Human Capital Contracts

Talking about this idea of “human capital” in class today reminded me of this article I read a couple of weeks ago:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/instead-of-student-loans-investing-in-futures/

Basically a couple of companies have started offering these “human capital contracts” to college students. These contracts act as a sort of loan whereby students are expected to pay back a certain percentage of their salary once they graduate. Companies are investing in these students and their expected contributions and value in the labor market.

The good side about this kind of investment is that once in the labor force, you are only expected to pay what you can and are not struggling to meet those loan payments. On the other hand, you are essentially being treated as a commodity and selling your shares to companies who invest in your knowledge and skillset, expecting economic returns.

Although Bourdieu did not speak directly about human capital, he did talk about cultural capital and the importance of knowledge as a factor of one’s class as well as social capital, which focuses on a network of individuals and implies that one should invest in relationships with others and that these strong social ties are essential in economic success. Personally, I think this kind of human capital is great. It allows students who would have otherwise been unable to pay for college to get the chance to earn their cultural capital. I also think this sort of investment involves a large degree of faith that these students will pay back to their communities and schools. Although I think this idea of human capital is a freakish and scary thing, when done right, I think it can also be something that society can benefit from as a whole as these students venture out into the world with a sense of social responsibility.

It's a really interesting article, check it out!