In recent years, there has been much talk about how traditional education has become superfluous and how the present-day labor market puts much greater emphasis on practical skills than college degrees. The truth, however, couldn’t be more different than the fact that, globally, as many as 98% of Chief Executive Officers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. The majority of them (64%) hold at least a Master’s degree or some other local equivalent, while 10% have earned a Doctorate degree.
These numbers paint a drastically different image from the traditional conceptions that degrees are only pieces of paper and traditional education institutions can offer no applicable knowledge.
Let us take a look then at how exactly higher education factors in today’s business constellation and why earning a degree can prove to be a very valuable asset in your career-building arsenal.
Tangible wage gap
Let us start with some of the considerations that rank at the top of future entrepreneurs’ priorities, and those are, of course, monetary factors. Unless you are pursuing a purely academic job path, the hard work we put into expanding our skill sets is there to give you better shots at high-paid and prestigious leadership positions. With that in mind, it is good to know that college-educated workers enjoy 84% higher median salaries than workers who never shot past a high school diploma mark. Earning a career master’s in computer science or some similar sought-out area can also open doors to perks like better health insurance, salary bonuses, and similar.
Higher competitive edge
In this regard, you can look at a higher education degree as proof of someone’s will to commit to some goal and work hard to meet these ends. So, it shouldn’t really come off as a surprise that a recent survey performed by AAC&U confirmed that as many as 82% of corporate executives prefer to hire applicants with some sort of higher education degree. In today’s incredibly competitive job market where even the slightest nuances can make candidates stand out from the sea of other applicants, the weight of higher education shouldn’t be so easily underestimated. Putting this and real-life experience together makes a labor market powerhouse.
Access to curated real-life-based learning curriculums
One of the biggest arguments people make against traditional education is that, with the arrival of the digital age, learning resources and endless pools of knowledge have become available with only a couple of clicks. So, you can easily research any topic you like with only a laptop and a couple of clicks. What these claims fail to mention is that in order to master some area of interest you need methodology and materials carefully selected to allow you to reach a high level of professional proficiency. The education curriculums are designed with these specific requirements in mind and wrap valuable facts in a package with good proper pedagogical resources and practices.
Learning how to master new knowledge in a convenient manner
Building a successful career is a never-ending process where resting on the laurels of diplomas and other academic credentials means very little. Well, enrolling in a college does not only allow you to master the knowledge presented by the teacher. You are also forced to keep pace, master the techniques of effective time management, and use streamlined learning resources like student-made GCE A Level notes. All these skills will prove to be truly immeasurable once you finally start job hunting. Then, you will be forced to quickly remold to new workplaces and skill requirements. You will not be asked to work harder, but smarter and more effectively.
Working on developmental group projects
This is yet another area where traditional education takes rather unnecessary flak. So, established misconceptions say that college education revolves entirely around superfluous theoretical knowledge and leaves students with no skills they could implement in real life. This is a big mistake since the high education programs implement countless group projects where students are allowed to learn the ropes of their future professions. Furthermore, they acquire skills in a safe environment where they don’t need to ‘learn the hard way’ but rather take innovative approaches and learn to think in a creative and out-of-the-box manner.
Working out business-worthy soft-skill muscles
We have already briefly addressed this concern in the previous sections. But even the group projects and time management techniques don’t even touch the fact that universities are very business-like melting pots. Here, you will be able to meet people of different opinions, useful life skills, and mindsets.Тhey will come from all sorts of political alignments, and religious and social backgrounds. Navigating such a sociopolitical kaleidoscope will build you into a stronger business leader. Also, there are traditional past-time activities like browsing useful mangaowl articles that can prove to be just as useful in school and corporate chairs. Developing such skills will help you in a person much more capable of climbing the corporate ladder.
Having Bill Gates as your roommate
Last but not least, we would like to circle back to the fact that a vast majority of corporate leaders have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree at some college or university. That means that the future generation of corporate leaders is right there in the college seats, working hard to build up their academic credentials. Sharing struggles with them will give you an opportunity to meet people who will move the business mountains and become friends. Just imagine how hard it is to enter their social circles if you are starting from nothing and don’t stand out from thousands of similar job candidates. On the other side, higher education studies will put these leaders on your speed dial.
We hope these couple of compelling arguments helped you realize that a college degree is not only a worthless piece of paper you will hang on the wall but rather a very useful career-developing asset and proof of the hard work you have put in to earn it. Universities and colleges around the world have decades, if not centuries of experience in breeding future leaders and equipping them with useful knowledge they can easily implement in real life. So, don’t deprive yourself of the chance to take this high route.
Learning from personal mistakes can be useful, but it is incredibly time-consuming and makes a poor cornerstone for a successful career.
