Same as it is with deaf people. There are many who write well, but also many more whose talents shine in other fields.

Your posting hit it right on the bullseye. When I was at RIT, one of my professors in the business school department recommended that I meet up with the English writing center on campus thinking that I would need some assistance with my writing as I was the only deaf student in his course. He had heard of how atrocious research papers of some deaf students were at RIT and assumed that my paper would be like theirs. How so wrong he was I thought to myself!

After a few days of banging out my 25 double-spaced page paper, I walked over to the university’s writing center and threw the paper at the “editors” there to critique it. One of them took a stab at it and after some time, her jaw dropped open and remarked that she needed a moment to share the paper with the senior director of the center there. The woman came back with the senior director after what seemed like 15 minutes and asked if I had a few minutes to spare with her. I replied that I did.

She motioned me over to another table and asked where I had “gotten” this paper from. She asked me point-blank whether I had help in writing this paper. I laughed out loud and said to her, “Are you seriously asking me that?” She remarked that she had never seen a deaf person write so well and asked me what my background was like and so on. So I gave her my background and she said that there was no need for me to come back to the center for any further help because they felt it would be a waste of their time helping me as they felt that the paper was an “A” paper at best.

The next day, I dropped my finished paper off at my professor’s office. After a few weeks, I got word that the professor wanted me to see him in person. He asked how the hell the paper could be so good since I was deaf. He asked me if I had any papers from my past that I had written academically. After giving him one of my papers from the past, he grudgingly gave my paper an “A” and challenged me to write another “A” paper for the next assignment. I asked him why he had reason to doubt me — He said that he just never had heard of a deaf student write so well like I did.

After writing another “A” paper, he left me alone knowing that I was capable of doing the job myself without any assistance. It didn’t bother me that he had questioned my capabilities but I often wonder if he ever attempt to call the writing center to see if they did ever give me any assistance on the paper.

Of course, college is not for everyone. Right now, as a manager, I am dealing with the possibility of terminating a hearing person who has a bachelor’s degree from his job because he has NO motivation to do the job the right way. He’s constantly making mistakes, isn’t motivated to help others, has no “logical thinking” skills, and more. After constantly making sloppy financial mistakes that is costing my department in missed goals (he never quality checks his work), I am beginning to build a case in preparation of terminating him if he doesn’t (within a suitable amount of time) achieve performance improvement goals I implemented for him.

It is true that I am seeing more and more college graduates coming into the workforce who are inept, incapable of analyzing things, incapable of putting together at least one coherent paper/memo that makes sense to others, and are reluctant to work hard to help the company. These are the folks that aren’t going to be rewarded with bonuses, awards, salary increases, and promotions for some time.

We all know what a BS degree is… an MS is just “More of the Same” and a PhD is a “Pile Higher and Deeper”…

No offense meant, folks!

To quote anonymous: “The article hints at this factor when explaining that “more-widespread college admission is…nice for the students and makes the entire United States of America feel rather pleased with itself.”” Upon re-reading, an imperialist attitude probably isn’t what anonymous meant, but I think it still kinda works, when you think about how much we like to praise ourselves for being such a smart and superior country, no matter what statistics say.

Sorry for the semantics gaffe. How quaint, indeed.

Now I’m intrigued by the idea that we as a society have determined — through the use of a capitalist and imperialist mindset — that there is only one way to be a successful breadwinner, and that’s via a college degree.

Where does that leave the people not well-suited, either because of ability or temperament, for academia?

Answer No. 1: Money. Universities around the nation would collapse or otherwise suffer a merciless phase of consolidation if they actually insisted that everyone demonstrate college-level potential before matriculation. Somebody has got to pay the rent, and the masses of poorly performing students are the lucky ones to fund these universities. It is true that a handful of universities (e.g., Stanford and Harvard) can turn away roughly 90% of their applicants, but most universities cannot be so choosy about their customers. If the student can somehow pay tuition or bring in some level of financing, the university will try to accommodate the person. Because this person is a customer, and the university needs the $$$, money and not academic standards will dictate the university’s course of action. In theory, the ultimate recipient of the degree will see his/her own income increase, regardless of whether he/she truly mastered college-level skills.

Answer No. 2: Self-Esteem. The article hints at this factor when explaining that “more-widespread college admission is…nice for the students and makes the entire United States of America feel rather pleased with itself.” Professors nowadays are routinely reminded to phrase suggestions, comments, and criticisms in the most affirmative manner possible, so as to bolster the self-esteem of students. Everybody is special. No one deserves to be excluded from the feel-good moments of college. So everyone deserves to be admitted to a university and benefit from this positive experience. The care and maintenance of students’ self-esteem can take many forms.

There are a gazillion universities out there where a significant portion of the incoming student body must take remedial classes, often to cover skills that should have been mastered in elementary or junior high school. While that is dispiriting information, it provides steady income for the universities. And, in theory, the students improve themselves at least somewhat through this experience. But this side of the American educational system does need greater attention in the nationwide discourse on whether college is appropriate for everyone.

This blog entry reminds me of another discussion initiated here last year by Richard Brklacich about the merits of a college education for the deaf. Perhaps a partial answer comes from this recent New York Times article that explains that women saw their income increase as a result of pursuing college degrees in greater numbers than before, whereas men got college degrees at historically constant levels and therefore saw no significant change in their average salary. So, one can secure financial gains for oneself as a result of going to college. And perhaps that explains why so many people make the attempt to get a degree, despite their lack of preparation for the effort.

The women/men comparison in the New York Times is very interesting. It would be even more interesting for us to see a comparison of the deaf and hearing populations and the correlation between their education and income levels over time. Of course, such a study would also have to take into account the factors of discrimination and unemployment among the deaf, of which the latter is a notoriously difficult figure to determine, as noted in Adam Stone’s blog (link is iffy – if it doesn’t work, my apologies).

:)