[deleted]
College for all? Experts say not necessarily
11–20 of 37 posts
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#12Everyone needs a good education. Problem is that colleges aren't providing it.
Time to close them down and replace them with web sites that use experts (rather than ideologs) to impart knowledge.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#13Shop Class as Soulcraft is an excellent, excellent book about this. PhD who worked as a motorcycle mechanic.
A lot of white collar work is requires no real thought only the ability to concentrate. I think this is why so many people hate their jobs.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#14Not to mention the fact that a goal of universal college is impossible, let alone unnecessary: "Whatever his or her claims of solidarity with the Third World, each American college graduate has had an education costing an amount five times greater than the median life income of half of humanity." - Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society (1970) http://reactor-core.org/deschooling.html
That's over three times the fourteenth-percentile four-year income of eastern Europeans in the tech sector!
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#15At least over here, Colleges are struggling with quality of education and therefore hollowing out the worth of the degree because of larger classes.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#16A 4 year degree doesn't guarantee success and no degree doesn't mean you can't be successful. But, having a 4 year degree makes it easier to be successful.
Sadly, a 4 year degree has become more and more a requirement for a lot of jobs, regardless of talent and skills. Increasing credentialism of this sort will just lower the value of having a degree and also make it more necessary for every professional to have a 4 year degree (which is expensive even at the cheapest colleges). None of this is good.
I think you're missing the point. I don't think anyone is against education or certification of some kind. The problem is the quality of it.
Academia is insular and has adopted the extremely broad mandate of "making better citizens" which has resulted in a lot of degree programs that are utterly useless. There was a post on HN just a few days ago from someone who was about to get a CS degree and who felt they had no idea how to actually program.
That's the problem and what this article describes is a trend in which those useless degrees are losing favor while more specialized education gains it.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#17I definitely don't believe a degree is necessary. I work for a large company as a Senior (Linux) Systems Administrator at age 26. Most of the guys I work with don't have degrees. I went right into work and jumped companies and got promotions through hard work and self teaching. I agree that for some people it can be very beneficial but a degree is in no way indicative of your skill set and ability.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
A degree makes it easier to be successful at big companies with dumb management -- but why work there? It's no big deal at better places. If you don't get a degree, you can spend less time learning at least as much relevant stuff.
"A degree makes it easier to be successful at big companies with dumb management -- but why work there?" Because "big companies with dumb management" hire a lot of people and pay them well? Most people aren't fortunate enough to have their dream job quite yet and their number one priority for work is just getting the bills paid.
The average 18 yo considering college doesn't have bills yet. IMO they should aim for the life they want, and do their best to make it work out, not sacrifice 4 years to make a semi-OK possible future work out more smoothly.
BTW if you're going to take semi-lame jobs, you only have to get hired a few times in your life. Optimizing the job search part isn't a great use of time -- even if no college doubles your lifetime job search time, going to college would still be a loss in that respect.
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#19Worked in Silicon Valley all my life. The degree meant nothing. Worked with lots of guys with no degree, doing the same job. All that mattered was skills.
Agreed, I'm a sophomore now, but that doesn't stop me from working (and getting job offers).
Re: College for all? Experts say not necessarily
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
"A degree makes it easier to be successful at big companies with dumb management -- but why work there?" Because "big companies with dumb management" hire a lot of people and pay them well? Most people aren't fortunate enough to have their dream job quite yet and their number one priority for work is just getting the bills paid.
The average 18 yo considering college doesn't have bills yet. IMO they should aim for the life they want, and do their best to make it work out, not sacrifice 4 years to make a semi-OK possible future work out more smoothly. BTW if you're going to take semi-lame jobs, you only have to get hired a few times in your life. Optimizing the job search part isn't a great use of time -- even if no college doubles your lifeti…
On the other hand, two thirds of 18yos don't know what kind of life they want. And of those that do, two thirds will probably have completely changed their minds by the time they're 25.
Some people are incredibly driven towards a particular set of goals, but the majority of people just sorta drift through life figuring things out as they go.