In a cramped living room in suburban Mumbai, a mother proudly displays her son’s engineering degree from an IIT, carefully framed in ornate gold. Meanwhile, her neighbor’s daughter, who runs a successful tech startup but dropped out of college, is still considered the “unsuccessful” one. Welcome to India, where degrees aren’t just qualifications – they’re family deities.
The Great Indian Degree Worship Drama
Picture this: A theatrical production where the lead actor isn’t talent, skill, or innovation, but a piece of paper with fancy letterhead. In India, we’ve mastered the art of degree worship with such devotion that it would make religious zealots blush. We don’t just respect education; we’ve turned it into a cult.
The Holy Trinity: Engineering, Medicine, and MBA
If Indian parents had their way, every child would simultaneously be a doctor, engineer, and MBA graduate. It’s the academic equivalent of wanting your child to be a triple-threat performer, except instead of singing, dancing, and acting, it’s differential equations, anatomical diagrams, and PowerPoint presentations.
The Numbers Tell a Story (And It’s Not a Comedy)
According to AICTE, India produces approximately 1.5 million engineering graduates annually
- Yet, studies show that only 40% of these graduates are employable in their core domains
- The number of MBA institutions has grown by 300% in the last decade
- Despite this, only 7% of MBA graduates are deemed employable by industry standards
The Prestige Paradox
Here’s where the satire writes itself: A mediocre professional with a degree from a prestigious institution often commands more respect than a brilliant autodidact. We’ve created a society where the path to success is predetermined: Get into a top college, preferably one with an alphabet soup name (IIT, IIM, BITS), secure a job at a multinational company with a foreign-sounding name, and voilà – you’re “successful.”
The LinkedIn Effect
Speaking of success, let’s talk about LinkedIn – the digital temple where degree worship reaches its peak. Here, job titles are mantras, and company logos are sacred symbols. A typical Indian LinkedIn profile reads like an academic shopping list:
- B.Tech (IIT)
- MBA (IIM)
- Executive Program (Harvard)
- Certificate in Making Certificates (Prestigious Institute)
The Innovation Irony
While we’re busy worshipping degrees, something interesting is happening globally. The world’s most innovative companies are increasingly becoming degree-agnostic. Tesla, Apple, and Google have dropped degree requirements for many positions. Meanwhile, in India, we’re still asking for a B.Tech degree for jobs that could be done by someone with a high school diploma and good coding skills.
The Cost of Our Obsession
This degree worship comes at a steep price:
Mental Health Crisis
- Rising student suicide rates
- Increasing anxiety and depression among young adults
- Parental pressure leading to lifelong trauma
Economic Impact
- Massive student loans
- Brain drain as students flee abroad
- Stunted entrepreneurship growth
Innovation Deficit
- Risk-averse mindset
- Lack of practical skills
- Emphasis on rote learning over creativity
The Self-Made Paradox
In a delicious twist of irony, many of India’s most successful entrepreneurs don’t fit the traditional “degree worship” mold. Yet, we continue to view their success as exceptions rather than examples. It’s as if we’re saying, “Yes, they succeeded without the right degrees, but please don’t try this at home.”
The Global Perspective
While India grapples with degree worship, other countries are moving towards skill-based assessment:
- Germany’s dual education system emphasizes practical training
- Israel’s tech sector values military experience over degrees
- Silicon Valley’s increasing focus on portfolio over pedigree
Breaking Free from the Degree Trap
The solution isn’t to devalue education but to stop overvaluing certificates. Here’s what we need:
Skill-Based Evaluation
- Focus on competency over credentials
- Emphasis on practical experience
- Recognition of alternative learning paths
Cultural Shift
- Celebrating diverse definitions of success
- Encouraging entrepreneurship and risk-taking
- Supporting continuous learning over one-time degrees
Educational Reform
- Integration of practical skills in curriculum
- Industry-academia collaboration
- Focus on innovation and creativity
The Way Forward
The cure for degree worship isn’t the abolition of degrees but the elevation of skills, creativity, and practical knowledge to equal status. We need to create a society where:
- A successful entrepreneur without a degree isn’t an anomaly
- A skilled tradesperson isn’t considered inferior to a desk job holder
- Innovation and risk-taking are celebrated as much as academic achievements
At The End: Breaking the Spell
As we stand at the crossroads of tradition and transformation, it’s time to question our degree worship. The world is changing, and India’s obsession with academic credentials is becoming increasingly outdated. We need to move from a society that asks “Which college did you graduate from?” to one that asks “What can you do?”
The next time you’re tempted to bow at the altar of academic credentials, remember: degrees are meant to be stepping stones, not golden handcuffs. In the end, what matters isn’t the paper hanging on your wall, but what you bring to the table.
Because in the real world, success isn’t spelled D-E-G-R-E-E, it’s spelled S-K-I-L-L-S.
