RE: Proportion of dwarfs with degrees

July 21, 2000

Is it possible that maybe the number of dwarfs with degrees is because many

have been conditioned to think that they won't succeed so why bother? For

instance, if a person is berated into thinking that they'll never succeed at

anything then why would (s)he decide to get a degree? Why set themselves up

for, what is perceived as, failure or a waste of time? There may also be

bitter people who feel that the world owes them something for being a dwarf

and would rather take government assistance than try and succeed. However

that mentality transcends all types of people not just dwarfs, disabled,

black, white, orange or rainbow.

I don't mean to disrespect anyone!

Porportion of dwarfs with degrees

I would think the incidence of dwarfs with degrees would be higher

than the general population. As dwarfs have a harder time finding

employment, and a degree of education would give them an 'edge'

in the face of employment discrimination.

I think you also have to take into socioeconomic status. As more

people from higher to middle incomes have college degrees, probably

due to educated parents steering them towards college.

I went to school on Grants, being very low-income, and I was a

rarity. Especially in Engineering. I was also a rarity, being a single

parent, a women & a dwarf - in Engineering that is.

I would be interested in seeing the statistics too!!

MARY HAWLEY

To Degree or Not to Degree

> Ok, why did I post my message? ::dons on a poncho::

>

> The intention of my message was to find out.. or at least to get an idea

of

> how many LP's went ahead to get college degrees vs. those w/o. I know this

> is not a very good method of doing so since this does not adequately

> represent LPA; I do not know (EG:) the total number of adults on here and

> only a portion of people responded. etc.

>

> However, it has been awesome finding the different variety of majors. I'm

> proud to have this list!

>

> I wanted to research more on this subject because I heard recently that

the

> LP's ratio of college education vs. w/o is below the nation's ratio. I am

> -stressing- no, that is NOT important or relevant to the people on here or

> LPA; I'm just curious.

>

> My avg. sized best girl friend from grade school did not go beyond HS and

> is recently had a baby. She is just a stay-at-home Mom now and her husband

> works for them. She is one of the most open-minded and considerate people

I

> know. One of my classmates back in HS is having fun and making a whoopload

> of money as a programmer at Teleport (large ISP co. in the NW). There are

> plenty more out there that I can't think off the top of my head at the

> moment as well.

>

> Crud, even the richest person in the US (starts with a Bill.. can anyone

> guess?) dropped out of HS.

>

> I am going to say, no, a degree does not guarantee a job. But the overall

> effects of having gone to college -usually- means of acquiring greater

> knowledge, more analytical, intuitive...also a better likelihood in

getting

> a higher-end job sooner.

>

> Futhermore, some careers would be very difficult to acquire w/o the

> additional education such as my own. If I decided to go into the Graphic

> Design field after graduating from high school, it would be bleak to get a

> Sr./Art Director job. It is not because I did not learn how to use the

> Design programs, but I would not have learned how to design, composition,

> use of typography.

>

> My father majored in EE in his Bachelor and Master's degree. He went on to

> work as an EE at Intel and another co. for almost 20 yrs. Afterwards, he

> had worked in a variety of high-tech jobs for business and marketing. So

in

> the last 10+ yrs, he's been doing work pretty much unrelated to his major.

> At the same time, I believe that his education, experience allowed him to

> be more applicable to a variety of other positions.

>

> Time to get off my soapbox, thanks to everyone for their interest.

>

> Irene

>

> >-----Original Message-----

>

> >>>> " Dart, " <JDart@...> 07/19/00 09:07AM >>>

> >-

> >

> >No degree guarantees a job when you finish regardless of the major,

> >placement rate or location. There are no definites in life other than

> >taxes, death, the sun rising in the East and setting in the West.

Anything

> >else is up for discussion so to speak.

> >

> >Besides no one here did say that having a degree gets you the job you are

> >looking for. Positive attitude, willingness to work and willingness to

start

> >at the bottom usually gets you further. I'm sorry that your major and

your

> >job don't coincide, but maybe you should happy that you have a job.

There

> >are worse thing in life then not getting a job in your chosen field. My

> >degree (English Textual Studies) my job - Network Analyst.

> >

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Life's too short to send boring email. Let SuperSig come to the rescue.

> 1/6818/11/_/77518/_/964107347/

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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July 21, 2000

I suspect that the lower incidence of college degrees among 35+ LPs is due

more to the inaccessibility of college campuses of that time period than

anything else. Younger LPs have reaped the benefits of barrier-free

architecture that was unknown when older LPs were of college age. Also,

consider that traditionally handicapped schools from the " old days " were

where some LPs were forced to attend school -- most of these schools were

not known for their high level academics, and high level academics is what

is necessary to attend college.

That so many older LPs _did_ attend college and get degrees just shows how

determined they were, no matter what the odds in their physical environment.

Vita

At 08:44 AM 7/21/00 -0400, you wrote:

>Is it possible that maybe the number of dwarfs with degrees is because many

>have been conditioned to think that they won't succeed so why bother? For

>instance, if a person is berated into thinking that they'll never succeed at

>anything then why would (s)he decide to get a degree? Why set themselves up

>for, what is perceived as, failure or a waste of time? There may also be

>bitter people who feel that the world owes them something for being a dwarf

>and would rather take government assistance than try and succeed. However

>that mentality transcends all types of people not just dwarfs, disabled,

>black, white, orange or rainbow.

>

>I don't mean to disrespect anyone!

>

Vita Gagne

rgagne@...

July 21, 2000

Why are we stating on this list that there is a low incidence of LPs with

college degrees. We do not know if we have a high or a low incidence of

degrees, all we have is speculation.

Unfortunately there is very little research information concerning people with

dwarfism. Why do you ask?

There is two many of our population who do not want to be counted. When I tell

grantors that the ratio is 1-10,000 - They exclaim " That many! "

I have worked with a number of people, who have every charteristic of dwarfism,

however pronounce loudly and proudly they are not a dwarf. Or I'm OK I don't

need Little People.

One person even told me " I am not a dwarf, I'm Jewish "

Another LP who received a scholarship from the BBF, never attended a meeting,

and when asked to meet with a parent to discuss college with her son was too

busy.

I know we have had debates on this list concerning labels, those who do want to

be labeled and those who don't. I got news for you all, money and programs go

to those who do.

If it is true that we have a lower incidence of college degrees than the average

size population. Then we should collect the data showing the lower incidence

and the reasons why. Once we collected all that data we should go to the powers

that be, and get both the money and resources to solve the problem, so that more

people with dwarfism can obtain degrees.

I am sorry, I will get off my high horse now!

>>> Vita Gagne <rgagne@...> 07/21/00 03:29PM >>>