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There's a difference between a degree and an education. The problem is how we consider the destination (the degree), to be a proof of competence and knowledge,
by jokoon 6y ago
There's a difference between a degree and an education.
The problem is how we consider the destination (the degree), to be a proof of competence and knowledge, while it's really the journey (the education) which actually matters. That's why degrees should be abolished, and a certificate of education be given to the student as long as he/she is present.
School should not act as a social filter. As long as you go to school and go to classes, and shows motivation to learn, it's enough. There are no proper ways to evaluate how a student really learned and absorbed the knowledge that was given. There are many students who love the knowledge, but cannot accept scholasticism, the competition, the selection and the filtering. It often ends up being about "belonging to a group", and honestly it was never the goal of education.
It's up to companies to really check if someone if competent and has the knowledge, it's not the job of universities. Higher education is an enormous source of inequality, and an immense social barrier.
It's really easy for people with degrees to disagree with this, I can only answer with survival bias.
- quickthrower2 6y agoI have a degree, and I agree with you. At least for software engineering. What there could be is a standardised test, that is a national or international standard, not linked to a uni. Learn to program and do the test and that is your credential. Maybe it costs $200 or something. That way you can skip uni, self teach but be able to show you can code without employers needing to find novel ways to evaluate. Just spitballing!
- injb 6y agoUltimately if you standardize something, people will gamify it. The point of employers finding novel ways to evaluate candidates is to win that game and beat the average. Good for them! It can't/shouldn't be otherwise (imo).
- tprice7 6y agoThey aren't mutually exclusive approaches, e.g. the standardized test could be used just to get past the initial resume filter.
- canjobear 6y agoSimilar to the bar exam for lawyers. It used to be you could be a lawyer by passing the bar even if you had no degree.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- blackrock 6y ago> It's up to companies to really check if someone if competent and has the knowledge Except that the way these companies do this is to throw stupid LEET code questions at you. And expect you to solve it in 10 minutes, otherwise you’re not smart enough to handle their boring CRUD cruft.