You’re implying causation - that a college degree is the cause of these outcomes. I’m not convinced that’s true, and in my mind, it might be one of the most damaging beliefs.
It could be that people who are driven or passionate, on average, want to pursue higher education, or that they take on risks, exercise their brains in learning endeavors, and it’s their effort and drive that leads to success.
It’s entirely possible that high earners have college degrees because they were told that to be successful, they had to go to college. It’s a belief they were raised with.
I think it’s highly misguided that we give college so much credit. And we also demonstrate survivorship bias where those who went to college but didn’t get the pay off are blamed for having made some wrong decision.
We treat higher education as a silver bullet and put it on a pedestal when it’s not.
Yup, it's certain traits that lead people to go for certain degrees and we use the degree as a quick and fair signal for those traits. If you have a problem with that signal, try develop another one which is at least as quick and fair of a representation of those traits as a degree is.
Also if companies gain a substantial advantage using other signals outside of degrees, you can be guaranteed that their competitors in their industry will follow. In media and marketing, degrees have long been abandoned for other signals such as portfolios and social media engagement
This may be true, but at the same time, if the goal is to make a lot of money, rich parents and other luck aside, a college degree in a high-paying major is probably the best shot at it, instead for example trying to copy Garry Vanverchuck or Steve Jobs. Drive and effort apply for all professions, but it's just that college grads will get a higher return for their effort.
It could be that people who are driven or passionate, on average, want to pursue higher education, or that they take on risks, exercise their brains in learning endeavors, and it’s their effort and drive that leads to success.
It’s entirely possible that high earners have college degrees because they were told that to be successful, they had to go to college. It’s a belief they were raised with.
I think it’s highly misguided that we give college so much credit. And we also demonstrate survivorship bias where those who went to college but didn’t get the pay off are blamed for having made some wrong decision.
We treat higher education as a silver bullet and put it on a pedestal when it’s not.