Haha, it is very true formal education still opens certain doors. I understand why an individual would choose to attend college from an immediate access perspective.
But the real question is: are the doors being opened from college a signaling effect or an increase in human capital? As in, do employers seek to hire college graduates primarily because it signals they have certain character traits the employer wants a la greater persistence, time management skills, ability to follow rules and play the game (so to speak) OR do they seek graduates because they believe college really increased their intelligence therefore making them a better potential employee?
My belief is college performs much more of a signaling effect than a human capital increase. If you agree, the problem with college is it acts as a mere hurdle (a government subsidized one at that) one must jump over to meet the prerequisites of the game. The issue metastasizes when college degrees are so prolific they become a high school diploma and the hurdle one must now jump over is even higher sucking up more resources while not increasing the productivity of the individual.
Basically, if college isn't actually increasing the human capital of an individual, it is my opinion it should be incumbent on the employers to find their own signals instead of piggy-backing on the very expensive government-subsidized signal of universities.
But someone has to be brave and break the chain because as long as there is an ample pool of graduates available in the labor market, businesses will rationally continue to use this signal and filter out all those who didn't jump the hurdle even if they are more productive and intelligent.
I think people that are self-educated become entrepreneurs rather than employees. That has been my experience at least. Really enjoyed your post by the way. :)
That is true in my experience too. I think that is because right now relying on self-education is viewed as a risk and entrepreneurs tend to be risk-seeking individuals. Or even more likely: I don't know what I'm talking about, haha :)
Haha, it is very true formal education still opens certain doors. I understand why an individual would choose to attend college from an immediate access perspective.
But the real question is: are the doors being opened from college a signaling effect or an increase in human capital? As in, do employers seek to hire college graduates primarily because it signals they have certain character traits the employer wants a la greater persistence, time management skills, ability to follow rules and play the game (so to speak) OR do they seek graduates because they believe college really increased their intelligence therefore making them a better potential employee?
My belief is college performs much more of a signaling effect than a human capital increase. If you agree, the problem with college is it acts as a mere hurdle (a government subsidized one at that) one must jump over to meet the prerequisites of the game. The issue metastasizes when college degrees are so prolific they become a high school diploma and the hurdle one must now jump over is even higher sucking up more resources while not increasing the productivity of the individual.
Basically, if college isn't actually increasing the human capital of an individual, it is my opinion it should be incumbent on the employers to find their own signals instead of piggy-backing on the very expensive government-subsidized signal of universities.
But someone has to be brave and break the chain because as long as there is an ample pool of graduates available in the labor market, businesses will rationally continue to use this signal and filter out all those who didn't jump the hurdle even if they are more productive and intelligent.
I think people that are self-educated become entrepreneurs rather than employees. That has been my experience at least. Really enjoyed your post by the way. :)
That is true in my experience too. I think that is because right now relying on self-education is viewed as a risk and entrepreneurs tend to be risk-seeking individuals. Or even more likely: I don't know what I'm talking about, haha :)
Thank you, btw!