Welcome to the age of overeducated underachievers;
Although it’s of course true that many, perhaps most, of the winners in the modern economy are highly educated, there are still some who have succeeded without educational credentials and an even bigger share that are failing in spite of them.
The latter group—let’s call them “overeducated underachievers” — strikes me as crucial for understanding growing pessimism about the future, the rise of populism, and the anger and frustration that we’re increasingly seeing manifest itself in our politics. […]
They’re the ones who “did everything they were expected to” — including obtaining a university or college credential — and yet haven’t realized the payoff. In Canada, for instance, they’re earning on average 41 percent less than those in non-working-class jobs and, depending on where they live, struggling to afford rent and other basic costs. The promise of the so-called “democratization” of educational access has failed to fully materialize for them and their families.
There’s a strong case in fact that while there have been significant benefits to expanded access to post-secondary education, they’ve come with these underestimated costs that we’re only now starting to understand. Cultural norms and public policies in favour of what Goodhart calls “peak head” has devalued non-cognitive skills, eroded academic standards, and contributed to credential inflation in the job market. Put bluntly: there are people with advanced degrees who shouldn’t have them and the market has had to adjust to account for them.
The only young college educated people I see with jobs are Indians and Pakis.
What I’m doing is in great demand and doesn’t require a degree. However you have to be pretty smart and willing to learn. I maintain battery backup systems for critical systems like hospital computers and robotic surgery systems. I have an associates degree earned in 1978, and much of that is now obsolete.
Interesting part of my story is that I only started this career 5 years ago, and now I’m recognized as a nationwide expert on some equipment with companies all over the country sending me their equipment to fix.
The point here is to not toot my horn, but illustrate that what these overeducated underachievers need to do is start achieving. I went from being 60 and unemployed to 65 and having too much fun to retire. In the past 2 years I taught myself how to write apps and now I’m developing diagnostic apps for the equipment I work on. I would love to find a young person to mentor but so far no luck.
A lot of BA degrees are very worth Bugger All. And you know what BS is. An MSc is more of the same. A PhD is just piled higher and deeper. Recently, I heard of a number of Ontario biologists who spent a week – and tens of thousands of dollars – live trapping mice…
And MBA = Much Bigger A**hole
“I admire and respect New York Times columnist David Brooks.”
not off to a great start…
“It assumes that “meritocracy” and “credentialism” are essentially synonyms. They are not. ”
Should have led with that..
Unfortunately, it didn’t get any better.
He doesn’t address that there is a goodly portion of these credentialed people who are maleducated, as a result of a mentality that certain jobs require a degree, or worse, an advanced degree, when those jobs don’t support the required amount of education and/or there aren’t enough jobs or demand for the amount of graduates that are being produced.
( never mind the cargo cult mentality that lead to the rise of “everyone should get a post secondary education)
Yup. When you say you admire and respect Brooks, you’re either a liar or a lefty.
It’s simple really. I don’t need to be a fancy boy highly respected NYT writer, to understand the lay of the land today. Today’s average college degree is collected by people with less than HALF the Middle School Education of 100 years ago. Grade inflation, coupled with intellectual deflation has created a generation of numbskulls. However … they’re numbskulls with supreme self confidence and self esteem. They’ve been loaded up with self-esteem … Esteem of self that is unearned. They’ve … done … nothing. Accomplished … nothing. But actually “believe” they’re “somebody”.
The MAGA workers of America OTOH … actually DO stuff … and feel accomplished at what they’ve learned and persevered to get done. Their self esteem is legit, not imagined.
Now bring back a Latte with NO FOAM … as I ordered … you high-degreed moron.
Inflation of degrees is real.
A long time ago, when I received mine (upper second) the distribution of degree classifications was approximately:
1st – 2%
2.1 – 15%
2.2 – 65%
3 – 10%
Fail – 6%
I was pretty pleased with my 2.1, there was one person with a first, me with a 2.1 and then everyone else.
Employers (of course) wanted firsts and 2.1 degrees. They pressurized the government to “improve the standards”, not understanding that the percentages were always maintained, it wasn’t a specific score in the final exam that determined your degree, it was your score with respect to all the others.
Apparently, the UK universities caved, and did what they could to produce more first and 2.1 degrees.
Now, around 15% get a first, 60% a 2.1 etc. etc.
The devalued my degree!!!
Not that I really care, I am way beyonnd that meaning anything asny more, but it is annoying.
Yup. When you say you admire and respect Brooks, you’re either a liar, a lefty, or a lily-livered CINO.
Let’s get real: just how many of those university degrees have given the recipient either marketable skills or the ability to acquire same? A degree in “studies” which emphasize whining, grievances, and victimhood isn’t going to give the recipient any decent life skills, let alone any marketable skills.
Back in the day, all our offsprings came out of high school thinking acting would be the ideal career. Our response was to say “yes, and how do you propose to feed yourself?”. All eventually obtained decent degrees in marketable areas, though one did manage combine accounting and drama which led to a fair few “Enron” jokes.
They are not “over educated”. They are over schooled. BIG difference.
Wait until you need a plumber.
Bravo! I have not read the entire piece, but earmarked it for a fresh take in the morning. The few reproduced paragraphs support my long held understanding that widespread post-secondary education eventually erodes its purpose. At the same time, important trades and technical fields stay neglected, robbing youth from useful sources of knowledge and income. As a post-secondary educator, I reject the credential system and urge the young folks to look into activities that will allow them and their families to thrive independently from government cookie-cutter norms. My suggestions include becoming familiar with auto mechanics, learning how to grow crops, learning many forms of self-defense, delving in the basics of plumbing and electricity, and becoming familiar with the ins-and-outs of self-reliance (too many for this little paragraph!). More importantly, BUILD COMMUNITY! We’ll need like minded individuals to hold the fort.
Bullshit students studying bullshit courses deserve bullshit wages.
They were told this over and over and over so I have zero sympathy.
No, I have negative sympathy – I despise them and have a schadenboner from their plight. Their folly burned up resources that could have been used by better students and now they’re all becoming screeching insane commies and climate change nuts.
This sentiment has been growing since the 90s.
If people are still shocked at these predicaments it’s on them.
I will encourage my kids to be practical and focused regarding post-secondary pursuits.
What you may not know, there are now a great number of people who are actually graduating college who are below 90 IQ. What does that say about how rigorous that education is? What does that say about the honesty of the educators who are, basically, fulfilling the quote “never give a sucker an even break”? And how many of the actual educators themselves are low IQ?
Simply put, a college education no longer means anything. Those out there seeking to hire workers take note. “The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”. For many, college may actually enforce and educate in learned stupidity. It teaches negative critical thinking, since what the educators are teaching does not bear scrutiny. And they have also set up an anti critical thinking mini society in the student body, a persistent one that apposes critical thinking and emphasizes “appeal to authority”, enforced by peer pressure, rather than thinking for yourself, among the students. A persistent series of mass delusions. It makes them easy prey for con artists, which is exactly what it is supposed to do. How else will you be able to “educate” sub 90 IQ people and charge them great gobs of money to do so? Con artists.
Something I definitely believe in is truth in advertising. If 80% of the current university degrees were labelled what they really are, i.e. degree/Bachelor in leftist theology . . . (hmmmm — BLT?) then at least the buyer i.e. the kid and their parents would know what the hell they’re signing on for and what it will cost vs what it will be worth in the marketplace once they’ve finished. If they’re able to get taken into one of the leftist churches i.e. gubmint or whatever, then so be it. Otherwise, they’ll at least know they will have a worthless piece of paper that will qualify them to stand on a street corner or in front of a coffee machine ranting on about the end of the world, the inevitable fall of capitalism or whatever. Stop using other people’s money to subsidize it, and I’d be happy.