Unless there is something else extremely impressive about you, you won't get a second look.

For me, a person who has finished college tends to be a much more rounded individual. Sure, the guy who dropped out of high-school may be the brightest guy on the block, but I don't know that, and I don't have the time to find out. Espically in my field, education is very important (not just higher learning, but simply learning new technologies), and if you don't seem willing to even learn anything past the basics, it makes you a much less qualified applicant.

Re:Class Difference

[LordNacho]

I don't have the time to find out

Not having a college degree makes you much less impressive when I have a stack of 200 people who do.

Basically, you are unwilling to do the hard work required to build an effective team. Instead, you take the easy path and assume that an institutional designation of qualified is the same as the correct qualifications for your company. You are part of the problem.

That's a bit harsh. How's he meant to sift through hundreds, potentially thousands of resumes? I remember putting up an ad for a job which got us 3000 CVs in our inbox, most of them irrelevant.

True story: a mate of mine was working at a firm that was looking to expand. Boss comes in, ask the secretary what she's up to.
Secretary: "Sorting through this big pile of CVs!"
Boss takes half the pile, throws it in the trash.
Secretary: "Why'd you do that?"
Boss: "We don't hire unlucky people!"

You'll get dinged for a lot less than not having a qualification.

Changing which way?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is an alternative interpretation of the data:

In 1991, the average American with a bachelor's degree earned 25% (?) of what the top 1% earned. Today, the fraction is 7% (?). Cognitive skills are no longer valued as much as they were.

Re:The More Young College Grads I Meet...

[oodaloop]

Look, all I want is an honest week's pay for an honest day's work. Is that so much to ask?

Re:The More Young College Grads I Meet...

[dkleinsc]

As one of those Kids These Days: When I was in the "paying some dues" stage of my career, I didn't mind putting in a full day's work. I did mind putting in 14-18 hours a day 7 days a week for pay that amounted to about $7.50 an hour for months on end. Call me unreasonable if you like.

Get back to work kid!

[Anonymous Coward]

...the more I look to hire high school drop-outs and illegal immigrants.

Seriously, don't Kids These Days want to put in a full day's work and pay some dues any more?

You tell'em! These whipper snappers think that they can go to school, party, come out with a degree and automatically get a decent paying job!

Back in my day, we didn't have all this Globalisation! All we had to do is compete with Japan and Germany and they cheated with their efficiency and better quality - I tell you!

Now, we have these trading "partners" like China where we can get the labor done for a fraction of the price! And I tell you me, it's been helping ALL of us! Just look how our standard of living has increased! Why the cheap products available in the China Outlet Store (Walmart) have never been cheaper!

Can't compete with China or India?! Well something wrong with you, kid! In my day, we had to compete with those damn cheap Southerners - you know, that cheap labor in the Carolinas, Georgia and other Southern States. They were paid a whole 1/4 less and we did it! So can you. So what that a Chinese man makes less than a tenth of what you do! You just need to be 10 times more productive!

Job went to India!?! Well, you just need to learn more skills and get them up to date and be 10 times more valuable! All you got to do it work harder - just like the CEOs! Why they busted their ass to have their Father get them into Harvard! An then they had to network constantly at keggers so that they can make the contacts to get those CEO jobs when they get out! It's hard for them to ship jobs overseas so that they can ruin a company and then get their 100 million dollar bonus!

I tell ya! Kids these days!

Now, get back to work and fund my Social Security and Medicare! I have to go to the doctor and then the Cadillac dealer because there's a new model and it'll look good in my Second home in Florida!

Re:CYA Culture

[russotto]

"Hi. I am a nuclear physicist with a specialty in cutting edge cold fusion."
"That's nice. Why are you applying for a Javascript coding job?"

Heh. Because no one uses Cold Fusion anymore.