Clown Journalism & the Comedy of Higher Ed Reporting
I want to thank the magazine Fortune, not for good journalism but for its avalanche of REALLY BAD higher ed articles. You see, there’s a journalistic conspiracy against higher ed, a conspiracy to frame — intentionally — universities and colleges in a stark, negative, and false light. However, I sometimes think, “You’re crazy! There’s no conspiracy. First Amendment writers are ALWAYS truthful, balanced, and well-researched.” But then Fortune takes another crap on higher ed, and reality — the conspiracy — is proven all over again (thank you Fortune!).
As part of the conspiracy, Fortune recently published this story about “Gen Z men” turning away from college:
Three implications are baked into this article’s title:
- A generation of men[1] are turning away from college.[2]
- Becoming a chef (vs. college) will make you six-figures rich.
- Rich, successful chefs are debt-free successes.
The article also raises an important counter-question (which we’ll get to in a minute):
- What are Gen Z “women” up to: college or kitchen?
So is the Fortune title true? Are “Gen Z men … turning to the kitchen instead of college”? Or is this title filled with implications that are both misleading and poorly researched?[3]
The Magical, Mislead-ability of Titles
Title Implication #1: A generation of men are turning away from college.
Yes, fewer men go to college than women, but this is old news. College women have generally outnumbered college men since the late 70s when about 200,000 more women were enrolled in college. And in terms of college graduation, the gender gap has been consistent for the last 20 years.
So in higher ed, the “turning away” trend (for men) has been going on for nearly 50 years.
And yes, the enrollment gap has continued over the last decade. Between 2010 and 2021, male enrollment decreased by 17 percent (from 7.8 million to 6.5 million students) and female enrollment decreased by 13 percent (from 10.2 million to 8.9 million students). Today, according to the Pew Research Center, 47% of U.S. women ages 25 to 34 have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 37% of men.
However, there’s two VERY IMPORTANT things you need to know about college enrollment and the gender gap, things that are glaringly omitted from the Fortune article:
#1. Gen Zers are NOT turning away from college (and a little research would’ve proven it!)
Fortune says that “young workers” and “Gen Zers” (not just men) are turning away from college and choosing trade professions:
Young workers no longer aspire to white-collar jobs,[4] typing away in temperate-controlled offices. Disillusioned with the high costs of college and sluggish job opportunities, more Gen Z are turning to trade professions.
To support this, Fortune cites a 2024 study conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Intuit Credit Karma. That study states:
About 78% of Americans[5] have noticed a rising interest in these [trade] jobs among young adults. … It’s difficult to imagine a resurgence in blue-collar work without the acknowledgement of the fraught nature of the higher education system in the United States, which has many people wondering if the expense is worth it.
What’s SHOCKING about the Fortune article and the Intuit poll is that both neglect to mention this: college enrollment has been INCREASING since 2022! Good journalism (you’d think) would’ve included these (easily findable) fall 2024 enrollment numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center:
- Postsecondary enrollment rebounded above pre-COVID levels (+0.4%, +83,000 from 2019).
- Total postsecondary enrollment is up 4.5 percent this fall (+817,000; Figure 1.2). Undergraduate enrollment neared 16 million, just 1.0 percent below 2019 levels (+4.7%, +716,000 this fall), while graduate enrollment grew to 3.2 million (+3.3%, +100,000).
- Freshmen enrollment grew 5.5 percent this fall (+130,000; see Figure 3.1). Building on last fall’s increases, the growth was strongest at community colleges, which added 63,000 freshmen (+7.1%). Overall 18-year-old freshmen also saw enrollment gains this fall (+3.4%, +59,000).
#2. A generation of men are NOT “turning to the kitchen”
Fewer male enrollments (vs. women) doesn’t mean no college enrollments. As of fall 2024, 6.3M men were enrolled in post-secondary education. Framed another way, Fortune could have also reported that:
Over 6 Million Gen Z men are turning to higher education instead of the kitchen
In fact, despite the assertion that “more Gen Z [men] are turning to trade professions,” the opposite is equally true: more Gen Z men are TURNING TO COLLEGE! According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, male enrollment in higher education has been INCREASING since 2022. And in fall 2024, undergraduate male enrollment reached its highest total in 5 years:
Title Implication #2: Becoming a chef (vs. college) will make you six-figures rich.
Fortune asserts that:
Men are becoming truck drivers and chefs — and can earn over $170,000.
This is a very tenuous and “thruthy” assertion. It’s similar to the assertion that, in light of Elon Musk’s net worth, male entrepreneurs “can earn” over $368 billion. On the surface, this statement is fundamentally true, but how true — i.e., nearly impossible — is patently obvious. What’s NOT patently obvious is the answer to this:
How realistic is a $170,000 payday for chefs and truck drivers?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for “Chefs and Head Cooks” is $58,920, with the highest 10% earning $93,900 or more. For “Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers,” the median annual wage is $54,320, with the highest 10% earning $76,780 or more.[6]
So in asserting that “Gen Z men are turning to the kitchen … [and] can make $170,000,” Fortune is relying on the most extreme, rare, and outlying national[7] data. A more honest, realistic, and less misleading article title would be this:
Gen Z men are turning to the kitchen instead of college — they will earn on average about $58,000
Title Implication #3: Rich, successful chefs are debt-free successes.
According to Fortune:
[T]he most intriguing job is working in the kitchen. Professional chefs[8] can rake in up to $173,000 a year — no college degree required.
So that $170,000 payday mentioned in the title … it’s (surprise!) more than just “kitchen” work. In truth, you need to also be working in the kitchen as a “professional” chef.
So how does one become a professional chef? According to this pitch from the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts:
It’s true that some successful chefs are high school graduates with no formal training. You could look at that fact and assume your level of education is irrelevant to becoming a chef, but you would be mistaken. Plenty of the food world’s most successful chefs got their education in culinary school.
So true, “no college degree required,” but to become a successful, $170,000 “professional” chef, a “culinary degree” might be required. But is culinary school free? While Fortune asserts that “Gen Z men are turning to the kitchen … without the burden of student debt,” JPMorgan Chase leads you to think otherwise:
The average cost of tuition at culinary school constantly changes and highly depends on where you go to school. A few examples of the cost of culinary school for the 2024–25 school year include:
-Arizona Culinary Institute, Opens overlay — $29,500 for a diploma in culinary arts, baking, and restaurant management
-Institute of Culinary Education New York City campus, Opens overlay — $39,000 to $43,250 in tuition and fees for an 8 to 12-month program
-The Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park campus, Opens overlay — $21,660 per semester for tuition, room and board, and fees for both associate and bachelor’s degrees
Thus, to become a professional chef AND earn $170,000, it might first cost you $30K to $40K. And despite Fortune’s narrative to the contrary, his debt-burden is very similar to the debt-burden of college.[9] Because just like college, culinary (and trade) school can put you on the hook for thousands of dollars in student loans:[10]
You can get financial aid for culinary school. The first step towards getting aid is to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®). FAFSA® covers culinary school if the school is accredited and a part of the federal financial aid program. By filing for FAFSA®, you become eligible for aid like federal grants, student loans, and work-study programs.
The Question: What are Gen Z “women” up to?
So what does this all mean for Gen Z women?
It 100% means this: if there’s a college gender gap that’s disfavorable to men, there must be a college gender gap that’s FAVORABLE to women. Thus, the following title is true:
Gen Z women are turning to college instead of the kitchen — they can make $170,000 without the burden of student debt
This is reaffirmed by the Pew Research Center, which reports that:
The share of young women with a bachelor’s degree [in 2024] has increased by 22 percentage points since 1995, from 25% to 47%.
Despite this, Fortune inserts its negative spin by lumping women into the no-college narrative.[11] It asserts that Gen Z, regardless of gender, “is picking trade jobs over college degrees”:
News of suffocating student loan debt and rising university costs have left a sour taste in the mouth of Gen Z.
But this assertion is wholly inconsistent with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which reports that higher education enrollment for women (like college enrollment for men) has been on the rise (not “souring”) since 2022, reaching 8,675,713 in 2024 (+4.1% vs. 2023).
Fiction & Journalism Are Becoming Indistinguishable
Any way you look at it, this terrible title from Fortune …
Gen Z men are turning to the kitchen instead of college — they can make $170,000 without the burden of student debt
… is just yellow journalism (i.e., using eye-catching headlines and sensationalized exaggerations for increased sales). Because the implications baked into this title are either incorrect or misleading or simply absurd:
- A generation of men are turning away from college. (NOPE because male enrollment is actually rising, AND 6.3 million men are currently enrolled in higher education)
- Becoming a chef (vs. college) will make you six-figures rich. (NOPE because $170,000 is an extremely rare salary, unless (maybe) you pick up and move to Hawaii where chef’s make more money but there are fewer jobs)
- Rich, successful chefs are debt-free successes. (NOPE because a culinary education (which you’ll probably need in order to be a $170,000 “professional” chef) isn’t a free education)
At best, Fortune’s title is “truthy.” Here’s what’s actually true: there’s definitely a gender gap between college men and college women (something higher ed needs to better address). For the last 50 years (and today as well), more and more women have been choosing a college education, outpacing male enrollment. Fortune attempts to deny these positive gains for women, implying that Gen Z (both men and women) are turning away from college. To the contrary, women are thriving in higher education, with female enrollment reaching 8,675,713 in 2024 (+4.1% vs. 2023).
With women sitting on the gender gap’s positive side, publications like Fortune continue to focus mostly on the male side, portraying the negative in a very male-positive light … i.e., less men in college means more thriving men (especially in the trades). Maybe it’s sexism (I don’t know), but rarely do publications focus on the upper/positive side of the gender gap, where more women in college means more thriving women.[12]
Note: The rest of Fortune’s article discusses “Why Gen Z is picking trade jobs over college degrees.” I’ve talked more than enough about this hit piece, its poor research, and its misleading information. You’re welcome to stop here. However, if you’re interested, footnote [13] takes a deeper look at Fortune’s “incomplete” attempt to elevate “trade jobs” over “college degrees.”
[1] This issue is more complex than simply “men.” While it’s typically framed solely as a gender issue, there’s a racial aspect that often goes unmentioned. According to the Pew Research Center:
The gender gap in bachelor’s degree completion appears in every major racial or ethnic group, though the size of the gap varies widely.
Today, White (52% of women vs. 42% of men), Black (38% of women vs. 26% of men) and Hispanic (31% of women vs. 22% of men) women outpace men in college completion. The same is true for Asian women, but that gap is much smaller. As reported by Pew Research:
The pattern is different for Asian adults, with women and men making comparable gains over the last few decades. In 1995, 42% of young Asian women and men had a bachelor’s degree. Today, 77% of young Asian women have one, as do 71% of young Asian men.
[2] How many of these no-college men are turning away from life in general? Fortune implies that lower college enrollment must automatically equal a boon for something else, for example blue-collar jobs or trade school. But according to the “Broad Recovery, Persistent Inequity: Youth Disconnection in America” report, which was published last October by Measure of America, 4,343,600 out of 39,830,300 teens and young adults 16–24 years old are “disconnected,” meaning they’re NEITHER WORKING NOR IN SCHOOL. Of these “disconnected” youth:
Girls and young women are less likely to be disconnected than boys and young men, 10.6 percent versus 11.2 percent.
Also of note: the second and third highest indicators of Gen Z “connectedness” (behind #1. “Asian”) are one’s attainment of (#2) a bachelor’s degree (or higher) or (#3) an associates degree.
[3] While I believe college is for everyone and everyone can benefit from college, anything I say here IS NOT intended to degrade trade schools or trade school students. However, when the media writes about the trades, they don’t write with the sole goal of highlighting the trades. Instead, their goals are twofold: 1) elevate trade schools and, in the same breath, 2) devalue higher education.
[4] It’s an odd thing for a publication to say that “young workers no longer aspire to white-collar jobs” when that publication is built upon (and pretty much only hires) a staff of “white-collar” workers. So if “young workers no longer aspire to white-collar jobs,” this means Fortune either a) can’t find any “young workers” and/or b) has shifted their hiring to chefs, truck drivers, carpenters, and electricians.
[5] What exactly is meant by “Americans” when a study says:
“A majority (78%) of Americans say they’ve noticed a recent growing interest from young adults to pursue trade careers.”?
One would think “Americans” encompasses the 342M people that live in the U.S. But in this instance, a “majority of Americans” reflects an Intuit Credit Karma study that was conducted “among 2,091 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.” This survey pool (a majority?) represents just 0.0006% of “Americans.” Moreover, at 78% (of the survey pool), just 1630 “Americans” have actually “noticed a recent growing interest from young adults to pursue trade careers.” Being just 0.00047% of the U.S. population, 1630 Americans is the equivalent of half of one seat in the University of Michigan’s 107,601 seat football stadium.
[6] Fortune announces in big, bold letters that:
However, once you get past the flashy sales pitch, you find out that Fortune isn’t really selling what it says it’s selling:
While the work can be grueling, they can promise high-paying salaries. Truck drivers can make between $62,000 to $101,000 a year,* but tout long hours and weeks away from home. Construction laborers typically earn up to $62,000 annually, and first-line supervisors bring home between $56,000 and $94,000.
But the most intriguing job is working in the kitchen. Professional chefs can rake in up to $173,000 a year — no college degree required. And while working their way up the blue-collar totem pole, funneling into cook roles in the back of restaurants, these men can earn about $47,000.**
*Citing data from Glassdoor. What Fortune neglects to print is that these Glassdoor salary ranges can be further parsed out based on years of experience. For example, truck drivers who have worked 10–14 years have a lower salary range of between $55,000 to $88,000 a year.
**For the role of “Cook,” Fortune neglects to mention that according to Glassdoor, $47,000 is the upper tier of the salary range (not the average). If we’re gonna focus on extremes, it’s also true that the role of “Cook” can earn $36,000, which is the lower extreme of this salary range.
[7] In touting a huge payday (i.e., $170,000) for chefs, Fortune leads you to believe that this payday is universally obtainable in every city and state. However, Fortune’s big payday is based on “national” averages, meaning specific salaries will skew much higher or much lower in different locations. Thus, for a chef, the ability to reach $170,000 will be much easier in a Los Angeles kitchen and more difficult in a Dayton kitchen.
Take for example Hawaii vs. Texas. In each state, how realistic is Fortune’s assertion that men in the kitchen can earn $170,000? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hawaii–with an annual mean wage of $99,520–is the top paying state for chefs and head cooks. However, if you’re a chef working in Texas, the annual mean wage is much lower … $ 52,950. Here, you can see the issue: on the road to $170,000, men in Texas kitchens (where there are more jobs) have a much steeper climb than men in Hawaiian kitchens (where there are actually fewer jobs).
[8] Fortune admits the distinction between “cooks” and “professional chefs” and fully acknowledges that “cooks” (i.e., many of the men who turn to the kitchen) earn much less than the mythical $170,000:
While working their way up the blue-collar totem pole, funneling into cook roles in the back of restaurants, these men can earn about $47,000.
[9] “Student debt” is a very misleading narrative in the argument FOR trade school and AGAINST college. Typically, “student debt” is offered as a big number, then tethered directly to higher education. At the same time, trade school is offered as a magically “free-ish” alternative. However, what’s purposefully omitted is that “student debt” isn’t just college debt; it’s also trade-school debt.
For example, in Tulsa, my hometown, the full cost of attending Tulsa Welding School ranges from $ 21,760 to $26,880, with another $13,000 to $20,000 for cost-of-living expenses (e.g., living, travel, and personal). So for a 7-month program, the total cost on the low end is about $35,000; on the high end, it’s about $47,000.
So how does one pay (in just 7 months) these $35,000 to $47,000 in costs? One way, according to Tulsa Welding School, is through … student loans! As a trade school, they actually point prospective students back to FAFSA, same as every college and university in America.
[10] According to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts financial aid page:
The majority of our students rely on financial aid to attend the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, and you can too!
These forms of financial aid include Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal Direct Parent PLUS loans.
[11] While Fortune touts a big payday for Gen Z men “in the kitchen” — -$170,000 to be exact — the publication isn’t as generous with non-degreed Gen Z women. According to Fortune:
Their [women] top roles revolve around communication skills and caregiving — historically female occupations, which are paid less compared to degree-less men’s top roles. Customer service representatives can earn up to $56,000 annually. Meanwhile, cashiers make upwards of $50,000 yearly, and waitresses bring in $66,000.
However, Fortune then tries to up the ante with this assertion:
[N]ursing is hot among young women without degrees. Many roles in the profession don’t require a bachelor’s and can pay anywhere from $66,000 to $119,000 annually.
To support this $66,000 to $119,000 salary range for “many roles in the profession,” Fortune cites Glassdoor’s salary data for the very broad “Nurse,” which makes no distinction between degreed or non-degreed nursing. However, for the more specific “Certified Nursing Assistant” (a non-degreed role), Glassdoor lists the salary range as $41,000 to $53,000.
[12] From Beyond College Access:
The surge in the number of women in college has far-reaching implications for various aspects of our society. From a workforce perspective, the increasing educational attainment of women signals a potential shift in the dynamics of various industries and professions. As more women acquire advanced degrees, their representation in leadership positions and traditionally male-dominated fields is expected to increase, contributing to a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Moreover, the rising number of educated women has profound implications for the economy. Studies have shown that higher levels of female educational attainment are associated with overall economic growth and development. By equipping women with the knowledge and skills gained through higher education, society stands to benefit from a more skilled and innovative workforce.
[13] In explaining ““Why Gen Z is picking trade jobs over college degrees,” Fortune cites this data to prove Gen Z is “turning to trade school”:
[E]nrollment in vocational-focused community colleges rose 16% in 2023, according to 2024 data from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Hold on! There’s a HUGE problem here. In citing the National Student Clearinghouse, Fortune seems selectively and willfully blind to any counter data … even though that data has been prominently and specifically reported by the National Student Clearinghouse. According the National Student Clearinghouse’s most recent report (January 23, 2025):
[U]ndergraduate enrollment increased by 4.7%, reaching nearly 16 million students, just slightly below 2019 levels. Freshman enrollment saw a larger overall increase of 5.5%, adding 130,000 new students, with 63,000 enrolling at community colleges. Graduate enrollment also grew, reaching 3.2 million with an additional 100,000 students.
So right now, citing the National Student Clearinghouse’s 2025 data, one could just as easily say (using the same reasoning as Fortune) that MORE students are picking college degrees OVER trade jobs. In fact, based on the data, for every 10 enrollees in a vocational-focused community college (923K total students/2024), there’s about 130 students “picking” a public 4-year or private nonprofit 4-year institution (11.6M total students/2024).
But wait … there’s more!!! Fortune also writes:
Trade jobs can … promise better work-life balance. Laborers describe striking the right balance between their jobs and hobbies, family, and other fulfilling pursuits.
Oddly, this completely contradicts something written earlier in Fortune’s article:
Truck drivers can make between $62,000 to $101,000 a year, but tout long hours and weeks away from home.
Moreover, the assertion that “trade jobs can also promise better work-life balance” is an extremely broad, lazy, and fuzzy generalization. So is it ALL trade jobs “promise better work-life balance,” or is it something more nuanced? What about (specifically) Fortune’s big homeruns for non-degreed women … nursing (i.e., “nursing is hot among young women without degrees”) … and non-degreed men … cooking (i.e., “Gen Z men are turning to the kitchen instead of college”)? In these fields, what does work-life balance honestly and realistically look like?
The decline in nurse quality of work life (QWL) can be attributed to various factors, including stress and burnout. The heavy workload and insufficient number of nurses are contributing factors to the stress and burnout experienced by nurses. … Studies have shown that nurse stress and burnout can vary from hospital to hospital and unit to unit, which in turn can have an impact on nurses’ quality of work life. For instance, nurses in teaching and tertiary hospitals experience higher levels of stress compared to those in non-teaching hospitals. This could be attributed to longer working hours and heavier workloads in teaching hospitals, which are caused by the demands of student teaching programs and workplace requirements. …. Nursing is one of the professions that provides 24-hour services in hospitals, which requires nurses to work in shifts. Notably, nurses who work rotating shifts, particularly night shifts, tend to report lower QWL scores than nurses who work other shifts. The challenges associated with night shifts, such as the emotional distress of leaving home and children at night, limited family time, and increased fatigue, contribute to these lower QWL scores. — Sibuea ZM, Sulastiana M, Fitriana E. Factor Affecting the Quality of Work Life Among Nurses: A Systematic Review. J Multidiscip Healthc. 2024 Feb 2;17:491–503. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S446459. PMID: 38328635; PMCID: PMC10849054.
Most chefs would agree that life as a chef is not always easy. Chefs often work under very stressful conditions due to different reasons which could affect their personal life. Some of the reasons include a stressful working environment (higher consumer expectations) and long hours of work with no proper rest breaks, low pay, and no work-life balance. Contributing to these stress factors is the militaristic environment many commercial kitchens still operate in today. … [T]he problem with this approach is that the hierarchy is not necessarily designed to make working in a kitchen easier, or more supportive for chefs. Previous research studies have proven that a militaristic nature of systems has been linked to higher stress levels among kitchen staff, which increased the health risks associated with the profession. — Chefs, Commercial Kitchens, and Stress: Could Socio-Demographic Factors such as Personality, Age, and Gender Influence the Stress Level of a Chef? by Wonda Grobbelaar. World Association of Chefs Societies.
