[ILUG] OT: A university degree is required. Why?

[Stephen Holmes]

Joe - I agree with you 100%.  With or without certs, diplomas, degrees,
MBA's or PhD's, people are invariably good or bad at a job.  I've met as
many educated idiots as I have geniuses.  

Completing a formal education in any discipline, however, says two clear
things to me... a demonstrable ability to complete a long term project
(4 years of study towards a clear goal) and a strong commitment to
personal growth and learning (in terms of cost and effort).  

To really assess someones knowledge, passion, practical ability and
suitability in a given field requires a completely different focus
beyond mere filtering.  Success isn't based on education alone, but I
would postulate that a sound education is a cornerstone in 80% of
success cases even if this lot break my theory... 

Bill Gates (Microsoft) dropped out of Harvard, 1976
Steve Jobs (Apple, NeXT, Pixar) left Reed College in Portland, Oregon,
after 1 semester
Steve Wozniak (with Jobs, founded Apple Computer)
Lawrence Ellison (Oracle Computer)
Michael Dell (Dell Computer) dropped out of the University of Texas


Steve.




On Wed, 2006-05-03 at 20:07 +0000, "Joe Fitzsimons"  wrote:
> Ok, I've kept out of this until now, but I am starting to find these posts
> very offensive. Some people don't have degrees but have excellent hands on
> experience and relevant knowledge. I fully accept this. What is driving me
> nuts is that you are implying that most degree holders are severely
> lacking in skills, and that they have effectively wasted four years of
> their lives, except for having got a piece of paper to blind HR types
> with.
> 
> This is clearly and demonstratably false. Take this group, for example.
> There are many graduates and students on the list with exceptional
> technical skills.
> 
> Sorry for venting, but this is starting to piss me off.
> 
> Joe
> 
> 
> Andrew Court wrote:
> > Most people have experienced being in a job and getting orders either
> > from someone their senior or junior, who has a degree and knows
> > didly-squat about what they are doing. Possibly because they got
> > someone who has the soft skills, one acquires by doing a degree but
> > without the hands-on experience of taking the back off something.
> >
> > Also, what are degree-holders like at thinking outside the box? I
> > can't help but think that after being taught for 4 years that a spade
> > is a spade, that some (or a lot) of them would be less inclined to
> > question things around them, unless they are that sort of person
> > already. No offence meant to anyone on the board, as the very nature
> > of Linux is outside the box.
> 

-- 

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