Worker Athletes
by Paul Deffenbaugh | 3 July 2023 12:00 am
In a country fixated on sports, can stressing the athleticism of the trades help recruiting?
However, to quote Mark Twain, “There are lies, there are damned lies, then there are statistics.” That NBER research includes your local coffee barista, retail clerk or fast food worker. Comparing trade school graduates with college graduates gives a different story. I’ve seen references to research from 2014 that says the difference between college grads and trade school grads over a lifetime is about $270,000. And a Bureau of Labor Statistics study from 2021 shows that electricians earn a median income of $60,040 per year. Meanwhile bachelor’s degree holders earned a median of $69,368.
Isn’t working in the trades just another athletic endeavor?
That gap is narrowing, and it doesn’t factor in the cost of paying for college, which is burdening an entire generation with ridiculous levels of debt.
The fact remains that an 18-year-old high schooler really only hears about the $1.2 million difference, so the default decision is to go to college, get that degree and begin earning the big bucks.
How can we change this conversation? Our associate editor, Christopher Brinckerhoff, pointed out during a recent discussion that this nation is enamored with athletics. Almost every kid is in some sort of organized sport. Soccer, baseball, lacrosse, football, cheer, swimming, gymnastics. As adults, we run marathons, half marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks. We participate in triathlons and biathlons.
We worship pro athletes.
Isn’t working in the trades just another athletic endeavor? Among the biggest objections among young people is that the work is hard and tiring. Those same young people are beating themselves up to be athletic. They’ll sweat and push their bodies. They do extra training with weights and speed intervals.
And we’re supposed to believe they are unwilling to do the hard work of construction because they don’t like hard work? They don’t like to sweat and get dirty?
I don’t buy it. I think Christopher is right. If we equate working construction to athletics, we can engage a whole swath of young people who like to be physical.
And once we have their attention, we can point out that from an earnings perspective that the trades are a very strong alternative to college, even before you take on the massive debt.
Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/worker-athletes/