In my view, there is a grain of truth to the "signaling" hypothesis, but it also sounds like:
1. A legitimate grievance from people who didn't get an education and are having it arbitrarily held against them.
2. Sour grapes from people who got nothing from their time spent in school.
Higher education is whatever you make of it. You're legally an adult, and can make your own choices. No two people will experience it in the same way. My kid will start college next year. I've given her a couple of analogies (roll your eyes after each one):
1. It's like going to California during the gold rush, and being handed a shovel and a bag. You get to keep the contents of the bag in four years.
2. It's a tiny elite college hidden inside a giant Big Ten party school. There is intense social pressure for you to join the party school. You decide.
Indeed, but like many social science results, "signaling" has taken on a life of its own in the popular consciousness.
In the post above mine, signaling has gone from being an interesting and potentially measurable effect, to being the entire effect of education. Emphasis mine:
>>> An MBA, much like most schooling, is all about signaling. Anyone who frames our educational system in any other way is missing the point.
1. A legitimate grievance from people who didn't get an education and are having it arbitrarily held against them.
2. Sour grapes from people who got nothing from their time spent in school.
Higher education is whatever you make of it. You're legally an adult, and can make your own choices. No two people will experience it in the same way. My kid will start college next year. I've given her a couple of analogies (roll your eyes after each one):
1. It's like going to California during the gold rush, and being handed a shovel and a bag. You get to keep the contents of the bag in four years.
2. It's a tiny elite college hidden inside a giant Big Ten party school. There is intense social pressure for you to join the party school. You decide.