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Comment by montrose | Hacker News Reader

If this trend is real it will be really good for social mobility.

I don't think so. Having a degree from CC marks you as from the lower class. Upper level and prestigious positions tend to be filled with people just like those already there. There was a good study on this http://www.asanet.org/journals/ASR/Dec12ASRFeature.pdf

But doest it mean lower class is much higher than it'd have been otherwise? That's still a win.

If the last 50 years have taught us anything it's that the middle class will be pushed lower, the lower class will be pushed lower still and the upper class will take all the winnings.

The economy has been a zero sum game for the majority for a very long time, so zero sum game strategies is what they employ.

That was my first thought - companies are just looking for people who consider themselves (or can be embarrassed into thinking of themselves) as “lesser” and are willing to accept lower paychecks in return.

I don’t agree with this speaking from experience in the tech industry, which is the focus of article. I went to CC. I work right along side folks with all kinds of prestigious backgrounds, and we’ve earned eachother’s respect based on performance on the job. My education label hasn’t hurt my ability to get the jobs (or salaries) I’ve wanted, either.

The trend I’ve noticed is that the more senior of a role we interview for the less and less we even look at their education. Much more comes from their work history.

While the study is possibly applicable to the jobs they studied (lawyer / business roles), I’m not sure it holds up in all sectors.

"Elite Professional Service Firms" is not he tech industry. In the tech industry, people can get ahead by doing good engineering work, mostly regardless of background. In "Elite Professional Services", no productive work is being done, just PR and marketing and CYA-management for clients.

I'm having a similar though tangential reaction: is this trend saying something about the four year degree against changing demands for talent? I don't know but if I've long argued that if the Associates degree in the US was valued as something more than just "doorway to a BA/BS", the talent "shortage" (sarcastic quotes intentional) would probably disappear overnight.

Did you read the article? They discussed this.

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