Live data from Hacker News

Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

finance.yahoo.com

1–10 of 55 posts

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#4
Graduated in 2020, and I was shocked by how few of my peers had done any research into the type of work and compensation that would be available to them upon graduation.

No, I'm not referring to the issue of 17-20 years olds choosing a degree path with little awareness of post-graduation opportunities, but for upperclassmen 0-2 years out from graduation. On the other hand, I can report a disproportionate awareness / interest in academia and grad school, but even in these cases I still rarely felt that these peers saw graduate school as a means to an end, looking beyond the masters degree, but more as a funnel, "the next to do I guess, idk."

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#5
> Current graduates are simply asking for their compensation to reflect the cost of living in the United States.

If the entire GDP of the USA, after taxes, were simply taken (about $15 trillion) and equally distributed among the ~210 million working age adults of the United States, each would receive about $70,000 a year.

If the 70 million university graduates were each paid a handsome and deserved $150,000 (hey, that $100k's only the start, right?!) that would be about 10 trillion for them, and the remaining 140 million Americans would collectively get about 5 trillion, or an average of about $35,000 each.

America is not actually infinitely wealthy, and a fair and just society requires some hard thought about how ultimately limited wealth gets distributed.

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#6

Well. They were sold that. They were trapped in unplayable debt because of this promise. Are we going to blame the victims?

I'm happy to - SF is trying to lower the local voting age to 16, so being able to do a bit of research shouldn't be too much to ask for an 18 year old.

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#7

Graduated in 2020, and I was shocked by how few of my peers had done any research into the type of work and compensation that would be available to them upon graduation. No, I'm not referring to the issue of 17-20 years olds choosing a degree path with little awareness of post-graduation opportunities, but for upperclassmen 0-2 years out from graduation. On the other hand, I can report a disproportionate awareness /…

I know a lot of people who go a Masters because they didn't want to get a job, then never worked in their field.

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#9

Well. They were sold that. They were trapped in unplayable debt because of this promise. Are we going to blame the victims?

I'm happy to - SF is trying to lower the local voting age to 16, so being able to do a bit of research shouldn't be too much to ask for an 18 year old.

I have an idea. We make it clear that students can sue educators who do not inform them about the stupidity of taking on too much debt at a young age, and make "An Introduction to College, Adult Life, and Debt" a mandatory semester in all High Schools.

Re: Gen Z Is Overestimating the Average Starting Salary by $50K, Survey Finds

#10
> In 2019, the college students surveyed by Clever expected to make $57,964 — about $10,000 more than the average starting salary at the time, which was $47,000. Just three years later, college students are expecting to make nearly $46,000 more.

Looks like a bad survey.. I don’t think I’ve ever met somebody in a non-tech or non-professional major who expects to make 100k+ at graduation

Post reply on HN