You have a degree. What is it like working for someone without one? (college degree, jobs)
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Walt Disney died almost half a century ago. Seems odd to compare people from such disparate times when college graduation rates were so much less common seems silly: https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/...ry/tables.html
But I have two Master's degrees and for a period of time was (temporarily) supervised by someone who had a Bachelor's degree (if that. She may have just had an Associate's degree, not sure.)
It was...awkward.
First of all, she was EXTREMELY threatened by me, because it was clear I was more knowledgeable and certainly more educated than she was.
So...she took it upon herself to harass me, review all my charts (needlessly), and try to get me fired.
(Also, truth be told, she wasn't terribly professional, couldn't speak or write a grammatical sentence, and had poor boundaries with clients.)
I think degrees are over-rated in the workplace. Some people I've worked with who had college degrees were frankly, not all that smart. I'll take hardworking people who are serious about their jobs any day, over smug college graduates who think they should be able to jump to tho front of the line. All I wanted them to do was sit down and get the work done, not try to impress me with all their education.
But I have two Master's degrees and for a period of time was (temporarily) supervised by someone who had a Bachelor's degree (if that. She may have just had an Associate's degree, not sure.)
It was...awkward.
First of all, she was EXTREMELY threatened by me, because it was clear I was more knowledgeable and certainly more educated than she was.
So...she took it upon herself to harass me, review all my charts (needlessly), and try to get me fired.
(Also, truth be told, she wasn't terribly professional, couldn't speak or write a grammatical sentence, and had poor boundaries with clients.)
Something similar to this. My bosses with degrees were all professional, kept good workplace boundaries, and ran a tight ship. They were also good at spotting and allocating talent. They focused on continuing their own education and staying abreast of current tech as well as the typical management be classes. They didn't take themselves too seriously as they knew that they didn't know everything.
My coworkers and occasional customer or supervisor, with no degree, were very good at their specific job but they had a very limited understanding of the big picture, a lack of depth of knowledge that made it tough to explain they why's of what we were doing to them. Because of this they had no capacity to anticipate change or forecast workplace or market trends. They either hunkered down and let others do the planning, or (the know-it-alls) insisted on driving the project right off the proverbial cliff. They were also not very employable outside of their specific job. Change was their enemy. Lots of dinosaurs.
One guy I work with now is rising through the ranks, and is pursuing higher education as he does so, but man, its clearly a heavy lift trying to do it on the back end when you've already got job/kids/alimony/etc weighing you down, eating up time and resources.
But I have two Master's degrees and for a period of time was (temporarily) supervised by someone who had a Bachelor's degree (if that. She may have just had an Associate's degree, not sure.)
It was...awkward.
First of all, she was EXTREMELY threatened by me, because it was clear I was more knowledgeable and certainly more educated than she was.
So...she took it upon herself to harass me, review all my charts (needlessly), and try to get me fired.
(Also, truth be told, she wasn't terribly professional, couldn't speak or write a grammatical sentence, and had poor boundaries with clients.)
It becomes a problem if the boss feels insecure and threatened by not having a degree. With a boss like that, they want to make sure you can't take their job and prove themselves smarter then you.
In short, it depends how your boss feels about your level of education and if it makes them threatened.
As in many professions 90% of people in those professions have a degree of one sort or another.
As a person with at least a bachelors degree in something, How has it been working for someone without one?
What was your experience?
Did they act as professionals?
I'm not sure I ever had a boss who didn't have a bachelor's degree, but I have a Master's Degree and have had a number of bosses who didn't have an advanced degree. Not sure it's comparable but in any case it didn't bother me a bit. They did their jobs and I did mine. Usually they had more experience or seniority in the organization, knew the ropes better and could take the flack from the bureaucrats above them, and I could just do my job. IMO those are good bosses, regardless of their level of education.
Just like working for any other boss, IME. My last job the owner of the company would say something like, "I'm not as smart as you since I don't have a degree..." and I would just laugh inwardly because he was the one with a multi-million dollar company and I was working for him for peanuts.
It actually made me a little uncomfortable because I felt he put so much emphasis that I had all the knowledge about my area because of my degree when in reality most of what I learned was on the job through hands on experience. The degree was just a piece of paper that got my foot in the door. In fact, I was pretty stupid in my profession even after going through four years of schooling for it since it was all theory and abstract lessons. Realities in the workplace was much, much different.
IMO that's pretty much what a degree is for. The workplace is really where you learn all about your profession and become proficient in it.
It never really bothered me. Some people know what they are doing without education and others don't.
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