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Careers for Jews
Jewish professionals faring well;
hut outlook dim for social science graduates
by Walter Ducat
The current economic recession has not been felt alike by all Jewish
groups. In most professions save teaching and law, Jewish professionals
have generally fared well. In some businesses such as the fur line and
those producing other luxury items business has been excellent. But for
young college graduates who had prepared for careers in the humanities,
especially in teaching, the situation has been virtually catastrophic. In
New York City alone over 10,000 Jewish teachers and other civil service
workers lost their jobs. Many currently enrolled in the humanities face arP
uncertain job outlook.
I have counseled a number of college teachers who held doctoral
degrees, some with publications to their credit, who were jobless and
with scant propects for employment. One young Ph.D. confessed that
in desperation he had been forced to tum to one of New York City’s
most hazardous occupations—cab driving.
Studies have disclosed that over 85 percent of the Jewish college age
youth in the United States and Canada attend college. Now, with the
current cost of college ranging
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from about $4,000 to over $7,000 a
year and an uncertain job market,
the economic value of a college
education is being seriously
questioned. The U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics has issued studies
^ suggesting that we are producing
jr more higly educated persons than
we will be able to absorb at their
level of training.
Two recent books The Case
Against College by Caroline Bird
and The Overeducated American
by Richard B. Freeman argue that
college is not a good economic
investment. Kingsman Brewster,
Jr. of Yale, in an argument reminiscent of the Talmudic admonition that
the Torah should not be studied “as a spade to hew with” but rather for its
intrinsic value, defends a college education because it “is culturally
enriching,” a view that many observers of the quality colleges would hotly
contest.
Many college graduates who have abandoned hope of obtaining
employment in their field of training have enrolled in vocational courses
such as lens grinding, medical technology, cooking, auto mechanics and
other skilled fields where the job outlook is deemed fayorable.
Who should go to college? Every person who possesses the desire and
academic capacity should be enabled to attain his highest reasonable
goal. By "reasonable” I mean those goals where the job outlook is
considered as at least plausible. Should parents of modest economic
circumstances mortgage themselves for years to defray the cost of their
children’s higher education of their job prospects are uncertain? Their
answer will be governed in large measure by how much faith they have in
the economic health of our country and in the intellectual capacity and
drive of their children.
I have counseled scores of young graduates who had majored in such
subjects as art history, film making, dramatics, creative writing, radio
and TV broadcasting, library science and other similar fields only to find
that there was no market for their skills. Why had they not been informed
(by appropriate members of the college staff), prior to their having
majored in these subjects, of the highly dubious job prospects in these
fields? The most persuasive answer is that many faculty members fear
that such information would threaten enrollment in their department and
possibly their own jobs.
Despite the uncertain economic picture, there are a number of fields
where most authorities agree the outlook is favorable or better. For
example, it is common knowledge that those students who are able to
gain entrance to medical or dental schools face excellent prospects. The
following are a number of vocations which are lesser known but where
opportunities for qualified persons are good.
A profession requiring little emotional strain but which is useful and
offers good remuneration is optometry. Only six years of post high school
training are required to enter this uncrowded profession. About sixty
percent of the 15,000 optometrists in the country practice in towns of
under 50,000 population. Incomes of $30,000 a year and more are
common for experienced practitioners. A good capacity for math,
physics and science is essential.
Excellent opportunites beckon for those fond of animals and who are
strong in science. There are fewer than 30,000 practicing “vets;" about 3
percent are women.
There are about 8,000 practicing podiatrists in the country, about
seven percent of whom are women. Interested persons who have earned
good grades in science, who possess good manual dexterity and a pleasing
personality might consider a career in this profession requiring only six
years of post high school schooling.
Because of the rising number of aged and infirm persons there has
been a sharp increase in the number of nursing homes to accomodate
them. This has created a new occupation called the health service
administrator. He directs such homes or hospitals. Preferred training is a
master’s degree in public health administration or in hospital
administration.
An often overlooked and uncrowded field is pharmacy. Attainable
within five years of schooling after high school, pharmacy offers many
opportunities besides employment in retail stores. They include work in
hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, research
laboratories, and in governmental agencies. Close to $20,000 a year is
earned by pharmacists employed by retail stores, lower salaries
are earned by hospital pharmacists unless they hold a Ph.D.
degree.
Two professions offering relatively modest financial returns but very
formidable emotional satisfaction are occupational and physical therapy.
Both require only four years of
! t
post high school training, and
college graduates can complete the
necessary training within eighteen
months if they have the necessary
prerequisites.
Engineering has experiencea
dramatic ups and downs. It is
currently enjoying an up period for
agricultural, chemical, civil,
electrical, industrial and
mechanical male and female
engineers. Salaries begin at about
$13,000 to $14,000 and can rise to
double those figures for very
experienced men or women. We
have over a million engineers in
our country who are employed in over 25 specializations: Women are
especially sought. ..
Social service appeals to many Jews. While currently opportunities
are tight, it is believed that the picture will improve Substantially under
the new administration. Best opportunities await holders of the Master’s
degree in social work.
Turning to the business area, although there are about 850.000
accountants in the country, good opportunities still await the well
qualified candidate.
There are about 175,000 persons employed in various phases of
advertising which include research, copywriting, artist and layout work,
media direction, and production along with a variety of clerical workers.
Only the very talented, persistent and those with strong stomachs manage
to survive in this most competitive, often frustrating occupation.
There are about 110,000 buyers and merchandizing managers who
buy clothing and other products for retail stores. About 40 percent are
women. There are many applicants for this very competitive, nerve
racking field.
An expanding field is credit management, which employs about
70,000 persons about a third of whom are women. Their job is to
determine an individual's or firm’s reputation for repaying debts.
The job outlook is also considered to be favorable in hotel and motel
management which employs over 120,000 persons. Courses are offered
by Cornell and many community colleges.
Law, long a favorite profession among Jews, presents a mixed
picture. While some graduates of highly prestigious law schools who were
at the head of their class can start at $20,000 a year, many recent law
school graduates have been unable to find employment as lawyers. With
law schools overflowing with students, only the very bright, highly
determined and those with well connected families can be sanguipe about
opportunities in this field.
The social sciences, which include economics, history, political
science, sociology, anthropology and archaeology, have attracted a
considerable number of Jews. The job outlook however for these
professions save for economics and those with a Ph.D. in that profession
and strength in statistics is bleak, since most of the jobs in these fields are
connected with universities who are doing more trimming than hiring of
staffs.
Also dubious for the inexperienced is the outlook in journalism,
public relations, radio and TV broadcasting, film production and
direction, urban planning, architecture, library science, home economics
and guidance (because school budget cuts have been especially drastic in
the latter two fields). It should be noted that despite the highly uncertain
outlook in these and other occupations, some gifted, determined or lucky
persons are hired nonetheless.
If Jewish vocational adjustment is to continue to be healthy and
thriving, more competent guidance of our youth and of other segments of
our population will be necessary to cope with the changes in our
economy.
The American Zionist
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P««« 11 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE December 23, 1977
