Vocations and Education for Life

Dr. Steve Ware, Dean of the College contributes the following to our Oak Hills Online Blog.

Educators love paradoxes.  We love to find inconsistencies in ideas which will lead students to clearer, deeper thinking.  We love to argue about questions like, “Can a man drown in the fountain of eternal life?” or chuckle when someone says something like, “No one goes to that restaurant because it’s too crowded.”  Interestingly, higher education is finding itself in the middle of a paradox.

According to information in a recent article in Forbes Magazine, people born between 1977 and 1997 stay in jobs for an average of less than 3 years.[1]  That means they could have upwards of fifteen jobs over their working careers.  Experts also predict that they will change careers—not just jobs, but lines of work—at least every ten years.[2]

However, students, parents and governments are insisting that higher education focus almost exclusively on work skills.  College programs are evaluated on work placement rates and the average incomes of program graduates.[3]  All of this is based on the assumption that the investment in college should pay vocational dividends.  

Herein lies the rub.  Colleges are becoming increasingly vocational at the same time that students are less likely to stay in a particular vocation for any length of time.  The desire of students to be vocationally nimble along with the cultural demand that college be more directly vocational is quite a paradox.

At Oak Hills Christian College, our programs are designed to prepare people for service in their communities, workplaces, churches and families right now and into the future.  We believe that a thorough understanding of the Bible; the ability to think critically, creatively and independently; strong communication and interpersonal skills; and vocational training and experience in ministry, human services and business are in the best short- and long-term interests of students.  Most of all, we believe that students thus equipped will make the most significant contributions to the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you are interested in this kind of education, contact us.

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[1] Jeanie Meister, “Job Hopping Is the ‘New Normal’ for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare,” Forbes, August 14, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for-millennials-three-ways-to-prevent-a-human-resource-nightmare/  (accessed April 18, 2013).

[2] “Understanding Generation Y,” Sustainable Employee Motivation, http://www.sustainable-employee-motivation.com/generation-Y.html (accessed April 18, 2013).

[3] Michael Stratford, “193 Vocational Programs Fail ‘Gainful Employment’ Test, The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26, 2012, http://chronicle.com/article/193-Vocational-Programs-Fail/132593/ (accessed April 18, 2013).