The problem? Underemployment, and no one is quite sure what to do about it. In this episode I talk about the effects of underemployment, what it's like to be underemployed, and I ask some questions about what we're supposed to do about underemployment that admittedly don't have a simple answer to.

Topics covered: * The definition of underemployment from episode one * Why no one’s talking about it * The focus on unemployment numbers and why it isn't good * How many college graduates are underemployed (probably) * Why it’s scary that so many college graduates are underemployed * The effects of underemployment* * What makes underemployment so emotionally taxing * Shame and vulnerability researcher Brene Brown’s books and TED Talk * Students go to college to get a job, chief academic officers believe they’re preparing them for the working world, but business leaders disagree * What it’s like to be underemployed * How skilled trade positions go unfilled because so many young Americans are going to college instead of learning a trade and that this is a result of the public perception of the unworthiness of learning a trade * Why today’s college students need to temper their expectations * Why the job market is an employer’s market

Research cited: * “A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the underemployment rate for all college graduates betweens the ages of 22 and 65 has hovered around 33% for the past three decades.” * “Compared to the unemployment rate, which fluctuated between four and ten percent during the same time period, these numbers are alarmingly high.” * “In 2014, there were 45,176,000 men and women in the United States over age 18 with a bachelor’s degree.” * “Student loan debt continues to increase per student each year.” * “Those with the least net worth owe the most student debt.”