The Australian section likely deserves a flag for re-editing. It’s unclear what point is being made.
However we have reasonably good ways of quantifying overproduction, a simple test would be
Does a graduating student earn more or less than they did before entering the program?
There are several masters programs such as those in education where the answer would be less.
Funny thing, I didn't even finish high school, and I earn way more than the average experienced Australian university graduate.
Over the years I've worked with many graduates, even some with Masters degrees in programming, and I've found their knowledge and experience lacking, not to mention their work ethic. Round that out with a sense of arrogance and entitlement due to "having done the work" in university, they feel they're not required to work hard on the job. I have frequently found that many simply don't progress in their careers and whinge mightily about it. Often they get into an analysis paralysis too, whereby they've been educated about so many potential ways to solve a problem, they can't decide or commit on one to develop, test and push into production. Or their code fails in production in amazing ways they didn't foresee.
I think your experience validates the thesis. These people have expended resources on something they expect will lead inevitably to success, without much further effort required. That's, like, the very definition of "the elite". Of course, it hasn't worked - you're making more than they are, and you aren't forced to put up with (much of) their bullshit (and with palpable resentment) - because it doesn't work like that anymore. We've turned out so many graduates that a university degree doesn't mean what it used to, and they don't automatically occupy the social position to which they feel entitled. Thus, "elite over-production".
this is the problem really. not creating smarter people, because that would actually be a benefit. imagine what we could do if we had more doctors, scientists and teachers and actually funded the institutions that give them meaningful work that would benefit our society. but instead of doing that we are creating people with entitlement who think they are better than others and who then can't find work because there aren't enough jobs where their qualifications are needed.
Oh, for sure. It's another consequence of making a metric the target. At one time a university degree had more than a signaling value (granted, it still does for many), but we decided to focus on maximizing degrees held, rather than the quality of those degrees / degree holders. So here we are.
Is that an elitist position? I guess it is, in a way. On the other hand, many positions which now have a degree (or a degree from the right school) as a (hidden or overt) requirement could be just as capably done by many who don't hold those dubious qualifications. Credentialism runs hand-in-hand with elite overproduction.
> Or their code fails in production in amazing ways they didn't foresee.
Is this unique to university graduates...?
I don't know. But I am one of those weird people who tests code exhaustively in our lab environments before deployment, and as a result I've never caused a production outage in any environment I've worked in my 25 year career. Hard to believe I know, but its true.
they made it very easy to goto university in the UK during the Blair years such that degrees devalued to the point of expectation which I suppose is the result of elite overproduction, having a masters became the equivalent to a degree a decade prior.
I know of multiple law grads that to this day merely serve coffee, anecdata sure but I doubt I could count the number of grads I know that ended up doing jobs that would otherwise not require any specific academic accreditation yet have at least a degree, often even in STEM.