Our nation's infrastructure is built and maintained by trades professions. College for all is a fallacy. Infatuation with college preparatory courses and high school statistics of (less than 50% of) college bound students and scholarships praises academic achievement while silently discounting trades. God gave each of us different talents. Educators should guide students to master their talents. For some of us, our abilities are academically oriented. For others, not so. Each path during and after high school should prepare students with the skills to thrive in their chosen field without labels.
Start by untangling the BLS database for trades so it reports piece rate and commision pay more accuately- only using salaried data is very limiting. If I see as a high schooler that an autobody tech makes $50k but in reality they often make well over 6 figures, I may pass it by as a profession. This would also help them secure loans and mortgages better since banks don’t often understand these types of paybands.
If physics is just philosophy without engineers, then engineering is just art without the tradesmen and tradeswomen to build it.
I totally agree. My son will be 25 in April. He joined the Pipefitters' union out of high school. He became a journeyman last July and this December he was promoted to foreman. In 2024 he earned over $150,000. He has a great skill and no college debt. There's nothing wrong with working in the trades!
This statement is TRUTH! The world tends to forget that it takes ALL levels of workers to keep the world turning! My oldest son is taking the trade (welding) route as we speak, and he is just one of many youth I’ve had the chance to connect to the trades. mikeroweWORKS Foundation - I would love to discuss ways to help your organization inspire youth to consider the trades!
Absolutely agree! As someone who started out my business life as an apprentice in Australia and just retired as a Director of Process Improvement at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office I know it's possible grow and excel in business from a very practical no-debt start.
Currently trying to work on that as an apprenticeship navigator here in Washington and keeping the 1st year apprentices in the trade.
Absolutely - there was a whole generation of folks who missed out. I wish we would bring back vocational schools again.
Advanced Analytics Equipment Health Team Lead
6 天前This is where FAME USA (https://fame-usa.com/) program is bridging the gap for several major corporations.To my understanding it has been used by Toyota for many years. It Partners student, schools and industry to learn trade skills.