5 Assignment 06

Toniann German

Soc Ass. #6

This week’s readings related to one another in that they are discussing the relationship between work and education. “Raising the Floor Not just the Ceiling” discusses author Tressie Cottom rebutting against president Barack Obama’s thoughts that for-profit colleges will aid in making education more accessible to the minority population. In this article, Cottom explains that it is not allowing people the same opportunity to become educated, rather than allowing people the same opportunities to earn a wage. Just because someone goes to college does not grantee them a job or the same pay as some of today’s “white workers.” Because there is no federal job guarantee we see Obamas example of how low income kids who have the grades to go to great colleges refuse or settle for less. I believe this is because we are stuck in a world were a degree is required for better pay and yet we “still fall through the cracks of the American Dream.” (Cottom,2014) Cottom is arguing that we must make it fair for those who do not believe in attending college. The “solution that leads to a bigger problem” that Cottom was describing was making college more available by stating that college allows for better opportunity or better pay, when in reality people will be more in debt and unhappy that they had to attend college to work in a field where there is still an unfairness in wage and job opportunities for minorities.

Pual Fains article also backs up Cottom in that for- profit colleges do not truly have the students’ needs at heart. In the “Congressional report slams for-profit colleges” Author Paul Fain states that students who attend for profit colleges are failing. A two-year study showed that associate degree students have a 64% drop out rate. He states that there is in fact a connection from the dropout rates to the amount of money that is used on the student’s education. He argues that most of the money is going to the advertisements for the school rather than helping their students graduate. For profit colleges are supposed to be an alternative for nontraditional students such as day time working adults, however studies show that these colleges are more concerned with gaining money from enrolling students and profiting from their debt.

This connects to “Andrew Ross article High culture and hard labor” in that, for-profit colleges are using their resources to exploit their students rather than provide for them. In Ross article, he discusses how wealthy parts of Abu Dhabi and as well as Dubi are exploiting migrant workers due to their ethnicity and lack of education by having them creating luxury buildings under threat. Ross explains the fast pace construction from the workers on Saadiyat island have many concerned.  After interviewing some of the workers who had been promised decent pay and their recruitment fees paid in full from their employers Ross has discovered that what is written on paper is not in fact true. Most of the workers have had their passports taken away, their homes relocated and downgraded to labor camps, and have not been paid what they were promised. This is in fact occurring on some level here in the states were for profit colleges are not truly helping or providing for their students leaving them in debt and uneducated, there for leaving them open to desperation and unfair wage such as the workers in ross’s article.

It would be naïve to think that the developments in the Persian Gulf are not connected to the growth of for-profit colleges. In the U.S. Corporations and other business have no responsibility when considering the human rights of people who differ from their social economic class or outside their business sphere. This analysis begins with the laborers of Saadiyat Island, who are exploited by the kafala sponsorship system and the Tourism Development and Investment Corporation. This sector traps the migrant workers of South-Asia by taking their passports, giving them inadequate wages and living facilities in sub par detention camps (“High Culture Hard Labor,” Andrew Ross). This system has resulted in over thousands of death and Human Rights watch group has been isolated from these continuous occurrences. Funding these projects are global museum institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, the Louvre and others are being endorsed with capital revenue by private universities such as New York University (NYU). This is a prime example of how for profit colleges and universities are ran more like corporations by outsourcing cheap labor power for profits. The interest is their shareholders rather than the innovating educational growth for their pupils by preparing them as the next generation’s working class. Note that private higher education costs at least $100,000.00. The once American now global ideology is to attend university as a stepping stone to achieve a formidable career with benefits to support yourself and your family. However, this certificate in society is merely a ranking with no fulfilled promises whatsoever. The student indebted is similar to the migrant labor who is barely able to send wages back home to support their family. Tom Harkin and the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions reported on the profitable business of profit colleges. The statics revealed are shocking, the revenue and profit sharing for this before mentioned sector is 3.6 billion dollars/ 19.4 percent for profit distributions, 4.1 billion dollars/22.4 percent for marketing campaigns and a mere 3.2 billion dollars/17.7 percent for instruction that is 59.5 percent of profit for non- educational affairs which is more than half of the revenue and profit sharing (“Congressional Report Slams For-Profit Colleges,” Paul Fain). It’s fair to say that numbers do not lie, after seeing such an assessment it is an understatement to say that these profit educational institutions have mishandled their revenue for capital gains in lieu of not prioritizing the advancement of student’s education and future. Graduates are an insurmountable amount of debt and it’s a rat race to find a satisfactory job let alone a career to support one’s self, forget paying back a lifelong debt. So yes the connection in the Persian Gulf can be attributed to the growth of profit colleges but more so for the mistreatment of international laborers and students with below average means. Universities have the resources and the power to assure that all parties involved be uncompromised social and monetarily.

The more education one has the higher pay rate they’ll receive, and the result of lower education equates to a higher rate of unemployment. The more accessible education would dictate the lessening of unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics article surrounds itself around the same notion of the relation between education and work. It offers the unemployment rate ratios of annual earnings and their level of education. Those with a lower income had an education level of a High School diploma or less, made less than five hundred dollars a week. Oppose to those with a Ph.D. made over sixteen hundred weekly. A higher education level offers more than two times the additional money on weekly basis. The range of acquired education offers its own pros and cons; unfortunately having a higher education does not guarantee a higher paying job. All a higher education offers is a possibility or repaying incredibly high loans. None the less education does dictate a large gap in income.

The article Raising the floor, Not just the Ceiling offers insight on a trend of which higher education does not automatically secure employment correlated with the degree earned. Cottom argues his views on our administration, and the lack of effort implicated to assist consistency in rightful employment to those of higher education. The administration should advocate for job programs in hopes of stimulating higher education. There should be a guaranteed federal job security for those with higher education to obtain a predictably reasonable wage.

The article High Culture and Hard Labor, through example, offers perspective on the uneven playing field of the educated and none educated. In this case, the employer held their employee captivate and restricted their rights. The workers are viewed as mere specs of labor willing to do anything to fend for their families. Employees were housed in camps, their passports were taken, and they were given such minute wages.

The article Congressional report slams for-profit colleges, the insight of the underlying problematic results of obtaining a higher education; debt. This article argues the profits for private equity. The majority of profits obtained by Colleges are through high tuition.  Companies spend more of their revenue on marketing and profit sharing than proper educational methods. The increases in tuition implemented, satisfy company profit goals.

The lack of education has resulted in a form of exploitation of the minority. The form of education offers a sense of power and with this power many fall victim to vulnerability. Employers feed off their employee’s vulnerability and take advantage of their rights. Employment codes are constantly violated by the hands of employers. It’s easier for an employer to take advantage if their employer is uneducated because they are simply unaware of their rights and protective labor laws. These uneducated people are often sought out for mere intent of exploitation.

In relation to the articles between education and work, the message is clear the higher the education, the better opportunities one has to obtain a well-paying job. Therefore, you are less likely to lose your job. If you have the upper education with a stable job, the unemployment rates will be low. In the case of someone who has a lower education level the fewer opportunities, they have to be able to obtain a well-paying job. If they have a lower educational attainment and not able to keep your job. They will have to be part of the unemployment rate, which increases the level of unemployment of people with lower education. Higher education comes at a very expensive cost, and the security of obtaining a stable well-paying job at the is not always secure.
In the article “Raising the Floor, Not Just the Ceiling” by Tressie McMillan Cottom concentrates on the issue of the administration of President Obama, not focusing on the higher education system. We can see that higher education does not mean to have a secure job after college. Therefore, he suggests a guaranteed job at the of college will be the answer to unemployment. The cost of obtaining an education has skyrocketed, students want to attend college for a better job, yet they are finding themselves with tons of debt after college, and many don’t find employment a year after they graduate at least not employment in the field they graduate from. Also with the prices of college higher and higher students are having to settle for a community or a college program they can afford. They have to look away from elite well know college although they may have the grades and brains to be admitted yet they don’t have the means to paying for it. Students have have to settle for less when it comes to their education. Cottom argues that the Obama administration has not don’t anything for higher education and should to advocate as much as they can while Obama is still in office.
As the cost of higher education rises, people are taking advantage of by having to accept mistreatment of employees to earn a living. In the Saadiyat Island, workers who come from Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh are lied to and promised by the recruitment companies. They are taken away from their homes, to have to live in poor conditions, having to pay for their living arrangement and work long extend hours with no pay in sight for years to come. Languages play a significant barrier many can’t advocates for themselves, have no education, and their passport is hidden from them. The fact that they have no college degree and are desperate to have a job makes them be taken advantaged. The article on for-profit colleges states how the for-profit colleges are meant to be a way to students who can afford or attend community or state college have options. Many of their students do not graduate. They are concerned about having high enroll numbers and not high graduating numbers, the money they could put into ensuring their students graduate and obtain a job after; they use the money for advertising and marketing to attract new incoming students. Ironic how their primary goal is to attract student to enroll, yet they do not spend as much effort in securing a high graduation rate and obtain a job in their field after college.

The relationship between work and education for this week’s High Culture and Hard Labor by Andrew Ross and Raising the Floor, Not Just the Ceiling by Tressie McMillan Cotton are connecting the idea that in this day an age having a High School diploma does not take you as far as it used to. Now in order for a person to get a good job you need to have a college degree. But a college degree does not guarantee a job ones a person is out of college. Acquiring a college degree is not as easy any more because colleges are rising costs. Now low income students aim for lower and more affordable colleges instead of the elite colleges because of rising prices. Most students decide to attend college because they need a job, they are more interested in the job at the end of the college education than in the education the college has to offer. Unfortunately the job at the end is not a guarantee, because many students finish college an it takes them too long to be able to find a job in the field the studied.
As this crises between education work many corporations are taking advantage of people how don’t have a college degree because this guarantees them cheaper labor. These is the case of the Kafala sponsorship programs of different regions of Abu Dhabi and Dubai many people are being exploited. They promise people from India,Pakistan,Nepal,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka good jobs. The recruitment company promised standard labor comps and a good pay. When workers arrived realized that those were only promises and many of those workers were owed a lot of money but worse of all those employers kept the workers passports and those workers could not return home.
If we ask those workers the price they had to pay for those cultural institutions being erected on Saadiyat’s Island they would say is not worth’s the risk of them not being able to see there families and not being able to live a decent life.
Unfortunately the exploitation of workers doesn’t only happen in those far regions. It also happens in the U.S. on a daily basis. If a person is uneducated it is easier for an employer to take advantage of them because it is less likely that person is aware of the labor laws and of there rights as an employee. The employer tends to look for people who did not go to college and have a lower level education because they are easy to exploit.

In relation to the articles we read about the relationship between work and education, it can be argued that one’s ability to earn higher wages can be sought through one’s attainment of higher levels in education. It can also be said that a person who obtains higher form of education are less likely to fall into unemployment. We tend to see that higher forms of education attract higher salaries to those who can complete them. People normally enroll into higher education systems in order to obtain good paying jobs and earn decent living salaries. While higher education can equate to decent paying jobs, the guarantee is not always the case.

In our other reading by Cottom, we tend to see that higher education does not necessarily secure employment of a salary which may associate with the degree earned. The author argues that our administration has not done enough to assist obtain employment to those who earn their level of higher education. In fact, in the Fain article, those who have received their degrees come out of colleges more in debt. The Fain article argues that for profit colleges are much more interested in gaining profit from students than anything else. Cotom continues to argue that colleges along with our administration should guarantee federal job security for those who obtain their college degrees in order to obtain a livable wage. Also, Cottom continues to suggest that the current administration should speak to advocating for massive job programing in order to simulate higher education rather than vice versa. It is a concept he believes will balance the obtainment of education and give graduates the ability to secure employment with livable wage.

In the Sadduyat Island piece, we tend to see a disparity between what is stated in the agreement and construction of these educational institutions to the workers and what is actually being done. These high renowned institutions are not valuing the promises made to their workers, which they bring from all over the world and provided them the minimum provisions. Low wages, under par living conditions and even unsafe work environments are the reality of the workers of these institutions while these industries thrive in the profits of the worker sacrifice. We can connect this piece to the for-profit colleges of the U.S. due to the simple fact that these institutions promise for a better brighter future without providing in the long run. It can be argued that both the for profit colleges and the Sadduyat Island construction are profiting at the expense of building promises and hopes but not securing the individuals who they propose to give a successful future and career.

The relationship between work and education in this week’s reading is the less education the higher the unemployment rate and the more education one earn the higher the pay rate. so, the more education you receive the more money you make and the less the unemployment rate. The article on the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the unemployment percentages and earnings of people with different degrees and those who have no education at all. it also shows that people who have less than a high school diploma and less makes four hundred and ninety-three dollars a week and the highest level you can achieve is a doctoral degree is one thousand six hundred and twenty-three dollars. There is a huge cap between those who acquire a degree from those who do not.  But even though you get a good education there is no guarantee that you will receive a great job.

The NY times article shows that people and resource are being exploited due to the lack of education and the fact that they a minority who are trying to find work to take care of their family.  It mentions that workers are housed in camps and their passport are being taken away and they are working for less than they are being promised. The employment codes are being violated and workers are dying at the hands of these employees just to put up big beautiful buildings and museums.  They are losing their lives, not being paid, their pay being taken away ,they are scraping by to make ends meet and their families are suffering just so that these institutions can be erected in saadiyat island.in some cases they are working illegally to repay their recruitment debts.

According to the article on USAtoday website  on for-profit colleges it states that there is a 64% drop out rate at for-profit colleges and they spend most of their money on non-educational things like marketing and advertisements. So, many students who attend these colleges wont graduate and most of the money they acquire is spent on getting people to come to their colleges. These for- profit colleges are said to be alternatives to community or state colleges and might not be suitable for non-traditional students. The developments in the Persian Gulf to growth of for profits colleges can be connected in the united states to do it states that they boycotted the Guggenheim so now they are going cherry picking for globalization menu.

This week’s readings all showcase a correlation between education and work. The Employment Projections for 2015 show that unemployment rates are highest among those with less education and the rates drop as the level of education rises (www.bls.gov). Articles in Slate and USA Today share a somewhat anti-for-profit colleges rhetoric, as this education does not guarantee work for graduates.  Finally, The New York Times reports cultural and educational institutions that are being built by those with little to no education via exploitation.

In “Raising the Floor, Not Just the Ceiling”, Tressie Cottom disagrees with the president that for-profit colleges help expand educational access to populations who come from minority backgrounds (Cottom, 2014).  She finds that giving more people the opportunity to get higher educations is not the best solution for ensuring all Americans are earning a living wage.  As an alternative, Cottom suggests that a federal job guarantee is necessary (Cottom, 2014).  By raising the minimum wage, indiviuals as well as whole societies, gain economic security (Cottom, 2014).  Additionally, not everyone actually wants to attend college, or do the work required at the jobs one gets with a degree, and should not have to go to and pay for college just to ensure financial security (Cottom, 2014).

In his summary of a report on a two-year investigation of for-profit colleges, “Congressional Report Slams For-Profit Colleges”, Paul Fain explains that for-profit colleges are meant to be alternatives to community or state colleges that may not be suitable options for some non-traditional students, such as working adults (Fain, p.3).  But he points out how a large percentage of students do not graduate from these schools, yet a large amount of their resources are being spent on things besides education (Fain, p.1).  According to this report, for-profit schools are more concerned with enrollment rates and collecting tuition than in actually ensuring their students graduate and go on to have successful careers.

To further highlight the correlation between education and work, Andrew Ross reports on the phenomenon of kafala sponsorship programs, in which wealthy regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are hiring and exploiting migrant labors from nearby countries to construct of their latest luxury buildings (Ross, p.1).  One such example is Saadiyat Island, where there are villages for the workers to reside and policies in place that are supposed to ensure the workers are treated as well as paid fairly (Ross, p.2).  But Ross uncovers the exploitation of workers on Saadiyat Island as well, who are not being paid as promised, having their wages garnished, and their passports taken away (Ross, p.2).  This horrific exploitation of uneducated citizens living in poverty does not only take place in these far-away regions.  It also happens on a daily basis in the U.S. In order to promise a future that does not involve hard labor at low pay and dangerous conditions, for-profit colleges are on the rise.  They recruit individuals with lower levels of education from low-income backgrounds who are just the people that could be susceptible to being exploited for manual labor.  Unfortunately, according to the congressional report, many of these students will not graduate, possibly leaving them vulnerable to exploitation anyway.

Due Sunday, October 23rd, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase (which I encourage you to do) make sure to include the proper citation.

Explain the relationship between education and work that is elaborated upon in the articles we read for this week. At what price are cultural institutions being erected on Saadiyat Island? Should we connect these developments in the Persian Gulf to the growth of for-profit colleges in the U.S.?