Tue 19 Aug 2008 – 11.10
Now that it’s back-to-school time, we should examine a question that seems to be on everyone’s mind: Is College a massive waste of time (and money)?
This time, an opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal highlights the absurdity of the quest for degrees:
First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn’t meet the goal. We will call the goal a “BA.”
Well, when you put it like that…
This reminds me of a philosophy employed my friend (and occasional guest on the podcast) Mike Rogoff. He states that he, and reasonably smart people in general, can learn the day-to-day tasks of any job, in any profession, in two weeks. In large part, I agree. The ability to perform a job has little to do with what you learned in school and more to do with raw talent. However, every job has subtleties and trade secrets that only come over time.
For example, you might be able to learn some Photoshop tasks in two weeks, but having used the software for over ten years, my hands work by themselves and I find it hard to explain what I’m actually doing. So maybe in two weeks you can learn 85% of any job — a long tail situation.
The point is, college may or may not be required for a job. However, it’s a crappy ritual that we all seem to be confronted with. Should we buck the system and try to get around it, or go to school and try to excel within the framework that exists.
Chime in with your thoughts.
posted by Scott in careers, education.