The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair

Education’s role extends beyond job preparation; it should equally nurture students’ moral character, compassion, and civic duty. This essay argues that many higher education institutions fall short of their educational responsibilities. Instead of producing well-rounded individuals with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hershey H. Friedman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academia.edu Journals 2025-04-01
Series:Academia Mental Health & Well-Being
Online Access:https://www.academia.edu/128824489/The_education_irony_when_college_degrees_lead_to_unemployment_mindless_thinking_debt_and_despair
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849318698369679360
author Hershey H. Friedman
author_facet Hershey H. Friedman
author_sort Hershey H. Friedman
collection DOAJ
description Education’s role extends beyond job preparation; it should equally nurture students’ moral character, compassion, and civic duty. This essay argues that many higher education institutions fall short of their educational responsibilities. Instead of producing well-rounded individuals with strong ethical principles, critical thinking abilities, and job-ready skills, some schools may inadvertently stifle creativity and discourage open debate. The author suggests that a limited focus on particular ideological views and an overemphasis on identity politics can restrict students’ exposure to diverse perspectives. Rather than becoming adept at logical reasoning, students have become proficient in harmful binary thinking and pathological dualism—a mindset that is likely to lead to misery.
format Article
id doaj-art-3bf86043d3624bc6b3f7333c693be9f0
institution Kabale University
issn 2997-9196
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Academia.edu Journals
record_format Article
series Academia Mental Health & Well-Being
spelling doaj-art-3bf86043d3624bc6b3f7333c693be9f02025-08-20T03:50:45ZengAcademia.edu JournalsAcademia Mental Health & Well-Being2997-91962025-04-012210.20935/MHealthWellB7661The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despairHershey H. Friedman0Department of Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurship, Koppelman School of Business, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA. Education’s role extends beyond job preparation; it should equally nurture students’ moral character, compassion, and civic duty. This essay argues that many higher education institutions fall short of their educational responsibilities. Instead of producing well-rounded individuals with strong ethical principles, critical thinking abilities, and job-ready skills, some schools may inadvertently stifle creativity and discourage open debate. The author suggests that a limited focus on particular ideological views and an overemphasis on identity politics can restrict students’ exposure to diverse perspectives. Rather than becoming adept at logical reasoning, students have become proficient in harmful binary thinking and pathological dualism—a mindset that is likely to lead to misery.https://www.academia.edu/128824489/The_education_irony_when_college_degrees_lead_to_unemployment_mindless_thinking_debt_and_despair
spellingShingle Hershey H. Friedman
The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
Academia Mental Health & Well-Being
title The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
title_full The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
title_fullStr The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
title_full_unstemmed The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
title_short The education irony: when college degrees lead to unemployment, mindless thinking, debt, and despair
title_sort education irony when college degrees lead to unemployment mindless thinking debt and despair
url https://www.academia.edu/128824489/The_education_irony_when_college_degrees_lead_to_unemployment_mindless_thinking_debt_and_despair
work_keys_str_mv AT hersheyhfriedman theeducationironywhencollegedegreesleadtounemploymentmindlessthinkingdebtanddespair
AT hersheyhfriedman educationironywhencollegedegreesleadtounemploymentmindlessthinkingdebtanddespair