Re:Percent of population with a college degree, by country
by gojomo on Monday March 31, 2008 @01:53AM
(#150801)
Another confounding factor in interpreting such a graph: credentialism.
Countries and cultures vary in how much they value official degrees and titles, and greater reliance on granted credentials is not always better, especially when it serves to protect established interests from competition.
So one interpretation of the relative stability of US education rates across age groups: the US has resisted a wave of creeping credentialism that has afflicted most of the world, having reached optimal level of education earlier than most.
Countries and cultures vary in how much they value official degrees and titles, and greater reliance on granted credentials is not always better, especially when it serves to protect established interests from competition.
So one interpretation of the relative stability of US education rates across age groups: the US has resisted a wave of creeping credentialism that has afflicted most of the world, having reached optimal level of education earlier than most.