Re: Education and Productivity: Whats the Correlation?

[Penny Staples <pstaples -at- AIRWIRE -dot- COM>]

OK, so we have some people who start with degrees first, and then
become Tech Writers, and other people who become Tech Writers first
and may or may not ever bother with a degree.

*Both* groups of people produce some very good and professional writers,
and some incompetant idiots (haven't we all worked with at least one?).

Does the "degree" group produce better Tech Writers on average than
the "non-degree" group? I'm not sure we can discuss it objectively. It
would be interesting to see a study.

The difficulty, as I see it, is that we tend to defend our own backgrounds.
People who start with university degrees tend to defend what they've done
and see it as the best way to start. Likewise, those who succeed as Tech
Writers without completing college or university are also going to defend
their positions.

My own bias, by the way, is toward getting a university or college
education.
But then I have an M.A. in English, and it worked for me -- I have a great
job working for a very good company. Would I have succeeded without the
degree? Maybe. But it would have taken longer, and I wouldn't be making
as much money.

My .02 worth.

Penny Staples
pstaples -at- airwire -dot- com

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