dis-satisfied students keep politicians awake at night

"I just spent four years of my life and a lot of money to graduate from university. I cannot find a job. Even if I did, it would pay less than if I had avoided university all together."

The rant is hypothetical. But it is based on the facts reported from a recent study: "University grads earn 10,400 pesos per month on average."

Of course, the article could have been referring to university graduates in almost any country. They are all struggling to find employment. It is the call of the wildly disillusioned.

It was the bemoaned income that caught my eye. Being the parent of a son looking forward to dental school, I pay attention to headlines like these. The study found that for the 43.5% of graduates who were lucky enough to find employment, their average monthly salary was $10,400 (MX). That translates to less than $470 (US) a month. For a university graduate.

Granted, those 10,400 pesos buy quite a bit more here in Mexico than they do in Canada or The United States. According to The Economist's Big Mac Index, Mexico's peso has a 61% positive valuation against the US Dollar. That still only increases the monthly salary to a comparable $760 (US).

Even so, it is a lot more than some local waiters, with limited hours during the recession and covid restrictions, earn. Without tips, $350 (MX) is not an unusual weekly wage right now.

But the complaint that university does not increase the pay check for most graduates appears to be a fair complaint. Obtaining accurate data for the comparison is not as easy as it should be. But Mexicans with prepa degrees earn about the same as newly-graduated college students.

I can hear some of you scrolling to the "comments" section" because I have discussed this issue with you before. University is more than merely a vocational school to get a job. There is value in having an educated public capable of critical thinking. (Though I am beginning to doubt that has been the result of the western university system.)

However, increasing one's socio-economic position is very important to young Mexicans. It is the first reason cited by students for attending university. And that is understandable, even in a middle-income country like Mexico, its inertia-ridden social stratification offers few exits to a higher tier. Education is the main one. Or marrying well.

Like elsewhere in the world, Mexican students who graduate with mechanical engineering and metallurgy degrees are the highest paid, at an average of $16,394 (MX) monthly salary. And there is another similarity with the rest of the world, only 24% of arts and humanities graduates ("do you need salsa for those fries?) had found employment. 74% of the holders of health-related degrees were employed in their field.

So, where does this leave Omar? As a prospective dentist, he should be able to find work -- or to open his own office in a large city. And because his well of self-confidence is well-stocked, he knows he can make more money as an entrepreneur than as an employee.

Both of us will put this article on the top-shelf of things that may not apply to his life. But the facts are certainly an incentive to get that dental degree.