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Local Economic ContextIn the current employment environment where high school
credentials or the GED are required for most work, undereducated adults tend to
receive lower wages than high school graduates do and are often blocked from
advancement opportunities unless they increase their educational credentials.
The desire for better paying employment is an often-cited impetus for
further education. Many study
respondents were employed at minimum wage jobs and struggled financially, even
in families with two or more wage earners.
In areas where jobs are scarce, undereducated adults are less likely to
see further education as a possible investment.
Because conditions of poverty severely stress monetary and time
resources, many respondents felt they had to choose between adult education
programs and paid employment and unpaid work needed for daily survival.
Of necessity, the choice typically favored work obligations and the often
meager income they provided over education programs.
Most respondents didn’t have the luxury of postponing--even
temporarily--paid employment to devote themselves exclusively to educational
goals. Study participants made adult education decisions based on
a rational assessment of the relative value of further education given their
local economic context. In areas where few
jobs were available, the incentive to attend adult education classes was
diminished. One respondent argued: There’s never no work around here. What are you goin’ to do if you had your GED? Where are you going to work? Flip hamburgers? Local economic conditions and the availability of jobs
clearly affected respondents’ assessment of the value of further education.
Most of our interview respondents were grounded in local networks of support and
not interested in moving to find work. When jobs were not available, it was very
difficult for undereducated adults to see the value of further education.
Conversely, when low skill work was available, expectations of being able
to find work without further education were confirmed.
Recent changes in low skill labor markets may not have changed these
beliefs.
Respondents sometimes related the need to make choices between education
and work. Typically, they found work their most compelling obligation.
You have to work to make a living ‘cause you got to have that money comin’ in for income. And I know you don’t get paid gettin’ your GED. Another respondent reported: I can’t go during the day because of my workin’ hours and I need the money more than I need the education at this point. I know that sounds dumb, but that’s the way it is. Paid labor was virtually always and of necessity more
immediately valuable for respondents than further education.
Study participants valued practical job-related skills over purely
academic ones. When asked what
makes a person intelligent, they frequently responded that “common sense”
was the most important criterion. Respondents
contrasted common sense with “book learning” and most placed higher value on
practical knowledge and job performance. You can’t sit and read the book and go out and weld. You have to do it, you know. You have to learn it. . . I can sit and read a book about anything and fifteen minutes later I couldn’t tell you what it was about. I just never was a big reader and never did like to read. Now if I was doing it, I would learn it and pick it up. But if I was reading, I wouldn’t comprehend. Most respondents valued practical experience and the
ability to successfully carry through on the job over formal education.
Respondents indicated that, given the kinds of work they typically
performed, “book sense” was far less valuable than “common sense.”
There’s a difference between [someone] that can drive a truck and a person that can operate it. An operator takes care of his equipment, he knows exactly what to do with it and he is good. Just like a front end loader--any bacon can run anythang, but to be considered an operator is different. Now there’s people that I would turn loose on something, you know, if they got basic common sense. There’s people that know their way. I can give you examples of people with an education but no common sense whatsoever. You don’t want ‘em to handle a skill saw.
Many study respondents viewed the GED as a barrier that prevented them
from obtaining work they had already demonstrated they were capable of
performing. They recognized that
the GED is often required for entry into the workplace, but resented this
requirement when they felt capable of performing the work required.
Many respondents referred to the GED as “a piece of paper” that kept
them from jobs they were able to perform. I don’t think they ought to judge a lot of people about what’s on a piece of paper. I mean, I’ve never been a certified mechanic but I done it for ten years. I’ve never been a certified welder, but I do it now and I do it just as good as anybody that’s certified. Just because there’s a piece of paper there doesn’t mean that you know how to do it. I’ve run into people that have all these papers and degrees and they don’t really know because all they’ve done is sat and read books and took tests. There’s a lot of emphasis on the job force--”Well, you need a GED, you have to be certified.” I feel like a lot of people, just because you don’t have a piece of paper saying you know how to do something, then [they think] you don’t know how to do anything.
Most study participants were aware of the connection between education
and employment. They realized that
the GED or high school diploma is increasingly required for even entry-level
positions. Many respondents,
however, resented this requirement and felt it was an inappropriate one given
the kinds of hands-on work they frequently performed.
Further, the local economic context played a large role in their
assessment of the value of further education--when jobs were not readily
available, it was exceedingly difficult for respondents to see the value of
further education.
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