I don't think you can separate the concept of education as an "equalizer" from the realities of the supply & demand for educated workers. As more educated worke

I don't think you can separate the concept of education as an "equalizer" from the realities of the supply & demand for educated workers. As more educated workers entered the workplace, the minimum education requirements increased. As an example, my father, without an college degree, moved up from an entry level labor worker in the early 70's to the VP of operations for the entire company, something nearly impossible today with low-level management positions gated by a degree requirement. Because when most candidates have a degree, finding someone both qualified & with a degree is less of an obstacle. All else being equal, two identical resumes except for the "Bachelors Degree" on one of them, the later is more likely to get an interview and the job. Absolutely this might not always be ideal, the signal of having degree does not always actually predict capabilities, but that was the case when HS education was the minimum standard as well, and so long as companies need a low-pass filter to narrow the pool of candidates, this isn't likely to change. Whether or not it's fair or accurate is somewhat irrelevant.