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Comment by jmccree | Hacker News Reader

Seriously? You could also state "Unemployment literally doubles if you're Black or African American." (http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat07.htm)

The way statistics on unemployment, earnings, etc by degree level are being used is disgraceful. It's correlation does not imply causation at the basest level. It's more likely the higher your social and economic background is, the more college you can afford, and the better job you can get.

I see so many people with tons of student debt for a degree that is useless for finding employment. Unless your profession requires a degree (laywer, doctor...) or you can go for free via grant or wealthy parents, most people would be better off entering the work place or starting in a trade. You can always go back to school when you can afford it.

There are A LOT of college graduates out there asking "Would you like fries with that?" to non-grads.

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>Seriously? You could also state "Unemployment literally doubles if you're Black or African American."

Your race is not something you can (or should) do anything about, but you can very well try to get a college degree.

>It's correlation does not imply causation at the basest level. It's more likely the higher your social and economic background is, the more college you can afford, and the better job you can get.

That sounds like a direct causual link. Richer -> Degree -> Job. How does "correlation does not imply causation" come into play at all? It's exactly because of being rich that you can get into a better education, and it's because of getting into a better education that you can get into a better job.

>Unless your profession requires a degree (laywer, doctor...)

It's not only the profession that requires a degree. A lot of employeers, nay, most, require a degree too. Especially for higher end jobs.

It's more likely the higher your social and economic background is, the more college you can afford, and the better job you can get.

In our society, getting a college degree has been one of the best ways to improve your social and economic standing. Being the first person in your family to go to college is a huge deal, because it means you're entering a whole different social level.

According to the data in your link, for a "Black or African American", the difference in unemployment from high school graduation to college graduation is 13.4% to 6.3%. That's half, just like I said!

Coldtea: He is saying that there are obvious lurker (or "confounding") variables. It could be that not getting a degree is caused by being poor (or black, etc.) AND that not getting a job is caused by being poor. So not having a degree and not having a job may appear to have a high correlation when in fact they are both driven by a third variable (socio-economic/race/etc.). Look up Simpson's paradox.

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