[Economist] 路径依赖（一）

新坑，依旧是终身学习的文章~

Pathway dependency

路径依赖

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How to turn a qualification into a salary
如何将学历转化为薪水

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IS designed to act as a slipway, launching students into the widerworld in the expectation that the currents will guide them into a job. In practice, many people get stuckin the doldrums because employers demand evidence of specific experience even from entry-level candidates. Whether this counts as a skills gap is a matter of debate. “If I cannot find a powerful, fuel-efficient, easy-to-park car for $15,000, that doesn’t mean there is a car shortage,” says Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. But whether the fault lies with the educators or the employers, there is a need for pathways that lead individuals into jobs.
大学教育的设计如同船台滑道一般，将学生送入广阔的世界中去然后指望潮流将他们带向工作岗位。实际上，许多人会一开始就陷入低潮，因为即使是对于初入社会的求职者而言，用人单位也希望其拥有一定的工作经验。这是否属于技能鸿沟仍待讨论。Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 的 Peter Cappelli“不能因为我花$15,000美元找不到一辆马力强劲，油耗低，方便停车的汽车，就说市场上车辆存货紧张。”但不论这个问题是出在教育机构还是用人单位身上，现在确实存在对于将求职者送入岗位的路径需求。

Sometimes those pathways are clearly defined, as in medicine and the law. Vocational education combines classroom and work-based learning to prepare young people for specific trades. In many European countries, one-third to half of later-stage secondary schoolgoers are on a vocational path (see chart). Britain is due to introduce an apprenticeship levy in April.
有时这些路径的存在又是如此的清晰明了，比如医学和法律这些职业。假期教育结合了课堂以及实习来为某些行业的年轻人做好就业准备。在许多欧洲国家，三分之一到一半的后课堂学习是通过假期教育进行的。英国将在四月份开始征收学徒税。

But pathways are needed to smooth transitions in other countries (America, for example, lacks a tradition of vocational education); in less structured occupations; and when formal education has come to an end. The nanodegree is an example of such a pathway, as is General Assembly’s bootcamp model. Both rely heavily on input from employers to create content; both use jobs rather than credentials as a measure of success.
但是这些路径在其他国家需要一个自然的转变（比如美国，就缺少假期教育的传统），在那些不是很系统化的职业上。特别是当完成了学校的正式教育之后。正如General Assembly 的成功之道一般，微学位是一个很好的方式。他们都严重依赖用人单位来提供教学内容，也同样适用就业率而非学位来评价成功与否。

That is particularly important in the early stages of people’s careers, which is not just when they lack experience but also when earnings grow fastest. An analysis of American wage growth by economists at the NewYork Federal Reserve showed that the bulk of earnings growth tookplace between the ages of 25 and 35; on average, after the age of 45 only the top 2% of lifetime earners see any earnings growth. So it is vital for people to move quickly into work once qualified, and to hold on to jobs once they get them.
这点尤为重要，特别是在求职者的入门阶段，不仅仅是因为他们缺乏经验，更因为这是他们工资增长最快的阶段。NewYork Federal Reserve 的经济学家的一项分析指出，美国人的工资增长最快的年纪在 25 到 35 之间，一般而言，上了 45 岁之后只有 2% 的全职工作者能获得工资上的增长。所以对于求职者而言，在满足资质之后快速进入工作岗位，并且维持住稳定的工作就变得极端重要。