College Education Is Not a Right – And Not Right for Everyone
Is College right for everyone?
Even if we set aside idiocies of the Ivy League and its ilk, legitimate questions are raised as to what society gets back when it pays for, one way or the other, four or more years of cloistered existence of impressionable minds.
Recently it dawned on me that all my formal post-secondary education happened in discrete jumps. What remained constant was a realization I had even as a child — that education is nothing but a signaling mechanism.
It’s a billboard that I may add value to, or qualify for, what is next — be it a next step in the educational journey, social acceptance, a job, a ticket to America, a signal to possible mates, and so on.
I was always preparing for something, and I had some idea of what I was preparing for. Any benefit I had from my education was accrued precisely because I did not have the luxury of committing years to an academic institution just because I felt like learning a subject.
At the other end of the table now, I assess youngsters with a mental map implementing these takeaways.
I am unenthusiastic about a female candidate showing a lack of direction.
The answer to “Why this study?” shouldn’t be “Because I liked it.”
It tells me that she had no end in sight. It’s possible she finds direction in the next stop of her academic journey; I would be happy to consider her after that.
The institution where she went to carries another signal I value.
This has much less to do with ordinal ranking in quality of education, and more to the selection bias inherent in that signal.
Ambitious students tend to cluster around a few schools, departments, and professors.
A student learns more by the company she keeps, I have found that to be true across generations and continents.
I can take a specific exposure on a candidate, as I do frequently, but that means she scores high on other criteria. I prioritize students who win academic scholarships and economic hardship assistance, for example.
Her choice of academic specialization, major, and specific courses offers the next set of signals.
Some academic disciplines score negatively because they signal an entitlement mindset, or a penchant to dismiss market fundamentals.
Outside of that, I’m open to sub-specializations within a field broadly aligned with a task at hand. If she went to a good school, showed initiative, and generally exudes a capacity to unlearn and relearn, I am happy to give her the chance.
For any new position, the first question I ask is does the position need a college education?
Gone are the days when tools of trade for basic white-collar-adjacent jobs were only taught at colleges. Most blue-collar jobs now require high comfort levels in use of digital tools, similar competencies one needs at entry level white-collar jobs.
Lines are blurred and you need no college degree for either.
Hiring candidates with a four-year degree for these jobs gives rise to expectations that are unsustainable for both employers and candidates.
Seismic changes in white-collar-adjacent job market are about to be unleashed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Much of the “maintenance work” in any white-collar profession may be done faster, and more consistently, by thinking machines in a not-so-distant future.
One may need college education to train to better use them, but the marketplace will need far fewer of them and will pay them more. I can see a scenario where a youngster with just a high school diploma is good at “prompt engineering,” and picks up fundamentals making her a very suitable candidate for most entry-to-mid level white collar jobs.
Where AI fails are areas where one needs hands-on involvement, in which human-facing interactions require empathy and multi-faceted decision making and where life and liberty are at risk and cost of failure is too high to not have human accountability.
I don’t see AI replacing a trained doctor, especially a surgeon, a lawyer, or an aerospace engineer, for example, even at entry-level.
College education is a privilege for which society bears the cost.
It’s high time we scrutinize the ROI (Return on Investment).
There was a time when colleges and professors were a store of knowledge and wisdom.
Then the argument moved to a claim that colleges teach you to think.
Both arguments lost currency.
Outside of where we require human accountability for decisions concerning life, liberty, and serious economic consequences, even at an entry level, four-year college education is an overkill.
Education stops being useful unless it prepares one to use the same in the workplace. Most four-year degrees do not. They are a waste in an AI-ready world.
It’s time we accept that fact.
All opinions are of the author of this column alone, and do not necessarily represent that of any organization he may be part of. The author alone is responsible for any error or omission.
Partha Chakraborty, Ph.D., CFA is an economist, a statistician, and a financial analyst by training. Currently he is an entrepreneur in Water technologies, Blockchain and Wealth Management in the US and in India. Dr. Chakraborty lives in Southern California. Read Partha Chakraborty’s Reports — More Here.
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