The Myth of a Good Education

[Eriny]

So, education is really important. It's the best possible investment you can make for your future. A bachelor's degree is supposed to pay off far more than share investment and real estate investment and as an 18 year old, it's realistically probably one of the very few investments you can properly make (as in, you could enter the share market, but you probably couldn't afford many shares, and it's unlikely that you could buy a property). Here's a source for this: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/uni-degrees-never-sleep-and-leave-sharemarket-in-the-shade-20100830-147eh.html

HOWEVER, the 'myth' that we're always fed is that grades matter, where you go matters - it's supposed to follow you around no matter what you do. Because you failed that one subject, you'll never get into X top tier firm, or because you went to X university, you will never get a high paying job. It's lies! All lies!

I've already gone through the experience of having my high school marks not matter anymore. Nobody cares about them, nobody wants to see them. I had to get really good marks to get into the university course I wanted. But that's all it was - a ticket you can only use once.

When you graduate from uni and go into the jobs market, it's almost the same deal, except uni marks are a tiny portion of the ticket. They care if you fail a lot, and they care a little if all of your marks are HDs/H1s, but that's about it. So, anywhere in the grade range of pass to distinction won't be enough to exclude you from a position, nor is it enough to give you a guaranteed anything. I was talking to someone from the careers centre at my university who said that she often has to counsel distraught individuals  who didn't get that internship or that clerkship, or even that grad position and couldn't understand why, because their grades were high. Apparently, they care about extra-curricular activities and experience in the field and whether or not you interview well than grades.

Moreover, while a lot of graduate job applications will ask for academic transcripts, not all do and certainly, by the time you're applying for your second job, they care only about the piece of paper saying you have the degree - nobody even asks to look at them. Again, your uni transcript is a ticket you only really use once, if ever.

I'm not saying that education doesn't matter, it obviously matters a great deal. However, all this toiling to get the grades you think you need, or that you're told you need, to do well in life isn't for a whole lot. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do your best or be happy with barely passing, but it does give you some idea of how much this all matters in the very big picture, which is: very little.

[Chavi]

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

[ninwa]

Thank you for this Eriny, it's just what I needed to hear right now. (Also, you write really really well)

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline.

Maybe, but uni marks rarely correlate with performance in the real world. VCE marks are like that too.

[Russ]

I think a better way of phrasing that would be that high marks don't guarantee success in the workforce or real world. I'm fairly sure they do correlate...

I agree though, your marks aren't massively important unless they're extremely bad or extremely good.

[Glockmeister]

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

You'd find that much of things that you learn at university end up really being useless once you graduate. Ditto with VCE.

[schmalex]

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

You'd find that much of things that you learn at university end up really being useless once you graduate. Ditto with VCE.

Learning itself is valuable. Extending yourself and opening your mind to new ideas improves myriad skills and allows you to broaden your thinking. Also, applying yourself at university demonstrates that you can handle pressure and workloads, and is a skill that you can bring forward into professional life. I definitely think education for the sake of education is very useful, and this is why a lot of jobs just want you to have a degree, regardless of what sort of degree it is.

[Eriny]

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

I'm not saying that education doesn't matter, it obviously matters a great deal. However, all this toiling to get the grades you think you need, or that you're told you need, to do well in life isn't for a whole lot. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do your best or be happy with barely passing, but it does give you some idea of how much this all matters in the very big picture, which is: very little.

I totally agree that education for its own sake is worthwhile. In fact, if you're learning because you like it, that's really awesome! You get to enjoy these years for whatever intrinsic value they have to you, but you don't have to stress out if you got a B+ instead of an A, because it doesn't matter that much in terms of your future. What I mean to say is that for people who are enjoying their education, they get all the benefits of the journey without being so outcome-based.

It's a myth that every grade you get matters. Therefore, I guess you may as well enjoy the ride, rather than be so stressed about it.

[Eriny]

Sry DP.

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

You'd find that much of things that you learn at university end up really being useless once you graduate. Ditto with VCE.

Learning itself is valuable. Extending yourself and opening your mind to new ideas improves myriad skills and allows you to broaden your thinking. Also, applying yourself at university demonstrates that you can handle pressure and workloads, and is a skill that you can bring forward into professional life. I definitely think education for the sake of education is very useful, and this is why a lot of jobs just want you to have a degree, regardless of what sort of degree it is.

I don't disagree with you, but if the reason why you think that 'education for the sake of education' is useful is in terms of employment, then you've missed the point of the whole concept.

Thank you for this Eriny, it's just what I needed to hear right now. (Also, you write really really well)

[schmalex]

Sry DP.

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

You'd find that much of things that you learn at university end up really being useless once you graduate. Ditto with VCE.

Learning itself is valuable. Extending yourself and opening your mind to new ideas improves myriad skills and allows you to broaden your thinking. Also, applying yourself at university demonstrates that you can handle pressure and workloads, and is a skill that you can bring forward into professional life. I definitely think education for the sake of education is very useful, and this is why a lot of jobs just want you to have a degree, regardless of what sort of degree it is.

I don't disagree with you, but if the reason why you think that 'education for the sake of education' is useful is in terms of employment, then you've missed the point of the whole concept.

Thank you for this Eriny, it's just what I needed to hear right now. (Also, you write really really well)

I agree with what you wrote, but Gloamglozer was suggesting that there was little use to learning that sort of stuff, and there definitely is use. And a lot of it does come in use, I know I enjoy having good writing and analytical skills, better logic and problem solving skills and a better understanding of politics and economics (even though vce eco is a bit shit).

[Hutchoo]

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

I'm not saying that education doesn't matter, it obviously matters a great deal. However, all this toiling to get the grades you think you need, or that you're told you need, to do well in life isn't for a whole lot. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do your best or be happy with barely passing, but it does give you some idea of how much this all matters in the very big picture, which is: very little.

I totally agree that education for its own sake is worthwhile. In fact, if you're learning because you like it, that's really awesome! You get to enjoy these years for whatever intrinsic value they have to you, but you don't have to stress out if you got a B+ instead of an A, because it doesn't matter that much in terms of your future. What I mean to say is that for people who are enjoying their education, they get all the benefits of the journey without being so outcome-based.

It's a myth that every grade you get matters. Therefore, I guess you may as well enjoy the ride, rather than be so stressed about it.

Yeah, I totally agree with that.
This whole thing binds with study scores and stuff too, people choosing subjects because they scale etc.
Uni = Win.


Btw, you do write well

[Gloamglozer]

I agree with what you wrote, but Gloamglozer was suggesting that there was little use to learning that sort of stuff, and there definitely is use. And a lot of it does come in use, I know I enjoy having good writing and analytical skills, better logic and problem solving skills and a better understanding of politics and economics (even though vce eco is a bit shit).

What?  You mean Glockmeister? 

[Noblesse]

All true, during my interview for a summer vacation internship, only one question revolved around my marks and the rest about real life experience, work experience and extra curricular activities.

[schmalex]

I agree with what you wrote, but Gloamglozer was suggesting that there was little use to learning that sort of stuff, and there definitely is use. And a lot of it does come in use, I know I enjoy having good writing and analytical skills, better logic and problem solving skills and a better understanding of politics and economics (even though vce eco is a bit shit).

Ahh they all start with G, I couldn't be bothered going back to check

What?  You mean Glockmeister? 

[Glockmeister]

Sry DP.

Have you ever wondered that if everyone adopted this worldview and just aimed to pass at 50%, professionalism and work standards would severely decline. Sometimes knowledge, education and understanding for their own quaint sake are just as important as that ticket with a degree on it.

You'd find that much of things that you learn at university end up really being useless once you graduate. Ditto with VCE.

Learning itself is valuable. Extending yourself and opening your mind to new ideas improves myriad skills and allows you to broaden your thinking. Also, applying yourself at university demonstrates that you can handle pressure and workloads, and is a skill that you can bring forward into professional life. I definitely think education for the sake of education is very useful, and this is why a lot of jobs just want you to have a degree, regardless of what sort of degree it is.

I don't disagree with you, but if the reason why you think that 'education for the sake of education' is useful is in terms of employment, then you've missed the point of the whole concept.

Thank you for this Eriny, it's just what I needed to hear right now. (Also, you write really really well)

I agree with what you wrote, but Gloamglozer was suggesting that there was little use to learning that sort of stuff, and there definitely is use. And a lot of it does come in use, I know I enjoy having good writing and analytical skills, better logic and problem solving skills and a better understanding of politics and economics (even though vce eco is a bit shit).

Let my clear up what I meant.

What I was trying to say was that the information that is taught by the lecturers may not have any use within the next few years, not the generic skills that you're meant to get out of attending university (the ones you've specified, "good writing and analytical skills, better logic and problem solving skills"). Even in an area such as science, where you might think is rock solid 'truth', the reality is somewhat different.

I'll give you an example: If you've done biology (VCE or First year biochemistry), you would've come across the CAC cycle, also known as the TAC cycle, or Kreb's cycle. It looks like this

Now here it is in context of every single other biochemistry reaction.

So what am I saying here. It is very unlikely that through the course of your undergraduate education that you will actually have to learn every single reaction in the latter (and most lecturers won't know about every single one either), even if you major in biochemistry. The point of really learning these cycles is really to appreciate that biochemical pathways all intertwine with each other and to learn how to interpret these pathways in the context of diseases and failures in these pathways.

And that's assuming that you're going to be during research in biochemistry as a career. I'm not, and I still have to learn this.

[darlok]

Don't really see why you are qualified to make this post actually.