Degrees of Stupidity
The Problematic Mindset
“A college degree DOES make you a better person.”
I actually heard these words spoken by a college professor at my wife Shannon’s graduation.
As I sat there, considering the gall needed to make such an off-handed yet declarative statement, I couldn’t help but look around. Surely, there would be a significant reaction from those in attendance.
What specifically was I searching for? Was I looking for a response from a specific individual? Yes, I was.
My father-in-law, who was in attendance, just a few seats down the row from me, has worked in construction his whole life. He has been extremely successful in his career, was a superintendent, and built multi-million dollar custom homes. His tradecraft and eye for design was well sought after. More annoyingly, there probably isn’t a Jeopardy category he can’t own, top to bottom. He is an extremely well-read person. The guy is smart.
Annoyingly smart.
However, he does not have a college degree…
But, in reality, there’s no way he was alone. In that theater, there had to be dozens, if not hundreds, of adults who did not have college degrees, simply due to demographics. The college in question serves a rather rural area of Northern California, where income tends to be lower than the state average, and the number of college grads (bachelor’s degree or higher) is well below 50% of the population of the surrounding 5 counties.
Instead of taking the opportunity in front of her to celebrate first-generation college graduates and the families that supported them, this professor chose to castigate them for being lesser beings. And what was their transgression?
They had not that precious paper which could have rendered their enslaved souls the sweetest of freedoms sought — that of college loan debt.
Workplace Infiltration
Seriously, though. This sentiment is appalling. In my current status, I am discovering The Professor has weaseled her way into my job search, replicating her galling opinions, rearing her ugly head on a daily basis.
Job Listing — “Bachelor Degree in Business Required”
Job — “Entry Level”
Pay — not a livable wage, or we assume, since it isn’t listed, or is listed as “Competitive Pay”
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So, at the risk of offending prospective employers…give me a break.
Please consider more seriously the requirements you have for your job opening. If you are going to require a degree, pay accordingly. People who went to college and got a degree also got a lot of debt.
Why? Because they were told they needed a degree — any degree — to be successful. Because, they were told people like you were going to require their piece of paper to prove their intelligence, abilities, wisdom, and splendor.
The least you could do is make it financially worth their time. More realistically, you should probably not require a degree for a job that can be done by individuals more qualified without said paper.
I’m encouraged, though, as I read posts on spaces like LinkedIn about how things like this should be seen as red flags. That job postings like this are just people giving you evidence you shouldn’t apply for their job.
Not because you aren’t qualified, but because they wouldn’t know what they have in you, even if you tried to explain it to them. Because it’s hard to explain what lives outside the box to those who deny its existence.
Thinking Outside the Box
Don’t misunderstand — I’m certainly not stating people with a degree are not potentially smart, capable, or deserving of a successful career if they work with excellence and perseverance. In fact, my beef, as it were, is not with the graduate, at all, provided they don’t carry this silly mindset into the workplace with them.
But, they are, aren’t they…which is why we have this problem, in the first place, isn’t it? This issue did not give birth to itself. We did not arrive at a time when college degrees were required for entry level jobs without some amount of coercion, training, or influence.
So, what’s the fix? How do we resolve this? It’s really pretty simple, to me. If the employer is putting a premium on the degree, there should be a premium on the salary.
In other words:
If you do NOT have a degree, you start at Position X, which comes with a salary of $Base.
If you DO have a college degree, you start at Position X, which comes with a salary of $Base+.
OR
If you do NOT have a degree, you start at Position X, which comes with a salary of $Base.
If you DO have a college degree, you start at Position Y, which comes with a salary of $Base, which is greater than Position X.
I know this will cause some who do have degrees to chafe, and most who don’t have a degree to cheer. But, hey, we can’t speak civilly about anything, anyway, so what’s one more category?
OH! I almost forgot to mention…if you’re looking for someone without a degree to surprise you with what they can do, let me know.
Why?
#iknowaguy
