

Ask HN:  Would improving US high school education discourage entrepreneurship? - amichail

Some factors to consider:<p>* getting grade inflation under control would reduce self-confidence, thus making it less likely that people would do a startup<p>* a better understanding of probability would allow people to more accurately predict their chances of success, thus reducing the number who would attempt a startup<p>* a more competitive high school environment would implicitly tell students that academia is the way to go
======
michaelfairley
Ultimately, improving high school education should to lead to smarter, more
imaginative students, who focus less on grades and more on their aspirations.
I don't see how this _couldn't_ lead to even more entrepreneurship.

* Getting grade inflation under control will help demonstrate to students that results come from work, not from handouts. Entrepreneurs have probably the best grasp of this idea.

* The average founder probably has a much better grasp of probability than the average high school graduate. This doesn't seem to stop them now.

* A more competitive high school environment will encourage kids to do amazing things. Sure, some will get caught up in the grades game, but an ideal education system wouldn't have kids idolizing grades as is done today, and students will be allowed to focus on the things that matter to them (be it arts, entrepreneurship, or a million other mentally stimulating activities whose end results mean more than grades).

------
dan_the_welder
Getting grade inflation under control would teach that life is not an all or
nothing proposition and a business does not have to win the VC/IPO fame
lottery to be viable.

A better understanding of probability would create a better understanding of
the difference between the mass market and niche markets.

Improving high school education would create better educated students, who
would make educated decisions.

------
jerf
You have a _lot_ of hidden assumptions built into your statements, to the
point that unpacking them would take longer than I care to spend on it. Your
question is malformed.

------
lhorie
Why are those "factors"? Do you have examples demonstrating the these are
indeed cause-effect relationships and not just your opinion? e.g. "getting
grade inflation under control would reduce self-confidence" - For every
student? According to who? What do school test marks have to do with starting
a business?

------
solson
High School is a early 20th century (industrial age) concept and should be
scrapped. We need innovation, choice, and flexibility in education. The
current system is a dinosaur on a trillion dollar+ life support system.

