Re:Men Without Work: America's Invisible Crisis (Book)
by unholythree on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @03:00PM
(#34237151)
That's less true in union work or licensed trades; but of course lots of trades are only licensed in specific localities or the licensing is loosely enforced.
There definitely is a emphasis in the U.S. on college being the "correct" path though. I recently saw a public charter school in my city advertise their entire graduating class was accepted into colleges. Clearly this was the best metric of success to them.
In e.g. Germany or Switzerland, your pot smoking drill press operator could point to a four year apprenticeship, and possibly even advanced specializations beyond that, with hundreds of recognized professional tracks. In the US, professional skills seem to be acquired somewhat more randomly, and consequently, are less portable.