From the Founder

The grant reminded me of something about education I have been meaning to get off my chest for a long time. In nearly 15 years overseas, I’ve been struck by the very different way other countries go about educating their kids. We would do well to take some pointers.

In the United States, students are pressed to stay in school and get as much education as they can – whether the education they receive has any practical application. Worse, there is a social stigma if you don’t go to college.

It is very different in other countries. Take Germany, for example. Somewhere after age 9, usually after the fourth or fifth grade, students are tested and encouraged to pursue educational and career tracks based on their abilities.

Students who excel at academics are channeled to a “gymnasium” – an academically oriented secondary education school aimed at sending students to universities. In fact, the International Baccalaureate program in Germany provides high school students with their first year of college. We now have that program here in some schools.

But consider students who show a lesser aptitude for academics, but perhaps show strong affinity for technical skills. They are channeled to a “Hauptshule,” “Realshule” or “Gesamptschule.” These are less academically oriented programs that point students to blue collar professions. This is often coordinated with government and industry to be sure career opportunities will be there for graduates.

The thing is, there is no stigma in Germany for a blue collar worker not having a university degree. In fact, it is recognized in Germany that your friendly HVAC technician is likely to be making a lot more money than someone who graduates with a classical university education but brings little in the way of skill sets to the job.

Here’s a good example of the problem in this country: The founder and CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., Angelo R. Mozilo, which by some accounts has become the nation’s No. 1 mortgage lender, says he has experienced resentment based on education, income and social class. Mozilo did not have the opportunity to go to college, but his net worth is about half a billion dollars and his annual compensation is around $100 million.

“I run into these guys on Wall Street all the time who think they’re something special because they went to Ivy League schools,” he told the New York Times. He says companies like his, are “always underestimated. And we still are. I am. I must say, it bothered me when I was younger – their snobbery and their looking down on us.”

The disadvantage of the German system, and it varies somewhat depending on the German state, is that channeling students very early into a career track can disadvantage late bloomers. It is one reason the University of Maryland was doing a good business in Germany helping people who decided late they wanted a university education.

But the advantage to the German system is you have fewer students marking time in college on a degree plan that struck their interest, or was easy, but that has little market value – except maybe teaching and even then you probably will need an advanced degree.

Some folks will argue that getting a degree in medieval literature or art history enriches a student’s mind and teaches them how to think. And the hope is that this background will translate into success at whatever endeavor they choose. Maybe. But I can assure you most employers are looking for particular skill sets.

When I was working in Zurich, my secretary was biding her time until a promised opening came up in the university program she wanted. The program was geared to the demand in the field she wanted, and she was assured of a job once she completed her studies. She said the wait to get into the program she wanted was about two years after she finished high school.

There also is evidence that some employers are dropping college degree requirements and in doing so are finding a greatly expanded pool of applicants. Of course, the current tight labor market is encouraging this trend.

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Google, Delta Air Lines and International Business Machines Corp. “have reduced educational requirements for certain positions and shifted hiring to focus more on skills and experience.”

The Journal also reported that Maryland has dropped the degree requirement from many state jobs and greatly expanded the pool of excellent applicants when it did so.

So the moral of this story for degree holders: Be kind and respectful for the less “educated.” Someday you might need to borrow money from them.