The Oregonian recently found that less than a quarter of graduates from Oregon colleges with education degrees can find teaching jobs in the state, but figures at the University may not correspond to the statewide trend.
Mike Bullis, dean of the University’s College of Education, said polls among the school’s education graduates suggest they are having less trouble finding jobs.
However, he said the case may be different for 2010 graduates. “I am willing to bet our graduates will have a harder time finding jobs this year,” Bullis said.
Jenny Anderson graduated with a degree in education last year but hasn’t tried looking for employment in the field.
“I heard that too many people were struggling to find work in the education field locally, so I have just continued my work with preschoolers,” Anderson said.
Anderson watched her friends graduate with master’s degrees and struggle to pay off loans while worrying about losing their jobs due to layoffs.
“I found it difficult to swallow the idea of attending graduate school for a field that is not hiring,” Anderson said. “Who can afford that?”
Bullis agrees this has been the hardest time for education graduates to find positions in Oregon, but he has no fear for future teachers.
Bullis says that while the public education system will change, there will always be a need to fill.
“Public employment retirement guidelines have changed, and those who were going to retire pulled back,” Bullis said. “I think there might be another surge in employment.”
Anderson is grateful for being admitted into the education program, but wonders if the recent joblessness for new teachers isn’t caused by another factor.
“I realize it’s far more complicated than simply cutting enrollment, but if less people were ‘qualified’ to teach maybe those who are truly gifted at it would have more job security, and not so many people would be graduating with degrees that they are unable to put to use,” Anderson said.
While education degree-holders overall are struggling to find jobs, some specialized areas of education offer jobs more steadily.
The Oregonian survey found that programs like communication disorder sciences or special education fields have close to a 100 percent placement rate for work.
Communications Disorders and Sciences program director Kathy Roberts didn’t find that fact unusual.
Roberts said the program primarily trains speech-language pathologists — a profession Robert says, schools have been short on
for years.
“The government puts out a projection of the personnel demand every year for this field, and the numbers remain high,” Roberts said. “We cannot keep pace with the demand, and it is to keep growing.”
Bullis said the education school increased its enrollment in the spring, but he doesn’t agree that admission policies are the cause.
“We have maintained the same standards since I have been dean,” Bullis said. “However that happened, it was not due to lowered standards.”
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