Thousands of Jewish young people, who have neither the desire nor aptitude for advanced study are attending college because of “irrational fears” of “status-conscious” parents and that the lack of a college education will create social and professional stigmas in the children’s adult lives, a Jewish vocational expert has charged here.
Dr. S. Norman Feingold, director of the B’nai B’rith Vocational Service, said also that such Jewish parents must be educated not to push such children toward careers requiring college degrees. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Vocational Service’s professional staff, Dr. Feingold said that one result was that the Jewish community “may have many unhappy third-rate pharmacists and engineers instead of productive first-rate carpenters or salesmen.”
Dr. Feingold said that the traditional Jewish reverence for scholarship was one motivating factor among parents but added that “there are too many instances where a Jewish youngster, showing no desire or aptitude for advanced study, is made to attend college – any college – because his parents believe he will not be fully accepted by his Jewish peers without a college diploma.”
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