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The Education Bubble--Harvard Business Review

JHarmon's picture

Hey Everyone!

This link is just food for thought, but it points out something I think pertains to the article by Edmundson we read earlier in the semester. Justin Fox, a Harvard Business School professor, talks about the value of a college degree and how the supply of college graduates is much greater than the demand, which ultimately allows for a really horrible job market in the United States. He talks about how the cost of a degree is far more expensive than its worth in most cases today, and the possibility that this will create an education bubble that will eventually burst. 

I think this can really help explain Edmundson's point about the mentality of college students today who feel tremendous pressure to perform to perfection rather than taking risks.

-"The Education Bubble, Tenure Envy, and Tuition"

Harvard Business Review

http://blogs.hbr.org/ideacast/2011/06/the-education-bubble-tenure-en.html

Comments

lijia577's picture

Thanks for sharing this! I

Thanks for sharing this! I find that thinking from different perspectives, thus using different methods, is appealing indeed while the conclusion we get would be so different that sometimes it could even be self-contradicted. Personally, one thing I don't like ecomony is that it is always so utilitarian. For instance, one can argue that there is no need to try one's best to learn in order to maintain a 4.0 GPA because the marginal cost would increase approaching to 4.0. Thus, one need to contribute, say, 20 hours in order to move from 3.5 to 3.7; the cost of moving from 3.7 to 3.9 would be more than 20 hours, maybe even 30 in some cases. The same conclusion can be apply to college education: maybe our society just don't need so much intelligent brains! IF our destination is to maximize the social benefits to the maximum points, then the conclusion is meaningful; however, the truth is that the gain of self-satisfaction and the sound-development of individuals are also important or meaningful even if those qualities can't be productive at all in terms of their contribution to maxmize the social benefits of the society. After this, the question would be what's the essential purpose of education? should it be part of industrializtion or it should promote individual development, or both?