Is a forestry education worth it?
October 6th, 2012 | Posted in Forestry Education | 2 comments »
The Globe and Mail published a story yesterday about the problems facing university educations and shared interviews with innovators who are trying to solve these problems.
Within the comprehensive feature, there are statistics on those who chose a forestry education, and how their careers measured up to those who chose other University educations.
These stats are based on the 2006 census data. The combined average income of all listed fields (male and female) is $42,176
Forestry Education – Male
- Forestry Education – Female
Sources: Arthur Sweetman, Sarah Wang, StatsCan Research Data Centre at McMaster University and the 2006 Census
Notes:
1 The combined average income of all listed fields (male and female) is $42,176
2 Calculated based on the bottom 20th percentile of earnings
3 Calculated based on the top 80th percentile of earnings
To see how other university educations measured up, visit The Globe and Mail’s article – Transforming the ivory tower: The case for a new postsecondary education system
uummmm…NO.
Just so there is no misunderstanding. Not all people with a forestry education wind up with a loggin job. There is a ton of work that requires a forestry background prior to employment. For example, working as a wild fire ranger or a forest officer for the government, which actually puts you above average for pay in both male a female catagories; Guardians/patrol people; forestry instructors; feild instructors; block layout and environmental consultants to name a few all benificial from having a background in forestry. In same cases it is required. Having this background provides significant decision makers with an understanding of how the forest works, ecology, ecosystems and current trends in things such as plant diseases which affect all Canadians. So I am completely for getting a forestry dimploma. I have a university degree as well and I went back for forestry it changed my whole perspective on forests and how the industry works for example, companies with the rights to timber are only allowed a certain amount of cutting per year to keep the industry and ecosystems sustainable. And not that I completely advocate clear cutting, because there are a number or more ecologically sustainable methods, but logging companies are required to replace every tree cut down and monitor their growth to ensure positive re-establishment for areas that are being reclaimed. Not to mention a number of companies only cut trees in the winter so the soil is not disturbed to provide viable soil for newly planted and developed trees. Oh yah… and I forgot to mention…trees grow back. It may not be the way it was, but if you want people to stop cutting trees… stop using toilet paper.