FORGET THE BACHELORS, THE MASTERS ARE HERE. An advice to the ladies- Do not rely too much on the bachelors who cannot provide all your needs now the masters are in town. This advice however, is not just for the ladies, it is for everyone in pursuit of a bachelor, everyone who has got one and everyone who has decided to settle for one. The truth is that a bachelor’s might no longer suffix in today’s world. As the society evolves, it demands more from the academic qualifications of its members and the problem solving frame of mind that accompanies them. As the society continues to change, the way things are done continues to take more dynamic and complex dimensions, owing to the fact that the problems themselves have metamorphosed into different complex forms. Before now, holders of bachelor’s degrees in different fields have provided the society with the base of analytical and problem solving minds it needs to tackle its problems. But as time went on, this base of bachelors degree holders began to lax in their strength due to some underlying factors which have become more belligerent especially in the developing countries of the world. In these parts of the world, they have been reduced to job and not solutions seekers to the society’s problems. Worse still is the fact that a bachelor’s degree might not be very effective an arm for a job hunter whose desire is far from seeking solutions to societal problems, a job hunter who just wants to earn a living and care very little about the crux of the problems bedevilling the society and how to solve them. But the job owners most times raise the stacks higher. They too are now in search of critical and analytical minds to find solutions to problems that have besieged or are looming to besiege their establishments. With a flood of bachelor’s degree holders in the job market, one has to stand out from the crowd. Dr. BJC Anyanwu, a senior lecturer in the department of Mass Communication at Imo State University, Owerri, says a higher degree could give one the needed edge in the job market. He went on to explain that in an ever changing world, a bachelor’s degree can be likened to a Senior School Certificate not for the fact that it has reduced in its quality but for the fact that the society now demands more from academic qualifications and the empowerments that accompany them as one climbs the academic ladder. When all lenses are focused on job seeking and procurement, the picture painted of the imperativeness of a higher degree with regards to the edge it gives anyone who acquires it becomes more vivid. While a job hunter armed with a bachelor’s degree might want to dodge from proffering solutions to societal problems, dismissing the role as an exclusive for a certain category of people, he is oblivious of the fact that the job market is a large chunk of the society. And in this job market are job owners in search of critical thinkers who are most times products of higher degree programmes. Dr Anyanwu made an instance of how a higher degree gave one of his students an edge over her counterparts. “I tried persuading her to apply for a higher degree but she complained of lack of funds. I had to involve her parents who approved of my suggestion and today she has me to thank. Her higher degree placed her on a terrestrial above her counterparts. Now she has a well paid job in a bank and she also got a husband in the course of her duties but that is by the way” he said. According to Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst and professor of economics at Skidmore College, and Jennifer Ma, consultant to the College Board, in their 2007 report on Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individual and Society, there is a positive correlation between higher levels of education and higher earnings for all racial/ethnic groups and for both men and women. In their report, diagrams showed that in 2005, a typical full-time year-round worker earned twice as much as his counterpart with a four-year college degree in the United States. This lacuna in earnings between higher and lower degree holders was shown to be wider between doctorate degree holders and Bachelor’s degree holders. In third world countries, the lacuna is even wider especially in the public sector where academic certificates are highly revered. This will remain the norm as long as higher education is assumed to bequeath one with problem solving skills quintessential of 21st century policy makers and world changers. Why then settle for a bachelor’s degree when a master’s degree can offer more?
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 10:55:47 +0000
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