Mostly, yes. There are unusual cases like medicine and some engineering, but for the most part it is just a resume checkbox. Evidence in favor of this: the she

Mostly, yes. There are unusual cases like medicine and some engineering, but for the most part it is just a resume checkbox. Evidence in favor of this: the sheepskin effect is huge. http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/06/baaaa_tremble_b.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/06/baaaa_tremble_b.... http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/02/sheepskin_effec.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/02/sheepskin_effec.... So is ability bias: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/correcting_for.html http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2012/01/correcting_for.h... And as a thought experiment, ask yourself which of the following would have had more of an effect on your life. Suppose you failed your humanities classes (assuming you are an engineer/CS and work as such). Would your life have been significantly different than if you forgot what you learned? How about if you cheated and passed? Mine certainly would be. In principle, wearing a suit also has a small positive effect. It arouses some women. But in general it's mostly wasteful signalling.