for asian americans college/education was the great equalizer, catapulting them to the top of the hierarchy in a generation
thatās because white americans assumed grades would prevent minorities from climbing to the top, but it backfired.
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I think certifications in general are a scam. That includes ASA, FSAās, and CASās. They just creat a barrier to entry which increases pay for those behind the wall. The medical field is a shining example in the US. Physicians are way overvalued simply because we donāt have enough of them due to the huge barrier to enter the field.
Some of these could be demonstrated through a couple of years of service in the Armed Forces.
How dare you insult my guild!
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Who wants to drive across the bridge designed by the engineer that didnāt get a bachelorās degree?
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I donāt think a bachelorās degree is what I look for in stepping onto a structure constructed by an engineer.
More likely to look into past projects.
Actually one of the biggest highway construction companies in America at one time was run by a high school dropout. They were responsible for building several thousand original miles of interstate highway. He started a company with his brother running dump trucks. They both had a drinking problem and he quit. His brother didnāt and killed himself driving the truck while drunk. After his brother died he started building roadways. He constructed almost all of I-75 through KY, TN, GA, and into FL. He built all of I-40 and most of I-24 through TN and most of I-64 through KY, WV, and VA. If youāve been on those stretches of road you know what a task it must have been to cut those roadways the first time they were built. I know all this because he was from my hometown and founded the bank my dad worked for. Pretty incredible guy. Sold the company to George Steinbeenner in the late 80ās. He broke it up and sold all the parts.
You kind of need both imo. Past projects gets you a walkway in Kansas City whose design only bites you 3 years later. Or a condominium building in Surfside, FL whose design only bites you 40 years later.
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Was the the engineer or management?
He obviously did a lot of things over the 30-40 years he built his little empire. My dad worked for him for a decade at a bank after all. The folks who worked for the road company all said he just had a knack for civil engineering. Really good at knowing where to dig and where to fill to get the base done with minimal new materials needed. As they got larger and had more crews he obviously couldnāt be everywhere at once, but it brings up another point, he wasnāt trained to be a CEO either and he did that just fine as well. Also my dad worked for him at a bank he founded. He was the President of that bank for a long time too. He didnāt go to school for finance either.
Almost any idiot can get a bachelors degree. Itās a joke and somewhat of a scam.
I wouldnt really consider that making a person qualified.
However, if that person were such an idiot that they couldnāt even get a bachelors degreeā¦
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Through some strange fluke of life, I have a bunch of friends who are civil engineers that design roads and bridges. Oddly enough, they are different things and require different knowledge. Bridge engineers think the only reason roads exist is to get people to their bridges btw. Building a road takes a different skillset then designing the road as well. While your counter example is interesting, giving the choice between two bridges with the only knowledge being one was designed by a college graduate and one was not, Iām taking the former. Unless it was designed by my friend, then Iām taking the other one just to aggravate him.
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you donāt need intellect for a BS. you need money and time. which a lot of people donāt have
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I think Iād opt to not be on this bridge. Do you really trust a college grad to build a bridge?
A lot of people I know have a lot of one or the other of those, though.
Demonstratively false. Only a third of students graduate in four years and less then 60% in six.
Having a degree doesnāt make you qualified. It makes you educated. That education provides the groundwork needed to become qualified in many professions. This is true even in the trades. If you want to become a plumber or electrician or crane operator, you need to attend classes to learn the theoretical underpinnings of your chosen field.
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Depends; what was their major and which college/university did they get (most) of their education from?
Construction management major from Purdue? Iād trust that grad.
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In my example, you have no knowledge of who built the bridge, only who designed it. Those are two very different things. It is unlikely that most of the people who built the bridge had an education beyond high school. Some will have attended tech schools or similar and may hold associate degrees. The foreman of the project probably did have a degree and is responsible for ensuring that the construction crews used proper building techniques.