You and Higher Education: Enrolling Usually Means You're Betting the Ranch, Just Like Software Investors Had

 Again, there's a raw reversal of fortune. This time it's this: Wall Street is souring on software stocks. 



The Wall Street Journal reports:

"Just a few years ago, it was software, not AI, that was at the center of an investing frenzy ... software's slump is a reminder of how quickly fortunes can change." 

So much for betting the ranch on a supposed sure investment. 

And, sectors where young people are focusing to make a good living fortunes are also changing fast. 

A former corporate executive communications pro turned freelancer after mandatory retirement age told me that in the past eight months their number of clients went from four to one. Of course, that's driven by AI. Meanwhile the other part of the current volatility and uncertainty is the cost-efficiency mandate. That's to boost the stock price. We're back in the Friedman doctrine that building shareholder value is the purpose of a corporation. RIFs are necessary for CEOs to hold their jobs, usually under the justification of implementing AI.

Yet, young people continue to invest in academic degrees. Undergraduate, graduate, professional. Many are long-term. Four for undergraduate. Three for law school. Given the tuition/living costs involved in matriculation, the opportunity cost of not having a full-time job and human hope, they are essentially, as were software investors, betting the ranch.

The major risk embedded in that is this: The time gap. By time the degree is completed, the Law of Supply and Demand could have mutated. The current classic example is majoring in computer science with the plan to land a wonderful career in tech. Or getting a PhD in the humanities to become a university professor.

It's not an overstatement that a long-term degree is a risky bet on a future which might never take hold. Professors in public relations recount the tragedy of majors in that field who enter a contracting industry. Most can't get in. Currently, too many are working retail, if they're working at all. Not long ago public relations was having a golden age. O'Dwyer's Public Relations documents that's over.

The same applies to the professional-school default of going to law school. Both law firms Paul, Weiss and Sullivan and Cromwell sketched out some of how life in the legal sector will implode. Because of AI, demand will plummet for junior lawyers. Also because of AI, many practices will devalue into commodities. It might not happen in 2026 but it could before the current large first-year class receive their JD degrees.

The good news on all this is that more of my coaching/tarot-reading clients who are beyond their 20s and 30s are addressing the challenge of earning a living without the flight back to degree programs. 

One forced-out middle manager didn't reset with an MA/MS in anything. They enrolled in six-weeks of training, at $7k, to be licensed in long-distance driving. 

Another former knowledge worker fell back on handyman skills to set up a solopreneurnship. 

When content-creation collapsed I took a $40 workshop to get confidence about commercializing a hobby and what I used to do pro-bono.

The reality is not only that things can change on a dime. It's also the shorter shelf life of so many ways of earning income from work. Has that shrunk to four or five years, at most? So, what makes common sense in how much you should invest in preparing for any field?

There's a cruel joke floating around some cynical circles: Sure, no one can take your education away. But who wants it? Most employers want you to do a specific job according to specifications. Not showcase that you have a classical education. Traditional higher education has been unbundled from the need to earn a living.

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we liberate your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.

Don’t give up before the miracle.

 

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