Are College Degrees And Formal Education Still Worth It?
My two siblings just resumed back to college about a month ago after a long eight months strike. I had experienced the same when I was in the university as well plus a couple more strikes every now and then. During the strike, they both had to spend the available time learning skills that were related to their course of study in the university and could be beneficial to them later in life. And then at some point we had conversations about the degrees itself and formal education, if they were worth all these money spent and time wasted especially since most schools around here only do more theories and the real thing.
I was watching Maisie Williams Ted talk on how she became a star actor in the Game of Thrones without any formal education or degrees and it made me recall the conversation I had with my siblings.The fact is that degrees don't guarantee success in life and it sucks knowing that individuals are judged by their grades and level of education rather than what they can do and the problems they can truly solve. I've met quite alot of college graduates from reputable schools who can't
These days, I idea of a degree especially in my country doesn't really gets me excited as it did a decade ago. I got hit by reality when I was offered $30 to teach with my degree from one of the most reputable universities in the country and ever since I quit the job, I didn't bother apply for jobs anymore since I had skills that paid way better than even most industries were willing to pay. Well you really can't blame these industries and companies, especially since everyone now holds a degree of some sort and if you don't take the job, someone else will gladly take it. So at some point I wished if only I had spent all that 5-6 years learning a set of skills instead, I'd probably be so outstanding at what I do and be sorted for rather than seek jobs.
Now here's my take on degrees and most likely what I'd do when I start raising my kids. It's probably something most parents didn't take seriously but alot of people know better now. I think degrees are good, they are a proof of formal education of the highest level and in a world where education is valued, having a degree could be helpful especially when some oppportuinities present themselves for example in fields like politics, medicine and law.
However, if I was to raise a child I would focus more on skills than formal education. Skills that would make them want people and see them as valuable assets, skills that would always place food on their tables and make them survive anywhere they found themselves. This is more important than degrees to me and I'd give all I have to make them master these skills. Having a degree, especially when it's related to a skill highly mastered is just an icing on the cake and the earlier people realise this, the better the world would be.
This is indeed an interesting topic for me as I have a child who is finishing his secondary school soon and we are talking about his future (University) education... I do agree with you to some extent, but IMO, I would do some kind of a mix between the two... Learning skills, but also going to University at the same time... As a matter of fact, I was doing that while I was studying...
Also, the most important experience that I had at University was that I met many other people who were thinking like me, and we exchanged many great ideas and make valuable friendships for the rest of our lives... By just being "closer" to some "thinkers", you get some valuable knowledge from them... And the best place to get that is a University...
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Yeah, I totally agree, as I mentioned some fields like medicine, law, politics and engineering need formal education and a college degree to prove an individual is indeed qualified to handle tasks related to those field. Formal education is important but I believe with current state if the world, no one should bank fully on them especially if they're not gonna be in the fields stated above. A combination of both highly valued skills and a college degree would get a person through life more easily than with just one of them alone. Thanks for the support. I truly appreciate it
College degrees are quite overated in a way, especially in Nigeria, especially with all the stress and finances spent to acquire one.
I'm a student, but I'll readily pick getting a skill, especially a digital one over a college degree.
I think you've made a good choice including digital skills with schooling. In the world right now, people get paid for their skills and problems they can solve. A degree is just an icing on the cake.
The answer is "it depends". There are certain career paths for which a degree is a necessity. For example, if you want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc. In most cases that would be very difficult or impossible to do without a degree. On the other hand, just getting a general Liberal Arts degree or something along those lines is practically worthless.
Yeah, I agree, fields matter too, I mentioned medicine, law, politics, these are fields that require formal education and a college degree to prove an individual is indeed fit to handle the tasks related to these fields. I honestly wouldn't advice anyone to get for liberal and arts course except they choose to become academics.
And even in that case those degrees are pretty worthless for anything short of a PhD.
Depends on the industry. Some requires the proof of indoctrination or you don’t even get a chance.
Yeah, I agree. Field like medicine, law, and engineering require college degrees but asides these, I'd advice a college student to master some high valued skills before they were done with their programs.