Get a Diploma

You’re not qualified enough. Surely, we have all heard this sentence at least once in our life. But this wasn’t necessarily the case in the 1960s, when many jobs didn’t require any qualification at all. In fact, the 1960s being only a few decades after World War II, there was still a lack of workers on the market. According to historians, the world was at its highest peak of consumerism. There were plenty of jobs that are available for all ages and genders. For this reason, obtaining a higher education might have been somewhat unnecessary.

If we look at the current economic situation, we can observe that a large population of young people in Canada is unemployed. Statistics say that, about 15% of youth is unemployed and this number seems to increase yearly. For this reason, it is clear to me that our values regarding education will be strongly influenced by the lack of jobs. A higher education often means a higher probability of obtaining the desired job. Today, it is absolutely impossible to obtain a well-paying job without having some kind of certificate proving that you have the necessary skills to complete it.

As demonstrated in the memoir of Patti Smith, ­Just Kids, the 1960s were times when post-secondary education wasn’t playing a very big role in most people’s lives. Now, going to college and university is considered a crucial part (and achievement) for all of those that have the means to do so. Numbers clearly point out that it is in fact the youngest people who, at the moment, have obtained a college or university diploma. As it is shown in the picture below, people over the age of 65, who came of age during the 1960s are those that hold the smallest amount of higher education diplomas. Furthermore, the amount of peopleobtaining a Ph.D. seems to be increasing yearly. 

Statistics Canada

It is statistically clear that there is a major tendency towards obtaining higher education degrees in Canada. The image below shows the increase of diplomas on various levels for the past 10 years.

In addition, even at a high school level there is a tendency towards staying at school. Kids these days either understand the importance of education, are passionate about what they are learning, or have been successfully brainwashed by all those that claimed that higher education is important and that it is positively correlated to the level of happiness.

Statistics Canada

Finally, despite the renewed interest in education, it is important to understand that post-secondary education isn’t synonym for success. There are numerous examples of successful people who have dropped out of school and never attended it again. A good example is Mr. Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) that decided school was in the way of his success and dropped out of Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities in America.