I have always wondered why people major in seemingly useless degrees. Now I've understood. A degree, no matter how useless, can serve a function simply by virtue of the fact it is hard to get. By extension, the higher the grade, the even harder it was to get this degree. The degree and the associated grade shows the underlying ability of the holder. By that logic, it does not matter if you do Classical Vintning, or whatevers, as long as what you are doing is hard. What you learnt has no value anyway, at least for the vast majority of the liberal arts majors, as far as getting a job is concerned. The most important thing is for new students to realise that the degree does not add to their human capital, and if they treat it like it doesn't matter (Cs get degrees), it will only put them into huge debts and close the doors on high-paying jobs forever.
I have always wondered why people major in seemingly useless degrees. Now I've understood. A degree, no matter how useless, can serve a function simply by virtue of the fact it is hard to get. By extension, the higher the grade, the even harder it was to get this degree. The degree and the associated grade shows the underlying ability of the holder. By that logic, it does not matter if you do Classical Vintning, or whatevers, as long as what you are doing is hard. What you learnt has no value anyway, at least for the vast majority of the liberal arts majors, as far as getting a job is concerned. The most important thing is for new students to realise that the degree does not add to their human capital, and if they treat it like it doesn't matter (Cs get degrees), it will only put them into huge debts and close the doors on high-paying jobs forever.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'd thought classical vintning one of the more useful ones on that list, and Lincoln does have a programme in wine-making.
ReplyDeleteThere is a fair bit of debate about how much of education is signalling ability, how much is consumption, and how much is skill-acquisition.