{"id":71,"date":"2018-12-04T14:57:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T14:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/?p=71"},"modified":"2018-12-07T10:25:23","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T10:25:23","slug":"lbst-200-m6-assignment-digital-folio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/2018\/12\/04\/lbst-200-m6-assignment-digital-folio\/","title":{"rendered":"LBST 200 M6 Assignment Digital Folio"},"content":{"rendered":"

LBST 200 Digital Folio M6 assignment<\/a><\/p>\n

The Value of a Bachelor of Arts
\nNiko Brown
\nLBST 200
\nDecember, 3rd 2018<\/p>\n

Over time, the rate of students earning university degrees has increased. This overwhelming increase in students graduating with a university level degree has shifted the demand for university level education. As a result there is a higher labor supply for less labor demand, which leads to wage reduction. Generally students go to school to get a job that earns an adequate salary to pay off their students\u2019 loans and find financial stability. However, since the higher labor supply leads to wage reductions, the value university level education is negatively affected. All this has cause some to question if university level education is losing its value or more simply if a university level degree is losing its value. The goal of this research paper is to explore and answer this question specifically under a Bachelor of Arts degree. The paper draws from interviews and the use of supporting academic and secondary sources, including an article exploring Capilano Universities stance on the problem.<\/p>\n

To understand and get a view of how a population of students going through the process of earning a bachelor of arts; interviews were held with about five students on campus. The goal of the interviews was to bring clarity on whether students agree that earning a Bachelor of Arts degree has lost its value overtime, as well as to find out why they think so and what could be done differently to improve the struggle. After making sure the interviewee agreed to an interview, understood the goal of the interview, and that they were in a Bachelor of Arts program; the interview would then be conducted. The first question asked was simply \u201cdo you think Bachelor of Arts degrees are losing value?\u201d All but one of the participants stated that earning a bachelor of arts has depreciated in value. One interviewee answered that in modern day\u2019s society, there is a notion that everyone needs a degree to get a well-paying job; otherwise you stand out poorly. Interestingly, another interviewee answered that in the past people generally stood out if you had a university degree such as a bachelor of arts; however today that is no longer the case as it is the other way around. Typically in North America, you fit in a much broader population since more people have a bachelor of arts than compared to before. Interestingly, an interviewee stated that a bachelor of arts have actually increased in value. He claimed that since more companies now require you to have a degree, they have actually become more valuable in that sense. However, he claimed that the idea of the decrease in value shows when people pay tuition for a four year Bachelor of Arts degree that does not lead to a job or any professional institution only makes it look like they have lost value. It seems his point is that people think overestimate how versatile a bachelor of arts actually is and should not use them to apply to a broad range of the workforce.<\/p>\n

The second question asked was \u201cwhat gives value to a Bachelor of Arts degree and how does Capilano University support that?\u201d One person simply said because it\u2019s a university degree that demonstrates you can absorb and understand a lot of information, then memorize and present in an organized and efficient fashion. This is an aspect of liberal studies to be sure. A few interviewees struggled to answer as to how the university itself supported this. One person said that Capilano becoming a university simply gives its degrees more credibility which raises their value, since employers care where you got your degree from.<\/p>\n

The third question asked was \u201chow has Capilano College becoming a University benefited you?\u201d One interviewee answered that it has allowed for a more diverse array of degrees offered at Capilano and that in turn brings in more choice and opportunity, also getting a degree from a university looks better than a college. This answer reflects strongly on the answer from the first question regarding the versatility of a bachelor of arts and that people now have more of a choice at Capilano University to take other university level degrees more specific to their field of interest. This may present a solution in the sense that taking a more specific course driven degree may increase your likelihood of securing a job-placement in the future, due to the more focused background. Unfortunately, there is also the problem of universal validity of a Bachelor of Arts degree and university degrees in general.<\/p>\n

A MacLean\u2019s interview article on Capilano College becoming a University stated \u201cCapilano graduates have had problems in the past with their degrees not being recognized by institutions outside of British Columbia.\u201d The article also lists a famous example about a man called Dave Cryderman graduating from what was Capilano College back then with a bachelor\u2019s degree in music, and using that to apply to teachers college to become a music teacher in Ontario. The problem was that he could not apply due his degree not being recognized outside of British Columbia. (Carson, 2008)<\/p>\n

The peer-reviewed article titled Not All Degrees Are Created Equal<\/em> goes over this problem in greater context. According to the article, Canada has no national accreditation body. (Millar, 2007) In other words, each province has its own rules on what governs a university level degree. This inconsistency causes confusion around students and overall can have effects on the legitimacy of a bachelor of arts which affects its credibility and overall value. The article also brings up further dilemma by quoting the registrar of Queen\u2019s University stating that \u201cstudents coming from colleges are not necessarily prepared to pursue further education.\u201d (Millar, 2007) Dave Marshall, president of Mount Royal College in Calgary, is summarized as saying that there are many different types of degrees with different strengths and weaknesses; some prepare students for a career and others for further study. (Millar, 2007) Dr. Greg Lee, who was president of Capilano College during the time this article was published back in 2006, is stated as saying that now that Capilano College is an independent university, it can provide its own university level degrees, however they are still the same degrees as before with also the same level of credibility as before. (Millar, 2007) Finally the article raised one last helpful point which was that students simply just do not think about what they want to do in the future after post-secondary; they just apply to university and not knowing where their final destination is. Instead many students are thinking about what they want to do after they graduate. (Millar, 2007)<\/p>\n

In conclusion, both the interviews and articles introduced that there are multiple ways to look at considering the value of a Bachelor of Arts degree. Maybe students need to adjust their expectations, maybe students need to have a clearer plan before starting a Bachelor of Arts degree, or maybe students should not take a Bachelor of Arts degree if they are not interested in the liberal arts and just interested in having a degree. However, despite my findings, it still seems that most students are hoping to get some sort of professional success in the work force with an adequate salary from receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree. On this premise, the value of a Bachelor of Arts Degree has definitely depreciated over time as there is an increasing supply of Bachelor of Arts graduates with a decreasing demand for them. Yet more students are going to school to earn one as more jobs require them in order to be able to distinguish valuable employees, but since so many students have them; there is not nearly as much demand. This lack of demand results in increased unemployment for graduate students. The problem is a Bachelor of Arts Degree is in such great supply that it no longer distinguishes people as well as it used to.<\/p>\n

Bibliography
\nJerema, Carson. \u201cThe Birth of Capilano University.\u201d Macleans.ca, Macleans.ca, 25 Apr. 2008.
\nNot all degrees are created equal By: Millar, Erin, Maclean’s, 4 Feb. 2007, Vol. 120, Issue 12<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LBST 200 Digital Folio M6 assignment The Value of a Bachelor of Arts Niko Brown LBST 200 December, 3rd 2018 Over time, the rate of students earning university degrees has increased. This overwhelming increase in students graduating with a university level degree has shifted the demand for university level education. As a result there is … Continue reading “LBST 200 M6 Assignment Digital Folio”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1266,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lbst-200","tag-lbst-200"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1266"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolios.capilanou.ca\/nicholasbrown2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}