Harris Miller, former president of the Information Technology Association of America and CEO of the Career College Association, presented a lecture at Hamilton titled "Can America Still Cut It? Thoughts About the American Worker in the Age of Global Competition" on Feb. 19. Miller called for "a new covenant with the American workforce" and a focus on skills education in order to rebuild the American middle class.
According to Miller, while America has remained the world's largest economy since 1890, it is possible that within the lifetime of students at Hamilton "this may no longer be the case." Miller attributed the United States' impending economic decline to our economy's closed nature, which causes us to miss out on emerging global markets; 150 million jobs in the U.S. are related to producing goods and services used domestically, and foreign sales account for only 4 percent of growth in our gross domestic product. Thus, while the economies of countries like India and China have expanded to include 40 percent of the world's consumers between them, the United States has lagged on integration with international markets.
While in the past major national initiatives helped maintain American prosperity, including the G.I. Bill that sent returning World War II soldiers to college, funding for science and technology during the "space race" with the Soviet Union, and the entry of baby bloomers (the "world's most highly educated individuals") into the workforce, the United States' middle class is currently shrinking due to a shortage in skills. Miller noted that the Chinese middle class is now as large in absolute numbers as the entire U.S. population, and other countries such as India are creating a "highly skilled global workforce" that can compete for jobs with American workers. To Miller, this is primarily the result of education; other countries have invested to a great extent on higher education because they see it as the key to American prosperity. Multinational corporations do not outsource solely to take advantage of lower wage rates in other countries (since countries such as Bangladesh, with lower wage rates than India, have not benefited to the same extent from global trade), but also move overseas because workers in other countries have acquired substantial skills.
Conversely, the American workforce is facing a massive "mismatch" between low skilled workers and high skilled jobs. While American baby boomers are the best educated in the world among their age group, the 25-35 year old cohort of Americans only ranks 10th in the world for education. Only 25 percent of Americans have a bachelor's degree; one- third of students drop out of college nationally; and only one out of 10 low-income students successfully earns a four-year degree in college, Miller said. The result is that government projections of the labor market show that 60 percent of the new jobs created in America --particularly those in health care, information technology and advanced manufacturing -- will require skills possessed by only 20 percent of workers. Since manufacturing jobs (which required relatively little education and provided guaranteed lifelong employment) have declined in the U.S., the skills shortage has become more serious, especially now that "40 percent of new entry-level jobs will require a 2-year degree." Thus, "Americans are concerned about the future generation's standard of living," an issue that Miller says has gained little political coverage despite its importance.
Miller's solutions to America's economic decline focus on education, particularly the skills education for which he lobbies as head of the Career College Association. He argued for increased support for career colleges (for-profit institutions that provide training for specific careers), since a traditional liberal arts degree does not "necessarily guarantee you a good place in the economy." His specific proposals include increased ease of transferring credit between two-year and more highly accredited institutions (to enable career and community college students to move higher in education, given that 40 percent of college graduates have attended more than one institution), and expanded federal funding for higher education through the Pell Grant program. Miller noted that the real value of a Pell Grant has dropped by 40 percent between the 1970s and today, and that the two-semester nature of the benefit hurts students who want to try to finish college more quickly by studying through the summers. While the Higher Education Act passed by Congress this year has worked to restore some funding, the funds have yet to be spent as President Bush may still object to the bill. And although most presidential candidates have called for reducing college costs (now a bipartisan issue), their proposals are usually unspecific.
Ultimately, Miller is unsure whether America can meet the challenges of increased higher education; to do so would require a "common vision of national economic security" prioritizing domestic strength over military involvement. However, his talk raised crucial questions about America's future. Miller's lecture was part of the Levitt Center's Age of Information Series.
-- by Kye Lippold '10
According to Miller, while America has remained the world's largest economy since 1890, it is possible that within the lifetime of students at Hamilton "this may no longer be the case." Miller attributed the United States' impending economic decline to our economy's closed nature, which causes us to miss out on emerging global markets; 150 million jobs in the U.S. are related to producing goods and services used domestically, and foreign sales account for only 4 percent of growth in our gross domestic product. Thus, while the economies of countries like India and China have expanded to include 40 percent of the world's consumers between them, the United States has lagged on integration with international markets.
While in the past major national initiatives helped maintain American prosperity, including the G.I. Bill that sent returning World War II soldiers to college, funding for science and technology during the "space race" with the Soviet Union, and the entry of baby bloomers (the "world's most highly educated individuals") into the workforce, the United States' middle class is currently shrinking due to a shortage in skills. Miller noted that the Chinese middle class is now as large in absolute numbers as the entire U.S. population, and other countries such as India are creating a "highly skilled global workforce" that can compete for jobs with American workers. To Miller, this is primarily the result of education; other countries have invested to a great extent on higher education because they see it as the key to American prosperity. Multinational corporations do not outsource solely to take advantage of lower wage rates in other countries (since countries such as Bangladesh, with lower wage rates than India, have not benefited to the same extent from global trade), but also move overseas because workers in other countries have acquired substantial skills.
Conversely, the American workforce is facing a massive "mismatch" between low skilled workers and high skilled jobs. While American baby boomers are the best educated in the world among their age group, the 25-35 year old cohort of Americans only ranks 10th in the world for education. Only 25 percent of Americans have a bachelor's degree; one- third of students drop out of college nationally; and only one out of 10 low-income students successfully earns a four-year degree in college, Miller said. The result is that government projections of the labor market show that 60 percent of the new jobs created in America --particularly those in health care, information technology and advanced manufacturing -- will require skills possessed by only 20 percent of workers. Since manufacturing jobs (which required relatively little education and provided guaranteed lifelong employment) have declined in the U.S., the skills shortage has become more serious, especially now that "40 percent of new entry-level jobs will require a 2-year degree." Thus, "Americans are concerned about the future generation's standard of living," an issue that Miller says has gained little political coverage despite its importance.
Miller's solutions to America's economic decline focus on education, particularly the skills education for which he lobbies as head of the Career College Association. He argued for increased support for career colleges (for-profit institutions that provide training for specific careers), since a traditional liberal arts degree does not "necessarily guarantee you a good place in the economy." His specific proposals include increased ease of transferring credit between two-year and more highly accredited institutions (to enable career and community college students to move higher in education, given that 40 percent of college graduates have attended more than one institution), and expanded federal funding for higher education through the Pell Grant program. Miller noted that the real value of a Pell Grant has dropped by 40 percent between the 1970s and today, and that the two-semester nature of the benefit hurts students who want to try to finish college more quickly by studying through the summers. While the Higher Education Act passed by Congress this year has worked to restore some funding, the funds have yet to be spent as President Bush may still object to the bill. And although most presidential candidates have called for reducing college costs (now a bipartisan issue), their proposals are usually unspecific.
Ultimately, Miller is unsure whether America can meet the challenges of increased higher education; to do so would require a "common vision of national economic security" prioritizing domestic strength over military involvement. However, his talk raised crucial questions about America's future. Miller's lecture was part of the Levitt Center's Age of Information Series.
-- by Kye Lippold '10
