An Inward Slope

Let’s face it. The economy sucks right now, and jobs are getting more and more difficult to obtain, unless you are fortunate enough to have a degree in nursing, accounting, business, or of course, the omni-secure law and medical fields. For women with more subjective areas of expertise or education – Art, Political Science, English (without the teaching certification) History, etc. Such degrees, without further education (which is accompanied by more student loan debt) can often be virtually useless, especially in this area, and in this type of crappy economy.

Society, as well as the college business world – and make no mistake, colleges and universities are businesses – would like us to believe that a college degree is a crucial, and that those without them are destined to struggle through life working in a 19^th century-esque factory as a seamstress, pricking your fingers like a diabetic, sweating your way into premature aging, never getting vacation time, and dying at the age of 45 because you’ve worked yourself to death. However, in many cases, it is the opposite. Those that went out and learned a trade, or went to vocational school for plumbing or refrigerator repair, are now making much more than those of us with college degrees that had to settle for being a bank teller or a bartender. These low-on-the-totem-pole positions often still require some education, or at least several years of work experience (try getting a bartender position at a decent club or restaurant without any prior experience). Meanwhile, plumbers can make at least $40/hr. Even high paying administrative support positions, which are traditionally filled by women (because most men have anxiety attacks when they have to do more than one thing at a time) are getting more and more difficult to obtain, even with some education and experience. Even then, most of them do not pay more than $10/hour. More often than not, employers are looking for people that are actually over-qualified. So how do women get ahead, when for every position they pursue, there are at least 30 other people in line, with a high probability in this plummeting economy, that over half of them look much better on paper? That, coupled with the fact that according to the most recent U.S. Census, women are making only 74% of what men do. According to the same statistics, the higher up the ladder a position is, the less women make than men, comparatively speaking. At the professional level, women make only 60% of what men do, and are hired less frequently to fill senior level corporate positions as well as those that require a Master’s degree or more.