We don’t need no education…?

Resident columnist Mohammad Nasser talks about why – at 35 – he’s making a return to the classroom.

Education, education, education. By the time I was 16 I was all done with that constant nagging feeling: that there was always more work to do, more studying to be done. They say education is wasted on the young, and I’m inclined to agree. I spent my school days flicking paper at my friends, scribbling drawings on notebooks or scratching my initials into desktops, when I should have been soaking up information and education like a young sponge. Occasionally friends and I would spend afternoons examining the back wall of the janitor’s quarters, smoking and playing cards. Friends of ours who had left school early were already working, earning money and buying cars. Staying in school seemed like such a drag my resources, not to mention on my freedom.

I grew older, graduated from high school and went straight to college, where I spent – again – the majority of my time smoking and reading the wrong books. I didn’t much see the point in studying. Bachelors degrees were ten-a-penny, and didn’t necessarily offer you any advantage in the job market (not that I was thinking about that at that point anyway). Everyone had a BA or BSc from somewhere, so it was never going to get you noticed over the next guy (or girl) when applying for a job. Doing any further education just seemed like another way for institutions to extract money from me, so I deferred a masters in favor of getting straight into the job market.

I did a couple of internships, thinking about where I’d fit into the world of work. It took me a while, and led me down a few different career paths – making tea in a newsroom, faxing papers at an investment bank. All the while I watched the people who made it into the company and were working their way up the company. It seemed like long and arduous progress, and their expertise and obvious talent weren’t always awarded with an corresponding paycheck. I did notice some bright sparks entering the field, and whizzing ahead with promotions and bonuses coming out of their ears. It took me a while to figure out why these specific people were doing better than others, but an overheard conversation at the water cooler lead to my discovery: they had all taken masters courses.

More students than ever have started masters courses this fall. The number of students earning these degrees around the world has nearly doubled since 1980. Since 1970, the growth is around 150 percent, more than twice as fast as bachelor and doctorate programs. The degrees often come with a hefty price tag, and there’s not much in the way of funding. It works a treat for the universities, who don’t have to provide accommodation for students (who will typically live off campus). But is it just a money-spinning ploy by the universities, or is it worth the cash?

University officials say the explosion of these programs is not to do with creating a revenue stream, and instead reflects marketplace pressures on students to get higher degrees and credentials. The pressures on students to out-do each other even ends up with some students enrolling for dual-degrees. This all sounded so outrageous I could barely believe it, but then exploring the marketplace as a job-hunter I saw firsthand how the demand for high-level credentials has exploded. I did a bit more investigation, discovered that for every year of completed primary school education, a person's wage increased by 0.9 percent. For each year of secondary school education, the wages jumped by 14.4 percent. Getting a master's degree is the most financially rewarding – with each year of study, wages climb by 23.1 percent. It even beats getting a PhD, which will earn a wage increase of only 14.7 percent.

More importantly than that big salary is landing a job you’re excited about. While applying for jobs, I was always pipped to the post by candidates with MBAs – most irritating. My other main objection – that a qualification wouldn’t fit in with my lifestyle – doesn’t stand up anymore either, now there are so many flexible and distance courses available. I’ve held out for a long time against education now, but it seems if I want to swim – and not sink – in this job market, I’m going to have to get back into the classroom.