

Higher Education Conformity - muriithi
http://www.alternet.org/story/51316

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hugh
I don't really have a lot of time for people who go around labelling others as
"conformists". It's a bit of a content-free slur that seems to be the end of a
thought process that goes like this:

1\. Not many people agree with my opinions

2\. But my opinions are obviously correct to anyone who has thought about it!

3\. Therefore, nobody else has thought about it -- they're all mindless
conformists, brainwashed into serving the interests of [insert favourite
boogeyman here].

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xirium
From the article: "in the last three decades the percentage of jobs requiring
at least some college has doubled".

About 10 years ago, an acquaintance and former teacher noted a trend of
qualification inflation. For example, in the UK, you need qualifications in
numeracy and literacy as a pre-requisite for refuse collection. The job itself
doesn't require these skills, its just a really easy method to eliminate
candidates. For other jobs, certification and qualifications provides butt
covering for employers.

Where does trend go? You'll need a degree and five years of training to do
_any_ job from burger flipping upwards. I hope another trend makes this
situation moot because it would be dystopian to live in a society with such
over-specialism.

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edw519
An interesting argument.

Now think about this. You have to choose between two candidates, equal in
every way except that one has college. Who would you choose? That's what I
thought.

~~~
yummyfajitas
If they are equal in all other ways (i.e., equally skilled, equally likeable),
I'll choose the one without college.

My competitors are less likely to try and poach him, but he is just as
valuable.

~~~
edw519
I'm not going to argue with your logic (it's as good as any), but I wonder
about using "poachability" as criteria in hiring. My goal would be to have an
unpoachable workplace. No one (desirable) should ever leave except to start
their own business.

