Human Capital For Money

INTRODUCTION

People's incomes, in part, reflect choices they have made about education, training, skill development, and careers. People with few skills are more likely to be poor. Though adult life may seems very far away, it is important to help you make the connection between your choices now and your success later in life. Investing in human capital makes sense for individuals just as investing in physical capital makes sense for businesses. In each case, investment now pays off later--in improved productivity for businesses and, typically, in higher wages or salaries for individuals.

TASK

In this lesson you will identify the relationship between levels of education and wages or salary, and locate information about median income and education levels of a given occupation or career. You will also define human capital, and identify the skills, knowledge, and training (human capital) people will need for various jobs in the future.

PROCESS

The first part of this lesson introduces you to the terms human capital, occupation, salary, and wages. Part two of this lesson provides the you an opportunity to compare selected careers including median salary and education statistics. The final part of this lesson provides a vehicle for you to research and report a career or occupation of interest. The process will be an online reporting form that will produce a Career of Choice report that you will be able to print out and turn into your teacher.

Part 1:

1. You should become introduced to the terms human capital, occupation, wage, and salary.
2. Use the following activity to test your understanding of the terms discussed in class.

 

3. Now review the answers to the economic terms activity that you just took.

Part 2:

1. Print the Career Information Sheets and visit the Occupational Outlook Handbook web site to fill in the missing information.

Once at the site, you should type in one of the following occupations in the "Search by Occupation" space: physician, teacher, data entry, and firefighter. Once the search results come up, you should select the one with the written title of the job. Other selections will come up, however, these are pdf files and will bring up the text from the actual book. The summary given when the job title is selected is the place you will most likely find the information you are looking for.

2. Now share your results with another classmate share. Then take a moment to answer the following questions.

Once you have completed the activity you may print out your answers and turn them into your teacher.

A link to the Occupational Outlook Handbook

 

Part 3:

1. Now investigate a career of your choice using the same web-site Occupational Outlook Handbook and locating the same information on the Career Information Sheet.

CONCLUSION

With a partner share something you learned from the lesson using one or more of the following terms in your answer: human capital, occupation, wage, or salary.

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

In this Multiple Choice Activity read the sentences and the terms and think about their meaning. Choose the term that best illustrates, explains or gives an example of the sentence that is stated.