Why the prejudice against those without college degrees?

[Anonymous]

I've noticed a sudden rise of prejudice against those without college educations. For some reason, people are equating intelligence with institutional education, assuming you can't have one without the other. I've seen it on this website quite a bit, and I've even heard people say they wouldn't even consider dating someone that didn't have a college degree.

While I understand extensive education can mean a better, high paying career and perhaps a more confident, driven individual, I still find it a bit silly that people would assume that without college, someone can't be intelligent, educated, and successful.

Are you at all prejudiced against those without college degrees?

What do you think of those without a degree?

What are your thoughts on this?

[selfishstars]

When I compare the person I was pre-university to the person I am post-university, I can see that I've grown a lot. Of course, part of this is simply that I'm older and have had more experiences, but I do attribute a lot of it to my education. I've developed my critical thinking skills, became much more knowledgeable, etc. I consider my post-secondary education to be invaluable.

Because of my own experiences with post-secondary education, it's easy to feel like people who haven't continued their education haven't had the same opportunity to grow as I have. This isn't to say that I think people who only have their high school diploma can't be intelligent, educated, and successful. And obviously, being intelligent and being educated are not the same thing. There are people with college/university education that aren't very intelligent, motivated, or successful. There are people without college/university education who are very intelligent, driven, put an effort into self-learning or alternative forms of education (for example, apprenticeships), and are successful.

That said, developing your critical thinking skills and knowledge on your own can be a challenge. Many people aren't motivated enough to go to work all day, and then "hit the books" during their free time. And even if they are, people are going to vary in accessibility to reputable sources, and ability to discern whether or not a source of information is reputable.

I think it's also important to note that, while I think that earning a degree can help people grow in a general sense, the knowledge that one gains is going to vary and is often very specific to your area of study. I guess what I mean by that is: having a degree in mathematics means that you're going to be knowledgeable in mathematics. Having a degree in psychology means that you're going to be knowledgeable in psychology. You may take courses outside of your major, but in general, you're going to be educated in the areas you've studied and probably fairly ignorant about subjects you haven't studied. I feel like I'm likely more capable of doing or discussing certain subjects than people who have a different degree than I do (or have no degree at all), but that they will be more capable of doing or discussing certain subjects than I am.

In terms of dating, I do gravitate toward people with higher education. For me, it's not really about them having a high-paying job or anything like that. I place a lot of value in education, and would like to be with someone who feels the same way. I enjoy having academic discussions and would like to be with someone who can stimulate and challenge me. I will admit that I think that someone without higher education is less likely to be a good fit for me in this regard; however, I would never automatically dismiss someone as a potential partner based on their educational background alone. If I like someone, I get to know them before making a judgment.

[diosadelanoche]

I think that lots of who come from privileged backgrounds don't realize how difficult it can be for someone who doesn't have the resources and support to be able to go to college and graduate. Therefore, they assume that because it was easy for them, that people who don't have college degrees are simply lazy, or they aren't ambitious.

I think I do sometimes have unconscious prejudices that come into play when I first meet someone and find out they didn't go to college, but I try to let go of those prejudices as soon as I recognize them. There are many reasons people don't go to college, and it doesn't make them any less ambitious or intelligent. There are people who don't go to college who are lazy and unintelligent, but there are plenty of lazy, unintelligent people who go to college and party for four years. Are they somehow inherently better because they now have a piece of paper saying that they spent a lot of money? Nope.

If anything, I mostly fear for the ability of people without degrees to become financially stable in today's economy, with more and more employers holding these prejudices and preferring to hire people with college degrees.

[harveykinkle]

It's not so much that you get smarter there, you just learn to actually think about things. Not that I look down on my uneducated friends but they don't have that skill.

It's also a reflection of effort. A graduate spent 4+ years in school working (really!) hard where as someone who didn't go to college/university did not. That's why employers want a graduate. They've already shown they can work towards something and achieve it.

I don't look down on those without a degree but as a person with one, if I was hiring for a job I would hire someone with one.

If you don't want to be discriminated against for not having one, get one! People generally don't give you things in life for nothing. Effort has to be put in somewhere.

I see technical school the same as university/college.

[atomicandy88]

Not to look down on them. As you do so. I suggest you only associate with those of your "class"

[Theguyoverthere]

It's sad but a lot of girls' online dating profiles say they don't date someone with at least a bachelor's. Even if I had a bachelor's... I wouldn't go near someone. It's like their degrees make them dumber. The elitist mentality is true yet so many people with high end degrees are dumb as rocks when it comes to common sense things. Many jobs still turn down a guy with a master's and take a guy with a bachelor's because the guy with the master's shows off how dumb he is during the interview.

Getting a degree is easy if you make friends with all your professors and stick your nose up their asses. Many women get good grades on term papers because professors grade with their dicks. I know a guy who gave his girlfriend a term paper to copy that he got a C on and the professor years later didn't realize it. The girl got a B! Same exact paper!

College is a joke nowadays and is being overrun with psychology majors, teaching majors, and law majors. People see them as high income fields so everyone's flocking to them. Watch in the years to come how much less money you can earn from them when people start desperately taking any offer they get.

[Dantemustdie]

I don't like most of my peers in university, all they ever talk about is themselves and how they're going to have such a great life.. I don't think they live in reality, I mean just because you have a degree doesn't mean you're going to get a job, I know people who have PhD and find it hard to get work. They're the kinds of people who get their parents to pay for their apartments, their food, their brand new cars, their fuel, their drinking money... it all comes from their parents, they don't have a sense of value for anything, sheltered really. I end up sitting near groups of them and I can't help but overhear their conversations.. so far all they talk about is university, where they live, how rich their parents are, where they're going on holidays and what shoes they want to buy.. I wish I had as little worries as them, but I don't envy them at all in any other sense. I know from being in university that having a degree isn't everything, it doesn't automatically give you a personality and make you into a decent person.

[dwiller943]

Because people think that if you didn't go to college,
that you somehow didn't study nor gather knowledge.
And that if you went to college, you are automatically
labeled as "smart"; even though a lot of people go
to school but can never seem to understand
anything anyone explains to them.
Degrees don't mean shit if the person who has
a degree lack comprehension skills.

"I went to college". Okay but did you PAY ATTENTION in class.
"Well I got a degree". PLENTY of idiots get degree with minimal effort.
"Well good grades makes you smart". I know PLENTY of morons
who get grades and I know PLENTY of smart people
who fail every once in a while.

Your grades aren't based on intelligence. They're based on EFFORT.
Your degree is not based on what you know. It's based on how many hours
you spent in class during lecture and how much time you put in.

So anyone who acts like having a degree makes them a "better person"
are the same people who took 4+ years of; for example, culinary school
to teach them how bake a damn cake.

[DutchAtheist]

A lot of people that have degrees think that they are better than others. When I was in university a lot of students would talk about people that weren't learning for a higher degree as if they were total idiots. I've had friends of all kind of backgrounds and some of them who didn't go to college make a hell of a lot better conversationalists than some of the people I met in uni.

If you need to flaunt a degree to feel better about yourself, you're a sad prick anyway.

[LosingMyVcard]

I get this a lot too. I served in the military for years. Yet I guess that doesn't matter. Since I'm not smart and don't have a degree.

They assume your a dumbass with no motivation to go to college.

People just need an excuse to feel better about themselves and put others down.

[Prof_Don]

Some people with college degrees hold an elitist mentality when it comes to being college educated, and consciously or subconsciously view people in their age bracket without college degrees (or currently in college pursuing one),

as "lesser" status than they are.

Sad but true, but I'm not one of those people! :)

[G_GTom]

I don't hold it against people that they don't have a college education if they can hold their own. My main problems is that there are certain groups of people that are always claiming they are poor and certain news organizations who reinforce that. Come to find out, half of these people didn't go to college and the ones that did, didn't graduate in one of the STEM fields.

There are reasons why people are poor and it, rarely, has anything to do with the establishment.

[gotc147]

Eh let them have their ego trip, they still pay a high school graduate electrician $400 to change a lightbulb for them.

[atomicandy88]

That would be me. I am that HS graduate electrician. And I am more than happy to take their money.

[atomicandy88]

Maybe I am jumping the gun too early, but it seems like your question in itself contradicts your opinion. You wonder why there is a prejudice against those without degrees, yet you say a person with one is a more confident and drive individual who makes more money.

You naturally have the prejudice that you are asking about. So you've answered your own question. You believe people without such education aren't as smart, successful, or driven.