Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
My point was that because academia focuses on the professional services in a world where academia is considered the preferred pathway, we have a reduction in attention to manufacturing and trades. This problem has kept a lot of potential talent out of the middle-tier trades jobs, as well as misplacing many more into the service sector than needed.

There are tons of jobs in trades and manufacturing, but not that many qualified people move into them because the academic system shuns them and virtually all potential talent enters academia. This creates a scenario where mechanics, welders, and carpenters are those who didn't go to college, but because everybody tries to go to college, those trades are underrepresented. What we need is a higher-learning system that includes trades. Countries like Germany have this; US does not
Oh, right, I completely agree with all of this except the conclusion.

Post secondary schooling for trades and manufacturing is probably not a good idea. There is still a fair amount of manual and/or low skill labor to be done on the job, and so this is a great environment for apprenticeship. Also these industries more quite rapidly, and academia isn't very well suited to rapid shifts. On the job training allows the worker to cruise along with the industry with no risk of being obsolete after dedicating X years to studying for entering said industry.

I do think you have the right idea, I just don't know that your solution is correct. A big reason respect for these jobs has plummeted is due to the jobs leaving. Now if you're union, it's hard to get shifts. People saw their blue collar neighbors go from a steady pay-check they could support a family on and be proud of, to hanging at the local union watering hole since there's no work. The down trodden tradesman is what a lot of parents were seeing or were when raising what are now the 15-35 year olds. They were witnessing the decline of manufacturing and overreacted by pushing their kids to follow the path to a cubicle.

Also, in Germany, and much of the rest of the western world (possibly in the east too, but I really have no clue), you start to head on a path to a trade in secondary school. Pretty much any field your thinking of which carries a BAS is an engineer position. For example, a four year degree in welding sets you up to be a welding engineer. It's still blue collar I guess, but you're not a tradesman, you're most certainly an engineer.