Misrepresentation of Expected Income
Is it permissable for an instructor to divuldge what he/she has made in their career to students enrolled in the course, or should it be handled in general terms?
Amy - this is good information to see under the new regulations. It's nice to hear about the discussions these statistics are generating.
We show them the expected income from the Onet website. This gives statistics for starting wages and more "experienced" wages, based on statistics for every area of the United States. This way, we are not randomly throwing out numbers or having instructors talking about how much they made in the field. This opens discussion about why wages are higher in some areas of the country than others.
At my former place of employment I had taken one of the programs offered there, while still being an employee. This is a perfect question that I too wish I had clarification on. I often wondered what would be the appropriate response to this question when prospective students were informed of my prior enrollment and completion of the program they had an inquiry about. I considered whether or not I should indulge in the knowledge and experience that I had encounter or not. I felt this way because it made me question whether or not I would be in compliance because of the department I worked in. In the end my response was more to the general term. I would inform them that although I had my perspective of this field its always a matter of the individuals interpretation and results they receive once they complete and enter the field of study. I wish we had a discuss at my former place of employment to assist with specefic question such as this one.
I agree I do not think salary history should be shared with students.
As for my thoughts on this subject, I do not think a good idea to discuss with students. I would encourage them to research on thier own.
We would not want anything to be misinterpreted incorrectly by the student . This could open up many areas of concern when it comes to staying compliant.
I think it should be permissable to a point. I think they should keep it general and not just go to the highest amount they have made in the past. I have seen some instructors jump to the highest amounts right off the bat. Many of the instructors have years or even decades of experience. I think they should give them information about when they started and certain milestones in their career. I do not think they should tell students what they are currently making under no circumstances.
it should be handled in more general terms, never a good thing to discuss salaries.students should be referred to federal/state websites that provide salary information independantly.
It should not be permissable for an instructor to divuldge their salary throughout their career to students. I believe it should be handled in general terms, explained that the students will be starting in entry-level positions and to get accurate data they should do their research and visit sites like bls.gov, etc.
Being an Advisor in Career Services, if an instructor gave one of my students misleading salary information, it would directly impact my ability to assist them in finding a position in their field. If they had misleading salary information, they may turn down viable positions that I would have for them.
I believe it should be handled in a general statement. Each person has a different work ethic and practice and you can not compare that to anything but a base starting point.
I am not an instructor, but if the instructor feels comfortable aswering the question, I think that it would be fine.
BLS is a great place to get information about a career. It breaks it out with an overview, training and education, what the field will look like in the next decade and potential earnings.
I agree. We are teaching the students and also training them how to operate in a business situation. It is not appropriate to discuss personal wages. The school shows the student the median income for their profession when they enroll. Also there is so much information available on the internet that they can research it for themselves.
I really like your suggestion to have the students do their own research online. Here again we are redirecting them to gain skills that will serve them later, rather than giving them a fish...
It is best to speak in general terms. If you divulge personal information regarding your salary, you would be divulging your salary as an experienced worker. If you state what you use to make that too is misleading for the pay scale was much different back then.........Assign an activity to the students to search online through the Dept of labor or salary.com to explore possible salaries.
Absolutely, I always speak in terms of perhaps what the average was when I started, or such, in comparison to the average now. I don't speak in specifics because there are so many factors involved; the type of office, the location of the office, the person's experience and education,including that which they obtained prior to the program, certifications they have obtained and so forth.
I agree 100%. I think that too many issues have arisen from instructors being too personal with students and we must show students how to be professional. Some of them have absoulutely no experience with professional behavior. I also agree with the statement about there being too many variables - entry wages, location, experience, etc. which could be very misleading.
I would believe it best to not divulge exact information as there are far too many variables involved that can determine an individuals income. I say it best to set realistic expectations and divulge what to expect at the entry level.
No it is not permissable to discuss, Instructors should not discuss expected income
Redirecting the question to encourage additional result is a great suggestion. Salary is important yet it is not everything. I like to ask more questions to find out really what is important to the student. There are many ways to measure success and fulfill needs.
