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Jessica and Rebecca discussed something somewhere up there ^ that I'd like to sort of bring back into the conversation because I feel like we, as students at an institution of higher education, should consider. Jessica asked, "What's wrong with allowing students to filter themselves out?" The problem, as I see it, is that it's not the students who are filtering themselves out -- it's that our educational system caters to a very specific sector of the population (usually white students from privileged backgrounds with educated parents). So when a student drops out of high school in favor of pursuing a job that requires less formal education, there's more at work there than the student's choice. There's a good chance this student's parents aren't educated, and that the student doesn't come from a privileged background; there are a lot of circumstances other than what a student is interested in that can land them in a job that doesnt require a high level of formal education. Basically my point is that our education system currently favors a certain type of student, so I feel like it can't support neurodiversity (or, diversity in mental functions/skills) until that changes.

Also, I just want to clarify that I don't think we as a group view those occupations that require less formal education as "lower" or "less good" or inferior in any way (at least, I don't). I recognize that people working in these occupations require an entirely different set of skills in order to succeed, and that their success is defined in an entirely different way from what we fourth-year college students are used to. This could get us into a really interesting discussion on intelligence, and different types of intelligence, etc., but as far as education goes, I think higher levels of formal education are generally preferred/looked upon more favorably just because they are less limiting/open up a wider range of careers. (And actually, is this even true? I'm starting to doubt it, after having several discussions with seniors in various humanities fields who have no idea what they're doing after they graduate, or what career goals they have in mind.)