Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 13

Gen Z Turns to Trade School as 23-Year-Old Arkansas Apprentice Defies College Stigma

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 13

Gen Z Turns to Trade School as 23-Year-Old Arkansas Apprentice Defies College Stigma

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 13

LaDonna Glass, 23, spent her day wiring a veterinary school in Arkansas as an electrician apprentice after abandoning a college path toward youth therapy.
Her shift — running conduits and installing outlets in an operating room large enough for a horse — anchors a broader rise in Gen Z interest in skilled trades.
That turn is colliding with a durable social expectation that strong students should pursue four-year degrees, a pressure Glass said once made college feel like the only acceptable option.
Reporting from Arkansas, New York and New Jersey shows young welders, electricians and auto-tech students weighing hands-on work against the lingering prestige gap that still favors college.

Sources

With AI threatening office jobs, are skilled trades becoming Gen Z's safest path to a six-figure salary?

Why are companies cutting junior office roles while investing millions to train new skilled trade workers?

As college costs soar, is trade school becoming the new, more accessible path to the American Dream?

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