Misconception #12: Businesses are reliant on the skills learned in school

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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There’s no question that schooling is valued by employers. There is a question as to why employers care about the schools. The portrayal has always been that the schools are responsible for teaching their students what they need to know. I don’t buy it.

In school, you are expected to sit down, shut up, and do whatever you are told. In most jobs, you are expected to devote your day to your job. If you have developed a tendency to live your childhoods for your teachers, you will likely have an easy time adjusting to living your adulthoods for your bosses. Simply put, schooling promotes a business-friendly conformity far more than it provides skills.

Of course, there are other reasons that employers like to look at schooling history. Since students conform, employees are interchangeable and easier to replace. Since they already possess a piece of paper that says, “You are good enough to survive this work,” they don’t have to determine your abilities themselves. Additionally, it’s a lot easier for employers to find someone if they only have to look through graduates. In many ways, diplomas and degrees are application filters.

Perhaps you can argue that some skills for the workforce are developed in school. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to separate what the schools were responsible for and what you would have learned without them. Additionally, they prevent and destroy skills that should be valuable to employers such as common sense and the ability to think. Many people who fail to sacrifice themselves to the schools will never be given the opportunity for these jobs, even if they prove themselves far more capable than graduates. Perhaps the reliance on schools is why businesses have lost the ability to progress. It would require change, but businesses could find competent employees without the schools. That's what I would prefer.