Headline, September 02 2026/ GEN Z : ''' STUDENTS* ! FUTURES ! STRIVINGS '''

GEN Z : 

''' STUDENTS* ! FUTURES !

 STRIVINGS '''

GROWING GEN Z NUMBERS SIDESTEP chancy job market and master skilled trades. ! They take their futures into their hands !

LaDonna Glass - 23, had just finished her shift as an electrician apprentice in a veterinary school. She snaked conduits between electrical boxes and installed wall sockets in an operating room big enough for a horse.

It was a full day of work she had enjoyed. It was also the kind of day she once worried would  disappoint her parents and teachers. 

" I was pretty brainy in high school, so everybody, I guess, they expected more out of me,'' she said. '' I felt like if I didn't go to college, I would have been a failure.''

Glass is bubbly and curious, a lover of fantasy books, late-night workouts and gummy-bear flavored lemonade. She graduated from high school in 2021 and went straight to Mississippi State University, with the goal of becoming a youth therapist.

But the road ahead seemed long and extraordinarily costly, and she began to question whether the investment would pay off. Her older brother had graduated from the same school with a degree in accounting. Afterwards he went to work as a truck driver.

'' The cost of living is making people realize we don't have four years to sit around and just go to school,'' she said. Glass is among the members of Gen Z who are reckoning with the value of a college degree.

Today's students have watched tuition climb over the course of their lifetimes. Lately they have had  front-row seats to a brutal early-career job market that is being further destabilised by the rise of  artificial intelligence.

Rather than despair, a growing number of young people have concluded that skilled trades like  welding, plumbing and construction might be a pragmatic way forward. A.I. can write an email, the thinking goes. But can it install a sink? How about solder a ball valve?

A majority of high school graduates in the United States still head right to college - more than 60 percent. But trade school enrollment is ticking upward. 

The number of students at public, two year schools that focus on vocational and trade programs grew by nearly 20 percent from 2020 to 2023 according to National Student Clearinghouse data. Apprenticeships and private trade schools have logged increases, too.

Yet members of this new generation of trade workers say they are encountering pushback of the '' we just want what's best for you '' variety from family members, school counselors and friends.

By choosing to pursue careers in the trades, they found themselves butting up against widespread perception that trade jobs were inferior to white-collar work - perceptions they were eager to change.

Glass decided to leave college after a year. After a stint working at Jersey Mike's Subs, she signed on for a four year apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

She makes $21 an hour working while taking free classes to become a licensed member of her union.  The average yearly pay for I.B.E.W. electricians is close to $90,000.

Back at the job site, she waved goodbye to her co-workers, other 20-somethings in neon yellow T-shirts. She now believes that the people who look down on trade jobs are missing out.

'' I'm watching things grow from the ground up,'' she said.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Gen Z, Jobs and Futures, continues. !WOW! thanks Callie Holtermann.

With most respectful dedication to the Leaders, Policy Makers, Parents, and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See You all prepare for the great '' Constitutional Democratic Convention '' on The World Students Society - for every subject in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless