The U.S is at a Crossroads: Are We Too Focused on the Economics of Education at the Peril of an Educated Citizenry ?

The United States is facing an educational and knowledge crisis and the decisions our leaders as well as the citizens of the country make will determine its direction and the successful future of its society. This might sound like a dramatic statement to simply catch a person’s attention…but if you look at what is happening in our society through a social, political, cultural, or economics lens, you will begin to understand what this crisis is and why the country is now at a crossroads.

First of all, it will be appropriate to elaborate on what is meant by the economics of education and an educated citizenry to help understand why we are now at a crossroads. The economics of education is a view, both individually and societally, that we make educational decisions solely on what the economic benefits is to us. Quite simply put, “What academic program degree will make me more money?”. But, if speaking in purely educational policy terms for the entire society, we would ask, “What are the most lucrative academic programming degrees for society’s members at large?”. Is obtaining an education only about seeking to fill the top paying jobs companies have to offer? Is there value in educating individuals in other academic areas and career fields that may not offer as much earning potential but still provide a stronger foundation of understanding concepts and complex societal issues?

A society must take a deeper, broader view of what it needs for its citizens to continue to learn, grow, and advance in all areas of society within a capitalist, democratic, representative republic. Based on the micro and macro level perspectives, there emerges some very real concerns between the focus of simply educating individuals for particular jobs with the sole purpose of earning more money compared to educating citizens to earn a higher income but also educating them to be knowledgeable, active participants in a democratic society. The later of which helps ensure an educated citizenry which makes informed, responsible decisions in support of continuing a social, civic-engaged society. 

Education must generate long-term value of individuals for its society over and above its short and long-term costs. The costs of a quality education are extremely high and should be calculated by including all of the following considerations: the tuition and interest being paid on educational loans; the time; effort; and foregone wages while in school; and finally, the additional time and experience required to generate expected wages from the position which one was educated as these benefits will not likely be immediate. The benefits should be most certainly economic in nature, both to the individual and to society in terms of higher productivity, revenue, wages, taxes, etc. However, society will likely invest a considerable amount into educating its workforce, therefore it needs to see a return on investment from these individuals that demonstrates knowledge and understanding of its society and the importance of their individual contributions to supporting continuation of this society. This is what is referred to as the education of a country's citizenry.

Focusing on the economics of education for citizens to make more money is not really the difficult part in understanding the value and importance in the higher education equation, possibly with the exception of how to pay for this education which has been and continues to be a major issue. What is being referred too here is understanding the educational needs for highly skilled workers in fields that are in demand, providing economic opportunity for individuals along with educating critically-thinking, responsible, and civic-minded citizens. Education must accomplish more for its citizens than just providing the skills that are in demand to earn high wages. 

A democratic, capitalist society is made up and relies upon the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences of its collective citizens. Therefore, the society relies on its citizens to not only be informed, but make informed, independent decisions that are well-thought out backed up by researched, factual information which is vetted effectively and thoroughly. Just because we have been presented with or have access to information and knowledge, does not mean that this information is accurate or truthful or that we will even understand what it is telling us, thus making good decisions even if the information is accurate and vetted appropriately. Pay particular attention to this paragraph for really understanding the purpose of this article.

For example, based on a Pew Research Social Media Update Study for 2016, the researchers looked at individuals in U.S. society and, how on average, they have established on-line social media accounts and make use of these accounts for sources of news and information. Many have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media accounts. that they engage with for hours on a daily basis. Many individuals work, conduct business, job search, shop, communicate, share, educate, entertain, and stay informed online. Essentially, they are living in an online world now. Because of this new way of life, much of their information and knowledge is from online sources such as online publications, organization websites, and social media accounts. 

However, not all these online sources of information provide information to the public to inform and educate people. Some are provided to influence individuals in any way they can for the source’s own gain, profit, and benefit. Self-promotion or promotion of products, services, or ideology has always been present in society but it has never been easier to spread ideas and disinformation that it is today. For example, a company or companies fund research studies concerning an issue and achieve the results which benefit their business and industry, but the results basically refute what a majority of people and a high percentage of experts believe is true about the issue is a major concern if it is not based on strong evidence that has been verified and confirmed through repeated duplication of the research studies such as with the topic in the following article: [The Guardian. These are the best arguments from the 3% of climate scientist 'skeptics.' Really.]. What is even more problematic is the promotion of the results of this study through digital information sharing that goes out to millions of people as it will harm the unsuspecting consumer of the information and anyone who may be impacted by decisions made based on the research study results or propaganda to influence such as the case recently in the U.S.

As an example, the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election was essentially under attack by a foreign government and operatives of the Russian government to sow doubt, distrust, displeasure, and disdain in some voters for the country’s political parties and system, the media, and individuals who did not view particular political issues the same way as the more mainstream individual and as well as how the media seems to portray the issues. According to a September 7, 2017 New York Times article, this campaign was conducted by utilizing social media websites such as Facebook that supported fake accounts to spread misinformation and outright lies about different politicians, organizations, and their policies.

Essentially, foreign and domestic actors weaponized this information by utilizing the dissemination and sharing technology tools provided by the social and traditional media web sites by individuals and news outlets to spread false news articles, information, and foreign propaganda, [Media Matters. How Matt Drudge became the pipeline for Russian propaganda.] whether knowingly or unknowing throughtout the web. This is a serious probelm since the Pew Research Study from 2016 on Social Media use indicates that almost 80% of online users and close to 70% of all U.S. citizens have a Facebook account and a large percentage of these individuals are using these sites for their news fix. The most pressing concern is not that the foreign government and its operatives attempted to influence voters, which is a big problem in and of itself. The major issue is that the online actors actually may have persuaded, dissuaded, or caused pause for concern by some of the many voters who troll social media and other websites for news to vote a certain way through the use of their disinformation campaign based on divisive, false, misleading information on important topics to voters.

The long-term concern as it relates to an educated citizenry is how we as responsible citizens make significant decisions based on inaccurate information from unreliable, hostile sources on important topics. Because of this relatively new phenonomen in our on-line society, we need to ensure that its citizens are able to vet information effectively and arm ourselves with ways to discriminate fact from fiction, identifying misleading or false ads, articles, and information from unreliable domestic and foreign actors in making the best possible decision, even calling out information that is false, misleading, and deceptive to potentially damage individuals, organizations, and society. In other words, an educated, involved, civically-responsible citizenry. 

Education must be focused on first providing the majority of its citizens a basic education that allows them to function effectively. Secondly, education must seek to enhance a person’s ability to earn a decent wage with the potential to move up the career ladder for building a better life or what has been previously referred to as the economics of education. Finally, a free nation relies on the educational opportunities it provides to its citizens to include the macro benefit of educating its citizens in developing skills for being civically involved and socially aware. In today's digital information world, these benefits must now be present in the basic education we offer all our citizens. An ill-informed citizenry or a society with a large portion of its society viewed as challenged in terms of digital fluency is fertile soil for perpetrators of disinformation campaigns.

This requires the ability to access, obtain, evaluate, and utilize both sources of information and the information the sources are disseminating to the general public compared to those sources that are putting out false information and spreading lies to influence people who are ultimately consuming information from these unreliable sources. This requires more than just educating people for jobs in how to use technology in demonstrating digital fluency, but educating them in researching information and evaluating both the primary and secondary sources of information (the real source behind the source) as well as the information itself in order to make more informed decisions which reflects actual digital literacy, making informed decisions using responsible research techniques; conducting information analysis; and sharing of information techniques. For example, would it be responsible to share negative information about someone freely shared to you by another even without vetting the information and its source?

As previously stated, the costs of a quality education are high for both individuals and society, but the costs of poor quality education or receiving an informal education through trolling organization websites, social media, or articles provided by unreliable sources are higher.  However, it seems like when secondary and higher education attempt to even address the idea of educating for a knowledge, researched-based society that can demonstrate the discriminate ability that is over and above training for skills to do a job, that they themselves and their efforts come under attack from different individuals and organizations with alterior motives because the research does not support their narrative. It seems we have become a society more about attacking the other side of the argument from our own based on perceived flaws with the research rather making arguments for their viewpoint backed by data from scientific research studies. Society, with the help of higher education, must and can do better.