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Education General

Dream Factories

Why Universities Won't Solve the Youth Jobs Crisis

by (author) Ken S. Coates & Bill Morrison

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
May 2016
Category
General, Commentary & Opinion, Higher
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459733770
    Publish Date
    May 2016
    List Price
    $21.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459733794
    Publish Date
    May 2016
    List Price
    $8.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Two professors look at the mystique around universities and the consequences of “credentialism.”

For decades, we have promoted the idea that a university degree is a passport to future career success. Ken Coates and Bill Morrison argue that the over-promotion of higher education and university degrees is actually undermining the lives of young people, saddling them with enormous debts, and costing governments huge amounts of money.

As the young flock to universities in ever-increasing numbers, fewer of them than ever find the elusive “good jobs” that they are pursuing. In fact, many of those jobs no longer exist. We are in the midst of a youth employment crisis that is global in proportion, and we are facing serious misunderstandings about the unfolding career prospects for young adults entering a world of rapid technological change. Ken Coates and Bill Morrison explore the impacts of universities turning out graduates with the wrong skills, and the consequences of vanishing job opportunities.

About the authors

Ken S. Coates was raised in Whitehorse and has a long-standing interest in northern themes. Titles include Canada’s Colonies, The Sinking of the Princess Sophia, The Modern North, North to Alaska (on the building of the Alaska Highway) and many academic books. He has worked on north-centred television documentaries and served as a consultant to northern governments and organizations. He is currently Professor of History and Dean of Arts, University of Waterloo.

Ken S. Coates' profile page

A graduate of McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario, BILL MORRISON worked from 1969 to 2010 as a university professor and administrator in Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia and as a visiting professor in the United States. He has published fourteen books, twelve of them in collaboration with Kenneth Coates.

Bill Morrison's profile page

Editorial Reviews

Very compelling.

The Star Phoenix