Last Tuesday, I graduated from the University of Guelph. I didn’t get my parchment, though, because I still owe them $80. The bagpipes were cool, and they gave us some free snacks after. I told my family and my boyfriend that we all had to eat at least $80 worth of cheese just to make it even.
Martha Billes, the University’s Chancellor, told us all how she landed a seat on the board of Canadian Tire in her address to the graduating class. This is how it went, more or less: There wasn’t room in the boy’s club for a young woman. After going to University and doing some research for Lever, her father decided it was time, and handed over his board seat to her. The company went on to do great philanthropic things, and all was well. Grab the opportunities that come your way, she said. Because life will throw you curveballs and you never know what great things can happen. If you care to know the fuller version, you can read all about it here.
The graduating class gave a great collective snort of derision, as we remembered that we’re generally making less than previous generations, that average student debt continues to rise, and that the opportunities life offers us will likely not include a seat on the board of one of Canada’s most cherished corporations.
Although I doubt it was intended as such, Chancellor Billes’s address was a bitter cautionary tale against assuming that the privileges that have been afforded to you will be afforded to everyone, or even most people. She forgot that when she was talking to us, and as a result gave a tone-deaf and insensitive speech. I spent the rest of the ceremony thinking about how easy it would be for us to go forth and make the same mistake.
Just over 64% of Canadians have some post-secondary certification, but only 5.1% of Canadians have a Master’s degree. This is something we should remember in case one day we’re invited to give a similar pep talk. The bad luck of our generation is real, even for the most educated of us. Some of us may face poverty. Some of us might not be able to find jobs in our field. But according to Statistics Canada, people with a “university certificate, diploma or degree above the bachelor level” have an average income of $79,010 a year, which is far above the nation-wide average of $46,057, and is $16,647 dollars higher than the average earnings for people in the bachelor’s degree category.
Averages can’t ever tell the whole story, but as we leave school, we should reflect on the ways our families and the positions we’ve occupied socially have allowed us to pursue higher education. We should also think about how we will use the extraordinary privilege that we have. Just as Chancellor Billes didn’t just happen upon the chair at Canadian Tire, very few of us simply happened upon a Master’s degree. Here’s hoping we’ll be able to approach our good fortune with humility and real, practical commitment to leveling the field.
Edith Wilson 