Oct 23, 2011

Will Dropouts Save America?

Posted by Wendy Weber

It’s difficult to read these words and not follow up by reading the essay, isn’t it?

Here is the piece, written by author Michael Ellsberg, for the Sunday New York Times: click here.

Here are the cliff notes:

Apple founder Steve Jobs…Microsoft founders Bill Gates & Paul Allen…Twitter founders Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams & Biz Stone…and Facebook founders Mark Zuckerberg & Dustin Moskovitz…all are college dropouts.

Ellsberg posits that America has no problem producing professionals with degrees. But we do have a shortage of job creators…and the people who create jobs aren’t traditional professionals, but start-up entrepreneurs.

“In a detailed analysis, the National Bureau of Economic Research found that nearly all net job creation in America comes from start-up businesses, not small businesses per se.”

He goes on to say that if start-up activity is the true engine of job creation in America, one thing is clear: our current educational system is acting as the brakes.

Ellsberg finishes by saying, “I’d put my money on the kids who are dropping out of college to start new businesses. If we want to get out of the jobs mess we’re in, we should hope that more will follow in their footsteps.”

If my kids are reading this, I would like to finish on a personal note. With one of you in your sophomore year in private college, and one of you submitting your applications for acceptance in the fall of 2012, I will have a hard time watching you drop out of college “for the greater good”. Please get your degree first, and then make your mark on the world, ok?

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