Question: When we are attempting to set all other things being equal except for a college degree, what is the stereotypical example of the other side (that does not have the college degree), and are there other reasons why that person may be doing poorly?
As an example, here are several potential situations running through my head:
Option 1:
Person A is 23 years old and has a highschool degree and no employment experience.
Person B is 23 years old and has a college degree and no employment experience.
Potential Employment Downside: In this case, Person A has a large resume gap.
Option 2:
Person A is 23 years old and has highschool degree and four years of employment at the same minimum wage job.
Person B is 23 years old and has a college degree and no employment experience.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A has received no promotions or raises during this time, which may show a lack of ambition/quality, although they would probably have a good chance of finding another minimum wage job. (But of course, that would keep their pay down)
Option 3:
Person A is 23 years old, has roughly four years of college, but for whatever reason, no degree (perhaps they switched schools, or some courses didn’t transfer, or the person failed a few times.) and has no employment history.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A seems to have less ability to follow through on a task then person B.
Option 4:
Person A is 19 years old, has a highschool degree and has no employment history.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A is younger than Person B, and so is less likely to have a record of doing things independently.
Option 5:
Person A is 23 years old, has a highschool degree and has an employment history of four years and beginning at minimum wage and getting promoted to Assistant Manager at some place or another.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Not really as clear, unless the degree was field relevant. (I.e. A computer science degree in a computer science job) I’d be pretty tempted to weight these equally if it was an off topic degree (An english degree in a computer science job)
Of these, I think Option 5 meshes well with my workplaces own hiring policy: I’m not in HR, but our policy manual does say that certain types of degrees are counted as equivalent to work experience of a certain type for certain positions.
But of people with no degrees who are looking for work, I don’t think most of them are in that fifth group, which is why I think they might have separate reasons to be thought of poorly.
That being said, there may be a way to adjust for this that I’m just not thinking of or that I missed on review. Thoughts?
Question: When we are attempting to set all other things being equal except for a college degree, what is the stereotypical example of the other side (that does not have the college degree), and are there other reasons why that person may be doing poorly?
As an example, here are several potential situations running through my head:
Option 1:
Person A is 23 years old and has a highschool degree and no employment experience.
Person B is 23 years old and has a college degree and no employment experience.
Potential Employment Downside: In this case, Person A has a large resume gap.
Option 2:
Person A is 23 years old and has highschool degree and four years of employment at the same minimum wage job.
Person B is 23 years old and has a college degree and no employment experience.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A has received no promotions or raises during this time, which may show a lack of ambition/quality, although they would probably have a good chance of finding another minimum wage job. (But of course, that would keep their pay down)
Option 3:
Person A is 23 years old, has roughly four years of college, but for whatever reason, no degree (perhaps they switched schools, or some courses didn’t transfer, or the person failed a few times.) and has no employment history.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A seems to have less ability to follow through on a task then person B.
Option 4:
Person A is 19 years old, has a highschool degree and has no employment history.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Person A is younger than Person B, and so is less likely to have a record of doing things independently.
Option 5:
Person A is 23 years old, has a highschool degree and has an employment history of four years and beginning at minimum wage and getting promoted to Assistant Manager at some place or another.
Person B is 23 years old, has a college degree and has no employment history.
Potential Employment Downside: Not really as clear, unless the degree was field relevant. (I.e. A computer science degree in a computer science job) I’d be pretty tempted to weight these equally if it was an off topic degree (An english degree in a computer science job)
Of these, I think Option 5 meshes well with my workplaces own hiring policy: I’m not in HR, but our policy manual does say that certain types of degrees are counted as equivalent to work experience of a certain type for certain positions.
But of people with no degrees who are looking for work, I don’t think most of them are in that fifth group, which is why I think they might have separate reasons to be thought of poorly.
That being said, there may be a way to adjust for this that I’m just not thinking of or that I missed on review. Thoughts?