On the Importance of Technical Education

I work at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. Ever heard of it? Most people, even the ones who live and work in this city, haven't. I hadn't until I applied to work here. My brother, a high school student looking at colleges, hadn't, either.

Even the people who know where it is don't always know what we do: teach students how to maintain aircraft, of all kinds. Jets, helicopters, drones, blimps - you name it, they can work on it. Sounds cool, right? It is. And, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is going to be a 7% increase in projected positions between 2014 and 2024 - a total of 138, 900 positions. This does not include the fact that the majority of technicians currently in the field are reaching the age of retirement, creating an ever-growing need for young certified maintenance technicians.

Yet most classes in our school, which is considered one of the best (if not the best) aviation maintenance schools in the country, have somewhere between 12 and 20 students. After a mere 21 months of education, every student who a) passes their FAA Airframe & Powerplant certification exams and b) puts forth effort to apply to some jobs, comes out with a high paying career with prospects to move up the chain of command and to face new, interesting challenges every single day. There are not nearly enough people entering the field to keep up with the demand.

Knowing this, why is it some of the PIA recruiters I speak to tell me that local high schools won't even respond to their emails, let alone allow them to present to their students? If they're lucky they will be permitted to speak to the students attending VoTech or attend a career fair. And PIA is just an example of the many, many trade schools that exist in the US; these schools face the same problems.

Translation: most high school students are not aware that these technical schools exist; let alone the unique and interesting challenges they would encounter here and in the field.

In my opinion, every student should not only be given exposure to the trades, but they should be encouraged to pursue them if they're interested. Our culture has shifted so far toward needing a "traditional" college education, when, in reality, having a Bachelor's Degree doesn't guarantee a job after graduation. I can name on one hand the number of my friends who graduated knowing where they were going to work, and my friends are no slouches - the majority even graduated magna cum laude.

In addition, I see so many students who transfer here after struggling at a four-year institution, and it's not because they're not smart. No, my students are brilliant; I could never do what they do. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence breaks intelligence down into 9 separate types:

Society has put so much stake into logical-mathematical intelligence that the other forms are hardly even recognized anymore, which not only harms society as whole because of the deficit of trained technicians, but it harms the individuals who are taught their whole lives that simply because they don't fit a certain role they are somehow less important.

It breaks my heart that so many people are directed away from their passions because the trades are unnecessarily deemed "lesser", particularly since so many shine once they're allowed to do what they truly love.

Eventually, the pendulum will swing back, and skill-oriented occupations will be valued again. My only hope is that it's soon; not only for our country, but for our students, young and old.