How educated are the ppl around you IRL? - Page 2

[Purple Sage]

I know a large mix of people. Most of my close friends do not have degress, and only a handful of people from dh's and my family have a 4-year degree or higher. But living a a big college town, I also know quite a few people who have degrees (most of the parents at dd's school, for example).

There doesn't seem to be much correlation between education and financial stability in the people I personally know.

[PenelopeJune]

I don't know hardly anyone who's graduated from college. My little brother is currently in school to be a nurse, and he'll be the first from our family who went to school.

Oh, wait. I guess my grandma went to school to be a nurse, too. I forgot about her.

But anyway, everyone I know is struggling. Except for my other pair of grandparents, neither one who graduated from high school. They are quite wealthy now, simply from hardwork and saving money.

[LionTigerBear]

I voted "other". About a quarter or less of my friends/family have 4 year degrees or higher. Those with degrees are all financially stable. Of the rest without degrees, about half are financially stable and about half are not.

[Dar]

I'm in grad school, and most of the people I know are too. So we all have 4 year degrees...

Economically we're in different places - people at the school where I am not are fine, because we all get a stipend that's actually enough to live on, so while we're not getting rich we're not struggling either. At my old grad school there wasn't as much support available, andmost of my friends there are just taking on more and more debt.

Dar

[mamangazelle]

Most of the people in my circle of friends have at least a master's degree, many have a doctorate.

I haven't kept in touch with many of my high school friends, but those I still talk to also have a universtity degree.

It is a different thing in my extended family though, where almost noone has a university degree (my sister and I and our DP are exceptions).

[karne]

I voted for the 4 year degree or higher, although mostly, it's higher. DH and I have master's degrees and he's looking at PhD programs. Most of our family members have at the least 4 year degrees, most have masters, and there are a few PhD's and JD's thrown in there as well. We have a big, pretty well educated family. Most of our friends hold similar degrees, but in terms of generally where we live, I would assume there is a broad mix in the community.

[Norasmomma]

I have known and know lots of ppl with 4 year degrees that are working at the bakery, in the local pub and some in their chosen degree area(mostly nursing). This area is full of men and women with degrees who are doing other things, because it is a tourist area.

[RoundAbout]

Well, DH is a military officer and a 4 year degree is a requirement for the job so all of the people we socialize with from his work have one.

Most of my friends come from college, grad school, or from my previous engineering job so all have bachelor's, most have master's, and some have PhDs.

I think I only have a few friends who don't have any college.

[Ianthe]

It's about 50-50 with those that we know. Most of DH's friends have 4-yr degrees, and all of his family does. Many of my friends do not (though most do have a trade-certification, like massage therapy etc). My parents, siblings, and grandparents don't have degrees, but some of my cousins, aunts and uncles do. I will be the first of my parents and siblings to get a degree.

Most of us are struggling, regardless of education level.

[That Is Nice]

Originally Posted by major_mama11

If my husband came from a family that valued education at all rather than mocking it .

:

That is how my family is. They mock those who are educated. I think part of it is envy and part of it is feeling inadequate.

I think they know very well that they are uneducated. I think that they realize they don't have good jobs due to lack of education.

It's hard being educated in a family where they don't value education and outrightly mock it.

As I've gotten older, more established in my career, and have socialized more and more with other people who are formally educated and naturally smart, I find I have less and less in common and more and more that I disagree with my blood relatives about.

Unfortunately.

I wish they were educated. It would make a huge difference, I think.

[cristeen]

In our families, DH and I are the odd-balls without degrees. Our best friends don't have degrees, but beyond that I couldn't tell you - it's not something that really comes up in conversation.

Anymore though it's become such a detriment to not have one around here. Even basic receptionist jobs, they want a 4 year degree... and then they want to pay $10/hr . And DH is finding it's become very difficult to find a job in his field without a degree, where 6-8 years ago nobody expected a degree. Which puts him in a difficult position of having to keep an abusive under-paying job just to keep food on the table.

He wants to go back to school to get his degree, and we've figured out how to manage it without taking on any more debt, but the problem is his current job, he just doesn't have any time left in his life for schoolwork. So he's stuck in this Catch 22 of he can't go back to school without a new job and he can't get a new job without going back to school.

I've accepted that I'll never have a degree, and that it limits my options. But my career path doesn't require one at this point.

[polyhymnia]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I am the least educated of my husband's family with only a 4 year degree, my husband, his brother, my sil, and his mother all have masters, his father has a phd.

My family all has 4 year degrees, except my father and my mother has her masters.

I would say in general, I am very surprised when I find out someone I know doesn't have a 4 year degree, just because its rare - though I do know some folks, generally I find out because they are going back to school to get one. Also, its even more rare to find out someone we know never attempted to get one, generally they don't have them because they left early and went to work.

I also find the poll interesting, because if I had made it, I would have put options for folks having masters and phds, since I do know a fair number of people with masters, I would have selected something like 'Many of the people have their masters degree' or something like that.

I agree with this. I can't think of anyone I know, really, that doesn't have a 4-year degree, except one of my friends who has a degree in interior design which is a little bit different IMO. Most of my friends/family have further degrees too (master's, doctorate), and most people that live around here do also. I don't *personally* know anyone who is really struggling financially except my mother (who has two masters' degrees and a doctorate too but is currently choosing to do work not involving any of her education), although I am sure those people exist around here. I just don't know them.

[Krystal323]

WOW look at the poll results! over half of MDCers say that almost everyone they know have 4 year degrees or higher! and some of you are 4th and 5th generation college graduates--that's awesome!

That is so not my reality IRL DH still talks to a lot of people he met in highschool--he says about half of them are dropouts and half graduated. Out of our friends, we only know 4 people total who have Bachelor's degrees--all of which are partnered/married with children, and only one of which ISN'T struggling.

DH and I both dropped out of highschool. I'm a junior in college now, and DH is getting certified as a Paramedic (quicker money) before he pursues a higher degree. We are both going to be the first ones in our families to finish any sort of college education.

I've suspected for a long time that we were in the minority on MDC in regards to earnings and education! So many of you ladies are so successful and just haven't had to deal with the absurd kinds of problems that people of our economic strata have to deal with.

That's not to say I'm resentful either--on the contrary, I think it keeps you down to only hang around people who are struggling, and it gives you hope to see others who are better off--yk? :

[That Is Nice]

Originally Posted by Krystal323

WOW look at the poll results! over half of MDCers say that almost everyone they know have 4 year degrees or higher! and some of you are 4th and 5th generation college graduates--that's awesome!

That is so not my reality IRL

:

I hear you. That's so not my reality either.

I am the first person of my siblings and parents and grandparents to have a college degree.

My family didn't and doesn't place a lot of importance or priority on education. They openly mock people who have college degrees. But I think it's more envy and feeling like they don't measure up.



Most of my social circle and work colleagues are well educated. They almost all have Master's degrees or above. Many have PhDs and JDs.

But after getting to know them, I usually find out that they come from families who were also educated. Their parents have college degrees, etc.

It doesn't surprise me that MDCers have fairly educated families. The income polls are usually pretty high, too. And it seems like a lot of people have pretty well off families (not poverty stricken) who help out quite a bit, even if just with child care, etc.

[philomom]

Originally Posted by chiromamma

I live in a city that is considered one of the "most educated cities in the country"...meaning we have a large perecentage of folks with Bachelor's degrees or higher. Most of the folks I know have graduate degrees, even the guys that pull my espresso at the coffee bar!

That has been my experience with Portland, Or. as well. I love talking in big words to folks around here. And if you ask a casual person on the street "what are you reading?," you get a reply... not a deer caught in the headlights look.

[SAHDS]

In my family, nobody has a college degree (only 3 or so graduated from high school).

In our 'circle of friends' everyone has at least a 4-yr (most have masters and there are some doctorates too).

DH and I both graduated but neither have gone farther (yet).

[Knittin' in the Shade]

if we're talking family - Dh and I both have bachelor's degrees, as do our moms, but neither of our fathers do. Both our moms went back to get their degrees after they had kid(s). BIL doesn't (some college, same for his wife) SIL and her hubby both have graduate degrees. All of Dh's uncles have medical degrees (yes, all 5 of MIL's brothers are doctors!) and all of his cousins are either in college, med school, or have other graduate degrees. Of my cousins, 3 have bachelor's, one is a doctor, and then three did not go to college (two career military, and one blacksmith)

If we're talking circle of friends, all of our friends have bachelor's or graduate degrees, except for one who is running his family's business, which he went to work from right out of high school.

If we're talking neighbors, the vast majority of people on our street do not have college degrees. Exceptions are our direct neighbors on either side, the wives do, husbands do not. Across the street, both have graduate degrees (she's a pharmacist now, he's a professor)

so, overall - most of the people I know have bachelor's degrees, and a good percentage have graduate/post-graduate work. In a few years, I'll be joining the ranks of the grad degreed folks, as I'll be going back to school for a dual BSN/MSN.

[kirstenb]

Most of my friends back home all have four year degrees.

Many of my friends out here do not have four year degrees.

Most of my immediate family has four year degrees. Both parents do and one sister, and the other sister is slowly working on it. I have one, but DH doesn't and I know he really wishes he would have gotten one.

There are those who are struggling financially and those who are not, but it doesn't seem to affect one group more than the other.

[Tradd]

Within my family - dad's side, I am the ONLY one to have gone to college for more than one semester, let alone graduated.

Mom's side has many more educated folks among my first cousins.

Friends are a totally different story! Most have a bachelor's. There are some master's. A few doctorates, not many.

I will tell you plainly that I have MUCH more in common with my educated friends than I do with my blue-collar cousins - but I've not had anything in common with the cousins since we were very small. I have always loved books (began to read before I went into kindergarten) and they always turned up their noses at books. That difference alone tells the whole story. Cousins are still in metro Detroit and are in very bad shape (I hear, no contact in years) because they depended solely on the auto industry and/or auto suppliers for employment.

I got my bachelor's and within five years of graduation headed for Chicago because I wanted to get away from the auto industry - this was in 1996, and boy was THAT a good idea. I'm doing pretty well now - things are a little shaky at my company, but that's due to the economy that's hurt just about everyone. I tell all the young people (I'm 40) I know to get them some education, even if it's at the local community college in a job-specific program.

[Drummer's Wife]

In my family, pretty much everyone has degrees besides me! My mom has two masters, my dad a PhD. My sister has a BA, my brother an MBA. Thinking about extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.,) I can't think of who doesn't have a degree. It also seems like everyone waited to start families until they had finished college and worked for a while. I am the oddball, but that's okay. I am enrolled in college right now, just a little late going back to school at age 29. Oh, my half brother, who is 21, has had some college but no degree, yet.

As far as circle of good friends, we moved out of our home state but going by long-term friends: My best friend is a Physician Assistant which she obtained from grad school... but other than that, no, our closest friends don't tend to have college degrees. The "band" crowd was more likely to be people who hadn't even finished highschool much less college. Except one friend who is a RN and a few random others with degrees they don't use.

Now, where I live currently? I'm in a 'wealthy' neighborhood so yes, I would assume most people have a min. of a 4 yr degree, with most people likely having more schooling than that. Some self-made business owners, too, that I've come across.

DH is an exception among most of the people he works with in that he doesn't have a college degree.