"College is not for everyone" - Swiss Edition

Here is an example of a country where the idea "College is not for everyone" is kind of the central feature of the education system, and it seems to work very well. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, after all.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/no-more-graduates-needed-switzerland-goes-it-alone-he

Unfortunately, that article is behind a paywall, but you can read three articles per month if you register for free.
From that article:

The Swiss system also includes some interesting oddities.

Oh, and are you sure the “knowledge economy”, as we know it, really exists?

 

I think there is a knowledge economy, but it's smaller than many would have us believe. Some Swiss enterprises, e.g. pharmaceuticals, are research-intensive and there are probably many people with advanced degrees working in those labs. Nestlé and a few other mega-companies likely have their share as well. Bankers - probably less degrees among them than the pharmaceutical folks, but still a significant number, I'm sure. The guy who makes a mint fixing or selling Mercedes cars, or building your chalet, if you're lucky enough to be blessed with a residence permit? I doubt he needs one. Skills pay the bills.

Watchmakers? Again, I hardly think so. That's really demanding, but not a skill learned in university. I've no magic formula for a great economy - but starting with a non-debased currency (like Switzerland) seems a good idea.

 

When I graduated from High School (1960) about 10% of grads in Ontario entered University. There were no Community Colleges (but there were a couple of Polytechnics and some Teachers' Colleges) until 1967. We've come a long way since and we can't go back. That is, we can't go back to where we were in 1960, anyway.

Switzerland's system appears to work, in that most people can find a job with a living wage at the end of their learning years. These days, that's priceless. Yeah, we should have that ...

 

Maybe, if we could make a watch like a Vacheron Constantin and could charge $40K per . . . https://www.luxuriousmagazine.com/to-celebrate-the-100thanniversary-of-the-tonneau-shaped-watch-vacheron-constantin-pares-down-the-design-of-its-malte-collection/ Just had to show you a picture of my favourite watch that I'll never own.

 

Of course, it's not possible to go back to 1960, but that's also not the point. Those Swiss students who do not go to university start an apprenticeship and also go to school part-time. That means they learn skills, and these skills are the reason why the youth unemployment rate in Switzerland is so low. And the fact that they do not drop out of school means they still can continue their education. At a university of applied sciences, for instance.

I agree, but I think the real problem is that many people think the knowledge economy is more important than the "classic" economy (simply because it's newer), and therefore, everyone should go to college. Maybe there will be a time when the knowledge economy is almost equivalent to the economy as a whole, but that transition period will be long.

I am sure you're right. However, the normal way to become a lab technician in Switzerland is an apprenticeship! It's therefore likely that quite a few of these people with advanced degrees in Swiss labs once started their career as an apprentice.

Watchmaking is of course also an example where people in Switzerland usually start their career as an apprentice.

That's true, but that also applies to countries like Austria and Germany. The part of the education system that deals with people who do not go to college is almost identical in these countries.

Yes, but I think you also need a well educated and well-trained workforce.

 

They probably do not think of apprenticeship qualifications as being any "lesser" than a degree.
In Britain, there's an apprenticeship path to solicitor status; most earn LLBs but some don't. There used to be a similar path to medical license; they don't do that anymore. Another example: I am going through ACCA accountancy exams to gain access to degree opportunities on the relative cheap; however, degrees are optional. One can get full ACCA Member status without completing any degrees, and it's considered Level 7 (postgraduate) qualification. They explicitly say that ACCA equals master's degree, and in fact University of London counts papers P1-P3 as half a Master's (so I'm halfway there already).

 

Indeed it does, although Switzerland was the country under discussion at that point. My thought was that the Swiss - and yes, Austrian and German systems - work better than ours, in regard to meaningful, reasonably-paid employment after school graduation. And we should work towards accomplishing that end to the same high degree as Switzerland, Germany, Austria...

 

I was talking about research scientists, as the pharmaceutical field is research-intensive. I'd think there's quite some difference, academically, between a lab technician and a research scientist. No doubt there are some people who started out as lab technicians and eventually became research scientists, by earning the right qualifications. But by no means all, surely.

 

Couldn't agree more. Very important - right up there with the non-debased currency!

 

I mentioned these other countries because I think the fact that the same also works there proves that the Swiss example isn't just anecdotal.

I fully agree, but the Swiss quite often use the example of the lab technician who becomes a research scientist after some years as an example why starting with an apprenticeship isn't inferior to the more traditional route (going to college right after high school) to such a profession.

That's one hundred percent true. There even are a few examples where the apprenticeship qualification is seen as the superior way to a profession. However, there are quite a few differences between the Swiss and the British systems.

 

I'm not such a fan of tonneau watches, but that's a very nice watch. However, if I had $40K laying around then I would probably invest it into a Patek Philippe.

 

I said a few years ago, that I was going to save up for a Cadillac - and not buy it. I did exactly that. Now I can buy the watch - but again, I won't. No item here qualifies as an investment - not the Vacheron Constantin, not the Patek Philippe and especially not the Cadillac. The watches have far better residual value, but it will be a long, long time - many years - before you have any chance of getting a return over what you put in.

An investment? Buy a house. Live in it. Buy it ten or twenty years ago, if possible. When I was young, rule of thumb - a decent house cost two Cadillacs. Now it's worth eight or nine. More in Switzerland, I'm sure. I'm well past the age of qualifying for a mortgage, (75)so I'll have to pay cash. It'll be a while yet... so I can fiddle around with tax-free savings accounts and a Canadian halal (Islamic-compliant) exchange-traded fund, while I wait. (No, I'm not a Muslim, but I do like their financial system. BTW - the first halal stock fund was an American one - an Amana fund, started in 1986.)

Good to know. Thanks.