Certain students may no longer receive the same loan for their studies as what counts as "professional" will determine how much they get.

Anyone notice what these “non-professional” degrees have in common?

Nursing
Physician assistants
Physical therapists
Audiologists
Architects
Accountants
Educators
Social workers

Here’s a hint, look at the two least obvious ones:

43% of new architects are women:

https://www.ncarb.org/blog/new-architects-are-increasingly-diverse-explore-updated-demographics-data

And 60% of all accountants:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/accountant/demographics/

This is clearly a plan to minimize career paths for women.

Edit What the heck, lets check the rest of them…

92% of audiologists are women:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/audiologist/demographics/

88.8% of nurses:

https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/fact-sheets/nursing-workforce-fact-sheet

75% of physician assistants:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/physician-assistant/demographics/

70% of physical therapists:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/physical-therapist/demographics/

77% of educators:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/24/key-facts-about-public-school-teachers-in-the-u-s/

81% of social workers:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/social-worker/demographics/

  • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
    7·
    8 hours ago

    I’m a state-licensed engineer, a professional engineer…

    Even if your other points were valid, this has direct impact on people’s income for years after they graduate.

    I’ll go further and point out that in general, we need art as well as science, not one vs the other.

    E: No dude, look at how the word is defined: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professional, licensed or not, engineering or any degree requiring training is professional.

    • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
      22·
      10 hours ago

      I was interpreting the quoted text as encompassing all engineering fields, e.g., EE, mechanical, computer, etc.

      If that’s not the case and this is for specific professional engineering degrees then yep, I certainly agree with you.

        • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
          11·
          7 hours ago

          A professional degree is historically different from an academic degree though. Math, chemistry, physics, biology, computer science—these typically produce (well compensated!) professionals, but they are not professional schools.

          I am professional; I get paid to do the kinds of things that I did in grad school. But afaik no one would say I hold a professional degree.

          All of this is besides the point of course—our student loan system shouldn’t disqualify people based on these sorts of semantics.

          • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
            2·
            7 hours ago

            Using the same wiki you’ve linked, notice the word “accreditation” as key to the concept of a professional degree, with which you’ll then note all engineers who graduate in the US must be. Yes, all. ABET is our accreditation body. Thus, we are professional by your own definition.

            Beyond that, one can also be licensed, but that is already in addition to already being an accredited professional by way of at least an accredited baccalaureate.

            Finally, I’m going to be a little rude here, this example of useless pedantry is particularly why I left academia with prejudice. It’s been nice educating you on these unimportant minutea, take care.