Education Today: The Value of Investing in Yourself

By Jamie McIntyre from Forbes

Do The Wealthiest Entrepreneurs Value Education?

Throughout history, the value and significance of obtaining a University degree has been seen to be irrelevant by some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs writes Jamie McIntyre.

There is a fine line between success and failure, but that line is not necessarily influenced by the level of education one has. Time and time again, entrepreneurs have proven that real- world smarts trump classroom theory.

This is not to say that entrepreneurs devalue education; to the contrary, they believe that education is important. Yet for the likes of Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and even Thomas Edison, tertiary education ran secondary to their ambition.

Branson started out in business at age 16, Edison left school at 12, Jobs spent one year in a tertiary institution before founding Apple in his garage and Gates felt that Microsoft presented a better opportunity than a micro lecture about business management.

The irony here is that these men and the hundreds of other university and school drop outs who make up today’s rich lists are the ones being studied in university courses. They have become the blueprint for a 21st Century education.

The feats of these entrepreneurs and their businesses are well recorded and should serve as inspiration for budding business minds because statistics referencing university graduates are far from flattering.

In Australia, figures recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the proportion of university graduates in professional and managerial positions is decreasing. Moreover the gap between the salaries of graduates and non-graduates is narrowing.

In the UK, statistics reveal that the difference in pay between the above demographic has shrunk by 22 per cent over the decade.

The theory that a degree will secure a student a high paying job is today more a myth.

Students need to ask themselves if the hundreds of thousands they spend on a Harvard business degree or comparable university degree is worth it?

The most revealing statistic and the one that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible is the growing number of unemployed graduates: 40 per cent of UK university graduates are still unable to find graduate-level jobs. In the US, 9.4 per cent of university graduates have no job at all.

A 21st Century Education

The current education system is hopelessly out of date and there needs to occur a paradigm shift in the way education is presented. As Mark Twain said, ‘Never let schooling get in the way of a good education.’

A 21st Century education is one that is based on life pursuits and results. It is about mirroring and learning. In Australia we have The Fortune Institute and 21st Century Education pushing the education boundaries. In the UK the Global Enterprise Project was launched in 2011 by three partners:

the European Roundtable of Industrialists (whose 50 members represent around 6.6 million jobs)

Junior Achievement Young Enterprise (Europe’s largest provider of entrepreneurship education programs, reaching over 3.1 million students in 38 countries)

European Schoolnet (a network of 30 Ministries of Education).

This initiative includes some of Europe’s biggest companies such as Shell, Phillips and Siemens, who voluntarily send over 2,000 of their employees into schools. Their aim is to improve entrepreneurial skills in young people and get other businesses to engage in partnership activity with schools.

The rise of institutions such as the ones mentioned above give credence to the fact that there is a need to lessen the burden on employers to train incoming employees and prepare graduates for real life work experiences. In essence, experience is gained through work and not theoretical practice.

There needs to be a global focus on skills training, efficiencies and productivity. There needs to be a focus on modelling. There needs to be a focus on success.

Combating Global Uncertainty

Speculation is mounting that job markets across the globe will soften and unemployment will rise. Towards the end of 2012, ANZ economist, Ivan Colhoun said; “the trend in newspaper and internet job advertisements is a signal of a softening labour market.”

His evidence, among other things was the reduction in the total number of job ads appearing in both formats in a six month period.

“When this last occurred, in the second half of 2011, Australian employment growth slowed,” Ivan said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s December interest rate cut bore these factors in mind.

And this is a global problem.

There are several factors that will affect the labour market in 2013 and no doubt the employment sector will undergo various changes, including further redundancies, a softening mining sector, employee expectations shifting, the retirement of Boomers, Gen X moving into senior management roles and Gen Y influencing the workplace.

This means several things: management strategies will have to change; those made redundant will have to reconsider their skillsets; and financial education and management will need to be more closely aligned with employment circumstances.

Invest in yourself and your education. It doesn’t guarantee your success but it massively increases your chances of success.

By Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of 21st Century Education and the 21st Century Group. Jamie found himself in an unenviable position in his early twenties. He was in debt to the tune of $150,000, had no job and was sleeping on a friend’s couch. In six years he turned it all around to become a self-made millionaire. This turnaround can be credited to Jamie’s extensive research and to the knowledge he gained from his somewhat unconventional approach of modelling multi-millionaires from diverse industries including Norman Schwarzkopf, Richard Branson and Anthony Robbins, entrepreneurs, investors and success coaches. From this, 21st Century Education was born as Jamie grew passionate about educating others. 21st Century Group was also born and includes 21st Century Property, 21st Century Accounting, 21st Century Insurance, 21st Century Media and Property Direct. To date, 21st Century Group has recruited some of the biggest names in business including Richard Branson, Randi Zuckerberg and Tim Ferriss to join Jamie in educating Australian audiences. Jamie is hosting Arnold Schwarznegger in Australia as guest lecturer at his annual 21st Century Financial Education Summits . It will be Arnold’s first time back in Australia since he come out of retirement to win Mr Olympia for the 7th time at the Opera House in Sydney.

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. http://www.jamiemcintyre.com

Author Bio: Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Category: Education
Keywords: 21st Century Education,Articles,Australia,education,forbes,investing,Magazine,wealth,yourself