Psychology of feelings 

Is higher education required? Do you need a college degree to be successful these days?

Do you need a higher education to gain success and material wealth? Today this question can already be classified as rhetorical. The employer requires a diploma of higher education, already from elementary school, teachers and parents talk about the importance of studying at a university. At the same time, everyone knows that a diploma does not at all guarantee employment in a good position, and there are plenty of ways for self-realization and professional growth in the modern world even without it. In addition, everyone has a lot of successful and decently earning acquaintances without education. Maybe then it is not worth spending the priceless years of youth and significant funds to obtain the coveted diploma?

Some statistics

An analysis of a survey conducted among Russians suggests that higher education is highly valued today. So, as many as 74% of respondents are sure that it is necessary. At the same time, 24% consider early employment of young people a priority.

About 67% of Russians are ready to seriously invest in the education of their children and grandchildren. Moreover, only 57% of older people agree to save for the sake of the future offspring.

Young people, on the contrary, are more determined - as many as 80% are firmly convinced of the benefits of education.
Interestingly, in the eyes of the majority of respondents, higher education is not only an opportunity for material well-being, but also a path to self-improvement. This suggests that our population considers the spiritual growth and development of a person to be important.

Why against

Among those same 26% of people who are skeptical about higher education, many cite the following arguments.

  • Price

It’s good if the graduate gets on the budget and does not pay for education, otherwise the family will face serious costs.

  • Time

Why do you need a higher education, if you can immediately go to work. Any young person wants to start earning and gain independence from their parents as early as possible, and not wait 4-5 years, sprinkling over textbooks.

  • The irrationality of education

Higher education involves the study of many unnecessary and uninteresting subjects that will never be useful in the future.

  • Number of universities

In our time, the number of so-called commercial institutions has increased. Low passing scores correspond to the quality of education. The qualification of teachers in such institutions also leaves much to be desired.

  • Lack of practical skills of graduates

Unlike technical schools and colleges that provide working specialties, the university provides only theoretical knowledge in the field of the profession.

  • No guarantees

No one can say with complete certainty that having received a long-awaited diploma, he will be able to get a prestigious job in his specialty.
At first glance, it is difficult to disagree with many statements, because the university really does not give any working specialty, does not teach how to make money or build your own business. But why, then, do so many students sit in pairs, hand over term papers, tests, laboratory and theses? Maybe in fact the race for higher education takes away an extra 4-5 years of youth, after which you have to go to a lower position and get a penny, instead of going to work right away and becoming rich and successful.

Of course - for

Naturally, among those who have not graduated from universities there are many people who have taken place in every sense, so it makes no sense to argue that having a higher education is absolutely necessary. However, there are many good reasons to still enroll in a university.

  • Development of intuition

A university is not needed for the student to keep formulas, constants and theorems in his head. It should teach you to think, understand and not be afraid of completely new tasks and extreme situations. A person with a higher education receives certain skills and a map of such human knowledge that allows him to intuitively make the right decision. This is the true value of higher education, and not in the presence of encyclopedic erudition.

  • Always in good shape

The young graduate has a flexible and powerful brain that is able to learn quickly. This session clearly proves it! But education is also very useful for older people. Mastering new information, a person makes the brain work and does not allow it to grow old. In fact, educated and well-read people do not lose their mental clarity and have an excellent memory.

  • Connections

The time of study is a great opportunity to acquire useful contacts, which are indispensable in our time.

  • Change of career path

Everything happens in life. Often, even if there is a decent job, it will not work without a specialized higher education.

  • "Educated" in priority

Any manager, when hiring an employee, prepares for the fact that he will have to be trained and retrained, introduced into the realities of a particular enterprise. And it does not matter whether it is a red diploma student or just an intelligent person. However, the "crust" will still be a big plus in favor of the applicant.

  • "Play while you're young"

Student years are the most vivid impressions and memories. They will stay for life. This is the time when young people not only learn independence, but also fall in love, walk, have fun, create strong friendships. Missing all this is simply pointless!

Many, getting an education, do not stop there and continue to develop and improve themselves throughout their lives. Such people often become successful. The main thing here is that education should become a means, not an end in itself. If a person does not want to study, why force him? Maybe someone likes the work of a welder, then he wants to go to a vocational school, where he will be taught the trade and given a decent and well-paid job. And for those who dream of acting, it is better to listen to your heart and boldly comprehend the basics of art. Otherwise, he is unlikely to become a good specialist in another field. How often you can meet those who have studied for 5 years at the institute for a specialty that is not interesting for themselves, but does not want to work, and cannot!

Being a dropout is also not the best option. Such a person cannot be trusted. What employer would want to have an employee who isn't used to getting things done.
Therefore, most often the most successful students are those who:

  • choose a profession for themselves at the call of the heart, and not at the parental insistence;
  • receive education purposefully, consciously, clearly presenting themselves in their professional activities;
  • do not deviate from the intended goals and improve education even when employed.

Who Needs Your Graduate Diploma

Often in our time, job advertisements contain a requirement for the mandatory presence of higher education.

It is understandable when we are talking about such specialists as doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers, etc. But why would an employer need a sales assistant with an education, or a secretary, or even a security guard?

Often he wants to be sure that he hires a person who at least knows how to communicate with people and keep himself within the bounds of decency. And he hardly needs the crust itself.

It's easy to check on the phone. It is enough to call the ad and ask if you need a diploma of higher education. Most likely, you will be told that it is desirable, but not necessary.
Psychology will explain everything here. By asking the right question, you will show yourself as a competent and intelligent person who sincerely does not understand how a higher education can be useful in the performance of work duties.

But why, then, such requirements are presented to applicants? Most often, this is necessary in order to scare away an undesirable contingent who wants to get a vacant position.

Employer's opinion

To make it easier to understand the motives of the employer, it is enough to listen to the opinion of one of them.
Elena, who is the head of a department of one of the large firms in Moscow, had to recruit personnel more than once: “There are such professional areas in which you cannot do without higher education in any case - doctors, engineers, teachers ... Trade does not require a “tower”, but when selecting employees for my department, I give preference to certified candidates. Why? As an employer, I need, first of all, competent, able to communicate and think people. Without education, I am ready to hire only a person with “burning eyes” and experience.”
Employers are confident that a person who has graduated from a university is able to work, has a broad outlook and is able to analyze information.

What kind of education to have - everyone decides for himself. And although it is not an absolute necessity or a guarantee of success in life, but with it, both the career path and the life path can become much easier.

So is higher education necessary? Most of those who have received a higher education and then came to the conclusion that they do not need it start anti-propaganda of education. And often they do not even realize that they themselves have become the cause of the unsatisfactory experience. How is this possible? I want to tell in this article.

Skeptics of higher education, please read to the end and answer the questions. And if, after answering the questions, you still think that higher education is “evil”, then I am very seriously ready to delve into this issue and consider your arguments.

So why did the topic come up. Recently, I hear and see more and more often, especially on the Internet, a lot of anti-advertising of higher education. And since I myself am in the system, I know it from the inside, it seems to me that I can talk about it, scold and praise it. And in general I have the right to raise this issue.

Do I need a higher education: oh, these examples

For example, I have seen statements like this:

  • First you work for a record book, then nowhere
  • Mom's bedtime stories: finish school, finish university, get a good job and everything will be fine

The network is full of information and articles about how many eminent, famous people, more often businessmen, innovators reached heights. At the same time, at one time they left the university or school and did not receive a higher education. Like, why is it needed, why spend years on an incomprehensible pastime, if later it is not needed.

It is hard and often painful for me to look at these statements. After all, they are turning to young people, schoolchildren who have yet to make a choice pay attention to these statements. And the sad thing is that such powerful, memorable, often provocative phrases and thoughts can lead a young, unformed personality on the wrong path, confuse. Why?

1. Think for yourself. In percentage terms, how many stories of such successful people who, having left universities, have achieved success? Hundredths of a percent. And did someone consider those who graduated from high school and became successful?

No one talks about the education of these people. It's not interesting, it's not provocative! And how many of them? Such figures are often cited (and by the way, it is still unknown where this is taken from) that about 30-40% of successful and wealthy people do not have a higher education. Yes, good number! But the remaining 60-70% with the highest, and not vice versa. The statistics are in favor of education.

Many do not even think that successful projects were formed precisely thanks to education.

Here is just a short list.

  • Google is the result of the scientific development of its founders students Larry Page And Sergey Brin. Their developments were financed by the Science Foundation, young developers were supported by scientific supervisors. And imagine that they did not go there to study.
  • But our domestic Internet giant is not far behind. Volozh Arkady Yurievich - co-founder and CEO of the company
  • Warren Buffett. The largest in the world and one of the most famous investors. Buffett studied under Benjamin Graham at Columbia University, New York. According to Buffett, it was Graham who laid the foundation for smart investing in him through fundamental analysis, and describes him as the person who had the greatest influence on his life after his father.
  • Kostin Andrei Leonidovich. President-Chairman of the Board of VTB, a bank in the TOP-3 of Russian banks. At one time he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University.
  • Aven Petr Olegovich. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banking Group " Alfa Bank". He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, and later defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of economic sciences.
  • Dmitry Grishin. Russian venture investor, head of the board of directors of Mail.ru Group. Graduated from the Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman with honors in the specialty "Computer-aided design systems".

Well, if you want to be the head of a bank, a millionaire, create a new Google or Yandex, study. Doesn't sound very interesting, does it? Not like anti-propaganda. (I will just keep silent about doctors and scientists, they are ALL educated, and there are ... thousands of them).

And what are the chances that this particular student who decided not to study will achieve such success? And what are the chances that with education it will reach? Unknown. Yes Yes. In either case, there are no guarantees. I am not saying that education will make you successful. There are no guarantees either way.

Education will only help those who really need it. Is higher education necessary and how to determine it? Let's talk below.

Is higher education necessary? Popular objections

I got a diploma, but no one hires me, I have to go looking for places. Blame higher education.

For some reason, we believe that having received the crusts, we will immediately get settled, joyful employers will tear us right off the bat. But is there a guarantee for this? No, we have not been living in the Soviet Union for a long time. There is no guarantee that you will be accepted with pleasure. What are the chances of getting a job without education? Even less.

I want to say that education and getting a job are two different processes. Yes, one partly depends on the other, but it is important to understand that getting an education does not mean getting a job. Both with education and without it, in order to find a good place, you need to work hard, make an effort.

Does it bother you? Get rid of the myth in your head that a degree equals a safe place. With the collapse of the USSR, this ceased to be so. You can treat it however you like. This is a fact and needs to be understood. Throw out this myth about getting a job.

With or without a degree, you need to make an effort. Cutlets separately, flies separately. Getting a job is a separate project. Your personal. Education will only give the right to hope for some positions and a knowledge base for a number of specialties. And that's all.

Now think about whether higher education itself is to blame for the fact that this Soviet myth is sitting in your head? The question is rhetorical.

I got a diploma, I'm looking for a job, but I can't get a job. There is no work. Everything is crowded in my industry. No one takes on a specialty. Blame higher education.

Immediately the question is: when you entered, did you study the market? Have you analyzed where you can work, how much the profession is in demand? Not? Why?

Why, before submitting the documents, did you not ask what are the chances of getting a job in this specialty, what is the turnover in the profession, what are the chances for development? Not interested? Why?

I can say that at the age of 16, when I was preparing to enter the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, I learned everything that was available in the specialty I was interested in. Where can I work, what are the chances, are there any vacancies. I was pleased that there was a specialist for the desired specialty. set from employers who are willing to pay special. scholarship and wait for graduates. It's good, really. I prepared and dreamed of working in a large cool, prosperous company.

But I never got there. No, everything would be all right with the exams, I deliberately did not submit documents there. There, I could have problems with the device, since women are taken with caution in these types of enterprises due to health risks. I decided that this option does not suit me. I realized in advance that difficulties could await me later, and my health is dear to me.

I prepared for one, entered another, the Faculty of Chemistry. Where there was a wide potential to work in safe food, cosmetic and environmental areas. I already thought about it at the age of 16. And you?

When we want to open a business (for good), we carefully analyze the niche, demand, and identify the needs of potential buyers. After all, without doing this, you can fly into the pipe. When we meet people, we consciously or not evaluate them, how good a person is, what his values ​​are. We do not really want to communicate with alcoholics, parasites, whiners, beggars, we step back and do not let such people into our lives.

And why do we thoughtlessly get an education that no one needs and still hope that we, as highly qualified specialists, will be torn off with our hands? Go learn to be teachers, doctors - there is a huge demand. I do not want? Want to be a lawyer? Is there freebies and money? So do not be surprised that there are a lot of lawyers and the chances of a device are minimal.

Now think about whether higher education itself is to blame for the fact that you did not think about work in advance? Another rhetorical question.

I know people with education, they are kind of stupid and stupid. Education spoils them

In fact, no matter what the external cultural influence may be, a person becomes smart, erudite, competent HIMSELF. Yes, the environment can make its own adjustments, a young person can get into bad company. But those who want to develop, develop. And those who only like to drink beer and play tanks will not become great scientists and inventors, no matter what elite university they study at.

Any person can start himself, or he can constantly develop, improve personal qualities. Only this is the work of the person himself; someone else should not and cannot do it for him. Do you still think that it should be university professors?

While studying, I realized that I wanted to do something else. Opened his own business, took up design / decided to take up psychology / carve furniture / travel, etc. Higher education is to blame for the fact that it interfered with doing what you love.

There is one amazing, beautiful principle in coaching: “each person makes the BEST choice at the moment.” Then at the age of 16-17-18, you simply could not know that in 2-3 years you would be fixing bikes and it would be a real pleasure for you, it would become a matter of life.

Then you did not have the experience, the knowledge that you have now. Then you made this choice because you didn't know what you might like in the future. Then you have just begun to understand what you want in life. The tower was an acceptable option at that time. You didn’t wander around the yards, drinking beer with “friends”, but began to learn at least something, perhaps you found real friends among classmates, met your future wife / husband, participated in student events.

Many of us have a myth in our heads that once we make a choice of a profession, we will stay in it forever. Friends, this is MYTH, MYTH, MYTH. You can (and should) change the nature of your activity. There is nothing terrible if, after a year or two or three after admission, you realize that this is not for you, if you have found a job that you like more. So that's great!

Some of my classmates/classmates finished their education and realized that this specialty was not for them. Even in the course of basic studies, some entered the second higher education, someone completed retraining courses. They learned, settled down and are happy with themselves in a new field. This is good, and this is their way of life.

Is education to blame for the fact that you yourself did not know what you wanted at the age of 16-17-18? Yes, that rhetorical question again!

Or maybe you did because your parents insisted, in company with a friend, because it's fashionable? And then you say that education is useless. I’m so very careful, don’t take it as impudence, I want to ask if it’s your fault that you chose education, succumbing to external influence?

So is education to blame for what you did not of your own free will? (Yes, what are these rhetorical questions, tired already!)

Analyze if you need a higher education

So, if you have a negative attitude towards education, answer the questions:

  • Is the specialty where you entered, is it desirable, is it your favorite thing? Was it the same at the time of admission?
  • Did you analyze in advance the possibilities of getting a job? Have you looked at the demand for specialists in this specialty?
  • Have you been making efforts to find a job? How well did you look for a place?
  • Do you really enjoy doing what you have learned?

If you answered YES to all questions, if you did everything that depends on you, and at the same time you think that higher education is not necessary, then your position is very interesting to me, I will be happy to discuss this topic with you in the comments.

Most of all, it is sad to see that universities are blamed mainly by those who went to study there against their will, did nothing to learn about their future work, did not make attempts to use their knowledge. And then they blame education for their failures. Agree, this is the position of a child, a teenager, but not an adult.

Dealt with the myths. Now my opinion is whether it is necessary, this is education.

I believe that education is necessary. BUT. Not everyone.

Who does NOT need a higher education? Those who do what they love and at the same time do not need a diploma for your business. Someone makes crafts, someone writes fairy tales, someone repairs bikes, someone sells their crafts, someone brings up children, someone builds a business. Why do you need an education that is not yours? For nothing. You personally don't need it. Just like you don’t need a sheepskin coat and felt boots if you live in the tropics and you have 30-degree heat all year round. The coat itself and felt boots are a good thing, but you personally do not need them.

If your favorite activity requires a diploma (for example, if you are a doctor and you really like it), then yes, education is needed. Necessarily.

We so often blame everyone and everything (education, state, president, country, parents, society) for our failures. We often think of such a pathetic word as "responsibility" when it comes to others. But, alas, we so rarely remember this responsibility when it comes to our own education. After all, we ourselves went to this education, so why do we blame someone or something for the failure of this attempt?

It is we who make the choice to submit to external pressure or go our own way. We are changing, growing up, gaining experience. We almost always have a real choice, and absolutely always have a choice of our reaction. It's called being proactive if you've read S. Kovey or Viktor Frankl.

Who doesn't need an education? Those who have chosen a profession in a rapidly changing field. Web programming, most specialties in marketing and web professions (targetologists, advertisers, SEO and SMM specialists), businesses of all levels. In these areas, everything is changing faster than curricula are being modified. Yes, the education system with its standards is less agile. It is by definition, inherently unable to keep up with these super-velocity areas.

And if you asked the above questions about the future device, you will immediately understand that education in such specialties will soon become obsolete. I urge you to always think ahead, this is the main thing.

Education as a resource

I think you understand that education itself is neutral here. The system has its gaps, gaps, but there are also positive aspects. As an everywhere. This is exactly the same external resource as everything else. We can use it or not. We can choose it, that is, education, change it, not finish it or finish it, use it or not use it.

Education is a resource. Like time, money, building materials, houses, cars, the ability to drive this car, skill, computer and smartphone, bank loans. There are frankly terrible resources, rotten and dilapidated. There are wonderful. We choose for ourselves which resources to use and which not. You do not take loans from every second bank simply because:

  • liked the advertisement
  • parents insisted
  • credit is trendy
  • in company with a friend
  • and what, everyone has loans and I have the same ...

and then sit and cry, because you are up to your neck in debt and blame the banks for giving out such and such loans. So it is with education. If you consider it as a resource, choose according to your needs, look for a good university with the right program, examples of successful graduates, reviews (and not go where they teach in some way and not what you need), then education will become one of best investment in your future.

I am finishing this long story, but I'm afraid I'm already tired.

conclusions

Let's summarize to collect thoughts in a pile. A few key takeaways:

  1. Higher education is neither evil nor good. This is a resource that must be used wisely.
  2. There are people who do not need education for life. And then you don't have to get it.
  3. There are people who need education. Welcome to the walls of the university.
  4. And most importantly: you need to learn what you love, what you like, what makes your eyes burn. This applies not only to higher education, but to any education.

What do you think about this?

It depends, in general, on how you want to live in the future and how important the opinion of others is to you.

  • There are specialties in which you will not be able to realize yourself without a specialized higher education (medicine, law, engineering, etc.). So if you think that one of these specialties is your calling, it seems obvious that this education is what you need.
  • If you don’t know for sure, at 1000%, what you want to do in the future, it’s better to get some kind of higher education (in this case, I advise you to choose a faculty based on your interests, and not on highly paid ones, because if you get very bored, there is a high probability that you will not finish your studies before receiving a diploma, but you will still work, most likely, will not be by profession), and here's why:
    • With a higher education diploma, it is much easier to find a higher paying job than without it. Here is the question: do you need such a highly paid job? It's deeper than it looks. Yes, perhaps it will not be difficult for you alone to live in a rented room with three more people, eat buckwheat and buy clothes every five years. What if you want to start a family? You probably would like to raise children in more favorable conditions (and children, in principle, take quite a lot of money). The phrase "happiness is not about money" is about how being super rich will not necessarily make you happy, not that being poor will not be easy.
    • In principle, prejudices in society develop in such a way that people with a higher education who have gone through the realities of studying at a university are somehow better, smarter, more intelligent than people without it.
    • While studying at the university, you can make many new connections, both business and personal, nowhere else you are likely to such you won't get the opportunity.
    • Even if now it seems to you that you can do without the "buns" of higher education, there is a high probability that in 10-20 years you will regret your decision not to receive it. I personally know many such people. And the problem is that at the age when you regret it, it is already much less likely that you will be able to financially pull out your studies (for sure, you will be able to work less if you start studying, not to mention the possible costs of studying itself)

Yes, there are people who, without a higher education, started their own business and became millionaires (or at least well-to-do). But it is very important to understand that such people - exception to the rule. How did they have so much knowledge about how to produce a product/service? how to put it on the market? how to attract clients? how to manage a company?
These people either went through a very difficult path, which not everyone can do, or they are damn lucky, and such luck is also extremely rare.

There are areas in which higher education is not necessary to achieve success, and these are mainly creative or sports professions. If you see yourself in this, ask yourself two questions:

  1. Do I have enough skills in this area to get a stable income from it that meets my needs?
  2. Is the risk, for whatever reason, of being no longer able to work in the field (due to injury, for example) small enough?

If your answer to both questions is confidently yes - you can do without higher education. If you are not very sure about any of this, it is better to have a backup plan so as not to be left with nothing.

Now there are still many people who doubt the usefulness of the knowledge obtained in various educational institutions. Some people think that it is better to go to work right after graduation from high school or college, not wanting to spend money and time on hard training. Others enter higher education institutions and receive higher qualifications.

Graduating from a university, getting a job in a specialty and receiving a stable high salary is one of the most common life patterns that testifies in favor of education in prestigious educational institutions. But there are absolutely no guarantees that this will be the case. On the contrary, there are many examples when people without special knowledge and “towers” ​​behind them achieved success.

Advantages of higher education

One of the most important skills that we acquire in the learning process is the ability to extract information. Yes, people forget formulas, rules and theorems, but the skills to work with the necessary data remain for life. At any time, you can find and remember the desired calculation system or understand the operation of some unfamiliar device.

New knowledge expands horizons and allows thinking to be more flexible and faster. One's own individual opinion is formed on various situations, new opportunities and ideas appear. In addition, it becomes easier to absorb new information, acquire new skills and rationalize your actions in the course of your work.

If we return to the opinion that higher education gives advantages when applying for a job, then this is true. Employers usually prefer to invite more educated and competent people to cooperate. Such employees look more promising, purposeful, attractive and reliable.

When mastering something new, a person trains his brain. Indeed, educated and well-read people retain mental clarity for longer and have excellent memory. So, indirectly, the overall health of the body saves its tone.

There is another important aspect of the need for training - "utilitarian". The state needs new qualified workers in various industries and fields of activity: economy, politics, medicine, industry and many others. There are many professions that in the modern age cannot be mastered by an unskilled and uneducated person.

With a global consideration of this issue, only with the transfer of knowledge from generation to generation is it possible to progress civilization and increase the standard of living of people. And the better this procedure is, the faster progress is made. “Live and learn” is really wise and useful advice for every person.

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Are you wondering if higher education is needed today? You will find answers and a useful video to this question here!

About 15 years ago, people, having higher education, highly valued by both employers and society.

No one doubted the abilities of people with higher education, it was believed that if it is, then this specialist is of the highest level. While, higher education could get only two categories of people: smart and.

What is happening now is very sad!

To date higher education- DEPRESSED!

Now, probably, only the person himself does not have it.

Absolutely EVERYONE can enter the university on a paid basis !!!

People go for a diploma, thinking that, having received it, they will be easily hired and will be highly valued and respected.

But in reality, everything turns out differently.

In the modern labor market, there is a huge shortage of people for such specialties as: a builder, a salesman, a cashier, a worker, an electrician, a plumber, and so on.

While almost all have diplomas of economists, accountants, teachers, managers, lawyers.

Therefore, now teachers are sitting at the cash desks of shops, lawyers are laying asphalt, and economists are selling kvass on the streets.

So why you need higher education?

In order to end up working in the position that is in demand, and not the one you need?

Is higher education necessary? Reasons why you shouldn't get it:

    Unilateral training programs.

    In modern universities, there are a huge number of disciplines that are absolutely not needed by any specialist.

    As a result, when you come to work, you have to forget everything that you diligently studied at the university and re-learn, but for a specific job.

    Teaching quality.

    I won’t tell you a big secret, but in almost all universities, half of the tests and exams can be obtained for a small “present” (or whatever it is called “magarych”) to the teacher.

    This is certainly good for those who came specifically for a diploma, but what about those who came for knowledge?

    Number of higher educational institutions.

    Within a few years, a huge number of commercial institutions appeared.

    Passing scores are low there, and the quality of education is corresponding.

    And teachers, where can we get such a number of highly qualified teachers to fill all the vacancies of all universities?

    Nobody guarantees employment.