For a while now, there is something I've observed in society that I've named "inflation of a degree". In economics - as good old Wikipedia teaches us - inflation is a rise in the price level over a period of time, resulting in a sustained drop in the purchasing power of money. In layman's terms, for the same amount of money, you can buy less good, and sometimes, as it happened in Weimar Germany in 1923, money can become worthless.

Personally, I was raised by working class parents who insisted on education as a path to better life - or at least, a better life than theirs. Throughout my education, I have realised I am just one of many pursuing that same goal by the same means, until finally, it occured to me the numbers are not in my favour. If anyone's. For example, if you choose to do PhD in UK, your PhD will get you 3% higher salary on average (so it can also be less) than the masters degree. Yet you will spend roughly 3-4 more years studying, which is 1% higher salary, on average, per year of additional study. PhDs will earn 12% more, on average, than those with bachelor degree and 26% more, on average, than those who chose not to go to university. Of course, if and only if they are able to obtain positions that will value their PhDs degree.

The latest numbers I came across show that five years after receiving their degrees 45-60% of PhDs in Slovakia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany and Spain were still on temporary contracts, mostly as postdocs. Roughly one-third of Austria’s PhDs obtain positions unrelated to their degrees, while 13% and 21% of all PhDs in Germany and Netherlands, respectively, end up in so-called "lowly occupations". Since "years-of-life" is now preferable way to talk about the impact of COVID19, imagine how many "years-of-life" certain PhDs lost only to end up in occupations they could've obtain with a bachelor degree. Yet in USA, only 50% of PhD students obtain their degree within 10-year-period since enrollment. That is a lot of "years-of-life"...

So what happened? If you ask my parents' generation, those PhDs should have amazing life, yet they do not. Why? The answer is very simple, summarising all the hypocrisy of those who dare to step away from their academic catherdas to preach others about "the privilege". Between 1998 and 2006, there was 40% more of PhDs in OECD countries, and that number has grown ever since. How is that possible? Well, simply, universities have discovered that they can use PhD students to do more research and more teaching, with significantly less money. In other words, universities discovered cheap, highly motivated and disposable labour - while failing to tell any of students about the shortage of positions afterwards. Oh, and is there a shortage; only 30% of PhDs manage to stay in academia mostly - but not always - as postdocs. While 80% of postdocs wants to pursue academic career, only 10% manages to do as such, and only 3% end up as professors.

And I am afraid these numbers are not only limited to PhDs. If you dig through American Census statistics, you may find out that number of people holding bachelor degree in 1940 was only 4.6% compared to 33.4% in 2017, and I am willing to guess that in the new census it will be even higher.

So what lessons should we learn from this? As Helen Dale lovely put in her recent article :"The idea that higher education fees reflect higher private returns to graduates is a mirage." I would also add, the idea that a degree guarantees better living is a mirage. Perhaps, it once did, but now, worldwide, we have inflation of degrees. Do not believe me? Well, then, I encourage you to check the boom of recruitment industry. If a degree is enough, why do we need so many agencies and people to vet those degrees?

I believe it is time to re-think why do we want a degree or for our children to have a degree. At least, so we can manage expectations: if everyone has a degree, isn't a degree itself mostly worthless?

On that note, I encourage you to read attached article, by Helen Dale. It is time to step away from idealistic views about higher education and perhaps, address underlying issues of our academic systems that are currently pouring into society.

https://standpointmag.co.uk/issues/october-november-2020/meritocracy-makes-a-new-ruling-class/