A Question on the Value of Talent

As the Talent Dividend tour continues, one of the questions we get at every stop is, "With so many lay-offs occurring. why should we be focused on increasing our number of college graduates?" 

Some facts in the current Newsweek bolster the answer we always give.  Newsweek reports, the unemployment rate for those over 25 with a college degree was 4.3 percent -- half the national rate, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics.  For those college-educated and white, the number was 2.3 percent.  For anyone without a high-school diploma, the rate was 13.3 percent.  "Minorities and the less educated have always suffered more during downturns, but the disparity has become more stark."

The article also points out that the unemployment rate for men is higher than for women, primarily because the sectors where their jobs are particularly concentrated -- construction, manufacturing, industry -- are shedding employees.  Note, too, that these are sectors where advanced degrees are not required for many of the jobs.

While this is nothing to celebrate, particularly the hideous differences between whites and minorities, it does reinforce the value of a college-educated population, the case we continue to make on the Talent Dividend tour.  Cities with more college-educated people are more successful (as measured by per capita income) and are in better position to bounce back.

  

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