Education and success - Is there a correlation?

[deepakraam]

I don't see any correlation b/wn these two.If you are educated means you are nt successful.Take the case of Bill Gates,Harvard drop-out.There are lots of ppl who are not educated bt they are successful in life.Ofcourse they have all taken a bold step of taking the path less travelled and they must have put their hard work.So I don't see any correlation b/w the 2.Even take the case of Edison,Ramanujam

Do you see any correlation b/wn the 2?

-Deepak.

[spark_123]

Education and success are interlinked and to some extent co -related.

Managing a company or starting a new business does requires different skills, knowledge, techinica compentence etc. One may have some or all of this as a natural gift and even without education they can excell in thier field (e.g. MrDhirubhai Ambani). But it does not mean education and success are not corelated, if with the right kind of talent and proper education one would be able to channelise one's potetial and would be able to take better advantage of the natural talent that one has with the help of the knowledge one has gained.

Hence i feel hence what i feel is education and success are interlinked and obviously to some extent corelated

[research]

hi it is nice. it provides information about the systems

[squareleg]

Education and Success, one wil never be able to correlate if one just looks at Money / Wealth Created as a defining parameter.
Education is about broadening the horizons of mind.
C what Dhirubhai had done was actually Skills in manouvering the system. Yes he was extremely successfull at that. But the Reliance behemoth that we see today is largely based on two shoulders of Anil & Mukesh. Now aren't they educated?

Mukesh isnt MBA dropped out of Stanford to join Reliance.
Anil is MBA. From a 60000 Crore empire till Dhirubhai was there (Reliance worth then 60000 Cr). Reliance Industries today is capped at over 300000 Crores. leave alone other Reliance Co's.

Same about Bill Gates, he knew or say was educated about Computers, if not a Graduate and had the vision to see the PC on every desk. Tht credit goes to him.

[samir_is_here]

Depends on what exactly do you mean by Education. If Education is just a college degree or a graduation certificate, then I dont think that Education and Success has any relation.
I somewhat agree that, for a person to be successful in a particular field he should have a thorough knowledge and should be able to understand the intricacies involved. This knowledge does not essentially come from a College degree.
In this age formal education is too much over-rated.
For a person to be successful he should firstly have a passion for his work. He should have perseverance, hunger for success and a importantly he should be able to constantly innovate himself and his methods of work.

If you check the biography of persons like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, Einstein, MK Gandhi, take any celebrities like Amitabh bachhan, Amir Khan.....
They all either dont have a formal education or their education is not related with the field of work they are known for. According to me they all are successful in their fields.

I would say there no relation or co-relation whatsoever between formal education and Success.

[Vishuisgod]

EDUCATION AND SUCCESS R LINKED ! IF U HV EDUCATION AND D PERFECT WAY TO UTILIZE UR EDUCATION DEN SUCCESS HAS TO FOLLOW IT ! ITS LIKE THE TOM N JERRY WHERE JERRY WLD B D EDUCATION AND TOM FOLLOWS JERRY i.e., SUCCESS HAS A HUNGER FOR EDUCATION !!!

[kartik]

Asking the right question(s) leads you to the right answers.

a.) How many people do we know who match the likes of dhirubhai ambani ? A handful !? .. so the sample size to derive any co-relation is close to zilch.

b.) Of the people who studied at the top universities in the world, how many are fairly successful; heading organisations and leading innovations? A huge sample size with a good success ratio

c.) When we say success, what do we imply.. monetary? mental? .... what businesses are we taking into consideration ?

If we can answer these questions, the answer is obvious, education and success are related. But education is not the only factor that can be your ladder to success.

[RC1327]

firstly for bill gates i think noone nows that he had a perfect score in the management entrance exam.in the first all the names are of exceptional people.
normal mortals like us have to study to get successful.
while i except that intellligence and some inorne skills have to be there still if everybody becomes a ramanujan then who will be there to cherish their effort and what can be called extraordinary.it has to do with genes also

[samir_is_here]

Asking the right question(s) leads you to the right answers.

a.) How many people do we know who match the likes of dhirubhai ambani ? A handful !? .. so the sample size to derive any co-relation is close to zilch.

b.) Of the people who studied at the top universities in the world, how many are fairly successful; heading organisations and leading innovations? A huge sample size with a good success ratio

I think that it is other way round

There are thousands of people that are 'World Famous' (not just you and me know them but the whole world knows them) in what they are doing but do not have a graduation degree (or their degree doesn't matter in what they are doing). I am quoting some of the names at the end of this post

And, there are handful of people who are 'well educated' and successful as well.


c.) When we say success, what do we imply.. monetary? mental? .... what businesses are we taking into consideration ?


Theoretically, Success means 'Profitable Growth' which is higher than the average market growth rate.
That means a successful person should be earning more money than most of the people are earning in his field. And/Or his Goodwill should be higher than the people in his field (his name itself should be a 'Brand') ... preferably in a good way.

If you think that the people who are at good position, in a good company and earning good salary are successful then I think you are aiming really low. This is what is difference between people like us and people like Ambani and bill gates. Their aims are very higher than we can think of.. and this is the main formula for their success. For them even sky is not the limit.

And, regarding your last question, even I have the same question "what businesses are we taking into consideration ?"
If we are talking about all the businesses then everyone will agree that success and education are not related.

If it is in field of sports - Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil dev, Steffi graph, Federer... i can take thousands of name... who cares about their education.. it is just their dedication and passion for what they do have made them successful.

If it is field of entertainment - again i can take thousands of names .. and their education doesnt matter.. but still they are SUCCESSFUL.

if it field of science (pure science) - take any scientist - einstien, edison, ramanujan.... they got their Phds only after their inventions became famous.. and it was not other way round. I dont think they were extraordinary or had some super-natural power that we dont have. Their main quality was perseverance - inspite of thousands of unsuccessful experiments, they still believed in what they were doing... even if world did not believe in them. Again i think this is the most essential ingredient for SUCCESS.
NEVER QUIT.. if you truely believe in yourself.

If it is field of Business - Jamsetji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs.. I can list many more .. they all were pioneer entrepreneurs.. They had vision.. they only want to be the BEST and nothing less than that. They never cared if they are less educated... but still they always have hunger for knowledge.

i would like to share a video in which Steve job is giving commencement speech at stanford univ graduation ceremony 2005.
He gave mantra for success as 'Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish'.
You got to see it to understand this... very good.. very enlightening speech - YouTube - Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA)

After this you can decide, if education and success are related.

Regards,
Samir

[squareleg]

So much of Dhirubhai in our debate

Remember, Dhirubhai himself always said One of the things he regrets not getting is quality education. See his interviews. He wanted to have quality education.

Unfortunately, what we all for most part of our life think about Big Money and the Degree that will get us there, which has no co-relation.

So, if earlier Doctors, Engineers were the Charm, followed by IT revolution OR Computers, Software and now everyone is talking about MBA. Which will be taken over by somthing else and students will run behind that.

Actually that is the way we are all brought up, and somwhere the fine talents amongst us all die somewhere in the race and rush. And the few who pursue their dreams, make it big time.

And we look upto them how they have all made it. Sacrifice is the word for that. That is what we are not able to do, we are entangled by the comfort zone created by our parents for us.

If 1 read India Today, you'll know how SRK has come up. No, he wasnt poor, but young guy from Delhi, who lost his father, came to Mumbai and in just about a decade ever1 wants a piece of him. One decade coz I think in 1992 was when Deewana released. And by 2002 he was already a big star, and who has grown bigger by the time.

He cud hav spent his life in Delhi, managing his fathers business. But he left that comfort. And once lived at Hema Malinis and later Juhi's house, and has today built a home like a palace in a city where we all want to have a house, however small .

[ankitgokani]

hmm...
education an success are correlated
but we shud undstd they are not interdependent there are many eg like every1 knws it is not necessary to be educated to be successful so i wud like to comment in a short manner education is just an addition to ur success or a path which helps to get success quickly o

[kartik]

Not sure I quite understand what though process is the base of the statement And, there are handful of people who are 'well educated' and successful as well.
If you look at the world's billions, people who head organizations as ceo's, directors, presidents and vps are highly educated.

Theoretically, Success means 'Profitable Growth' which is higher than the average market growth rate.
That means a successful person should be earning more money than most of the people are earning in his field. And/Or his Goodwill should be higher than the people in his field (his name itself should be a 'Brand') ... preferably in a good way.

Considering that as your answer, do you mean to say that the millions who head multinational organisations at the vp, president, directors and ceos levels are not successful ? Assuming that they are successful, do you mean to say that education, learnings and the degree does not have a role to play in the process?


If it is in field of sports - Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil dev, Steffi graph, Federer... i can take thousands of name... who cares about their education.. it is just their dedication and passion for what they do have made them successful.

Yes, so when you quote sportsmen as successful, a practical approach would mean their education would be the training they undergo. Also, out of the millions who aspire to take sports as a career option, how many achieve the same kind of fame?

If it is field of Business - Jamsetji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs.. I can list many more .. they all were pioneer entrepreneurs.. They had vision.. they only want to be the BEST and nothing less than that. They never cared if they are less educated... but still they always have hunger for knowledge.

You're quoting people who created history in an era where education itself had little importance and a 10th degree was as good as graduation.

if it field of science (pure science) - take any scientist - einstien, edison, ramanujan.... they got their Phds only after their inventions became famous.. and it was not other way round. I dont think they were extraordinary or had some super-natural power that we dont have. Again think of the era you are referring to. Yes, they might have got their Phd's after their inventions, but how do you think they got to the invention? Do you say that they did not get themselves educated on the basic principles of science?

If you think that the people who are at good position, in a good company and earning good salary are successful then I think you are aiming really low. This is what is difference between people like us and people like Ambani and bill gates. Their aims are very higher than we can think of.. and this is the main formula for their success. For them even sky is not the limit.

You are generalizing people and perceptions and you are entitled to your opinion though i would strongly disagree to it, knowing for a fact that getting to a position to head verticals of organisations takes a lifetime and it definately is a success in itself.


And, regarding your last question, even I have the same question "what businesses are we taking into consideration ?"
If we are talking about all the businesses then everyone will agree that success and education are not related.

What everyone agrees to is left upto everyone. When considering businesses, the top positions go to highly educated and polished professionals. I am yet to see an uneducated baboon with no success record head a large organisation.

Is education related to success. Absolutely, the polished communication, inter personal skills and the tact that you gain in the process of education plays a vital role in shaping individuals and finding success. :peace:

[ankitgokani]

good u have worked hard got the quotes and allbut i meant dhirubhai ambani he was not that educated to support this i have an article written by agood authour
A large number of very successful people in this world came from less-than perfect childhoods, and many were not good students (or were not traditionally educated).

So, what makes people successful?

1) They do not define who they are by their problems. Successful people define themselves by who they believe themselves to be. That’s why someone who doesn’t seem like she’s “all that” can do very well, while someone who is obviously talented can bomb. It’s all about how we perceive ourselves. You’ll have a hard time being successful if you continue to see yourself as stupid or uneducated. In other words, you have to believe in yourself before anyone else will.

2) Successful people have goals. What are your goals? Even if you have a Harvard degree, if you have no goals, it will be hard to find success.

3) Successful people keep on going. No matter what. You don’t have a degree, or knowledge, or ability? Keep going anyway. Don’t let that stop you. Keep learning, getting stronger, understanding yourself and your world.

4) Success does not get handed to you on a silver platter. Success doesn’t come from the outside, it comes from the inside. If that is true, then it doesn’t matter where you went to school. You’re out of school now, if you want to be successful and satisfied in your life, that’s your responsibility that you have to take seriously. Waiting for someone or something to give it to you will be a lifelong wait.

5) Lastly, successful people don’t whine. Seriously. Successful people don’t complain, blame people or things, or otherwise put negative energy out into the universe. If you want to be successful, you have to act successful. Whining about how you’re not smart or didn’t have a good enough education will only convince people that’s true and keep you in a constant state of wondering when you’ll be successful.

Very, very few people who are successful as adults will tell you that their young years were full of nothing but win after win. Successful people generally have gone through many struggles, and it’s how they pick their behinds up, brush themselves off, and start over, again and again, that makes them successful.

Given that, so long as you are alive, you always have the opportunity to have a successful adult life. It’s up to you.

the best eg is willam gates

[nehapatel]

A GOOD topic started. YA surelt both have huge correlation...

[krrawate]

no i dnt think..education n success are corelated ..
as first example dat comes to my mind is of d cricketer..SACHIN TENDULKAR...
he is nt so educated....bt more successful n famous than a educated person

[samir_is_here]

Again, i would like to reiterate - if Education is just a degree Certificate then there is no relation between Education and Success.
But if Education is a knowledge gained by experience, practice or by any other means... then ofcourse i think this is very much necessary for success.

For those of you who think that a Degree certificate and success is related Just some basic questions to draw the correlation -
Are all educated people successful ??
OR
Are all successful people Educated???

[chirag7979]

in stock markets also many uneducated people succeeds in making lots of profits but the risk involved there is at peak. pressure is always there on them. but people educated tries to do fundamental and technical analysis to reduce such risks involved.

Similarly, by getting educated and continuously learning we r trying to reduce such risks to minimse the distance between us and success.

in addition u may only give a few example (handful) of persons not educated and still succeeded while lakhs of example can be given on people educated and successful.

[kukrejanilesh]

no they are not correlated but it does helps

[mayank_parmar]

yes thr is cz both are ointerrelated....

[mayank_parmar]

in d current world without education thr is no successs......

[mayank_parmar]

there have been a lot of examples .... where education has not mattered... bt in todays scenario... it is a must

education is d whole n soul of success.......

if no education thn ur confidence shud b d limit of sky......

[beone]

there is not a strong correlation but it's effect can not be neglected...

[pahuja.chirag]

education provides a thinking direction to the person which may help him to be successful. but there is not much correlation between them

[angels_smile]

education is important for success but one can succedd without education but hard work ...

[adiishi]

think that it is other way round

There are thousands of people that are 'World Famous' (not just you and me know them but the whole world knows them) in what they are doing but do not have a graduation degree (or their degree doesn't matter in what they are doing). I am quoting some of the names at the end of this post

And, there are handful of people who are 'well educated' and successful as well.

[akashkhetpal_86]

ohh yes, there is a big relation in the 2, we all are not lucky enough to become ambani or Birla, who dint have any thing in hand in the beginning, but every thing till we die, in this corporate world, if u gotta win, you gotta study, its nt just ur mba books, but study knowledge, which is prime importance and that my dear friend could be said as education...

[kits_12]

well...that depends on: how do you define education? is it the number of education degrees one has acquired over the years? well, in that case, it is difficult to say...there is bound to be some correlation...as u learn something eventually from all that you study - whether it is about the subject or simply how to think and approach a problem... If u define education simply as what we learn irrespective of degrees, it makes you highly probable for success...its like you have the key ingredient...the passion for learning from things around you and that you have the ability to upgrade yourself each day...it finally boils down to the individual...education doesnot necessarily imply success...you need to have other key ingredients as well.. determination, hard work, street smartness, etc... but yes, there sure seems to be a correlation between education and success

[piyushtantia]

i believe we must first define success..................

[nazkan84]

I would say that education and success are correlated but at a very less %, its the experience which leads to success, education helps for succeeding, even an illitrate can be a successfull person

[adesh5]

It seems we are equating education with literacy.
Education is the corner stone of success. An educated person may not be successful all the time but an uneducated person stands very little chance to succeed.

[jattindy]

i think there is not high correlation because there are people who are uneducated but are successfulll

[ashpt33]

education dosent mean sitting in a class...n doin 6 hours study...it means how u learn the ways of life...n be successful...

[samiksha_hi]

Education need to be more practical and vocational in order for the coorealtion btw success n education to be positive ...
however , education cannot be a yardstick to measure the success quotient of an individual ...

[kanika_bhatia83@yahoo.com]

hi
this is absolulely wrong education and success is not at all co-related. there are so many examples to show that uneducated people gain so much name and fame in life. Depends on what exactly do you mean by Education. If Education is just a college degree or a graduation certificate, then I dont think that Education and Success has any relation.
I somewhat agree that, for a person to be successful in a particular field he should have a thorough knowledge and should be able to understand the intricacies involved. This knowledge does not essentially come from a College degree.
In this age formal education is too much over-rated.
For a person to be successful he should firstly have a passion for his work. He should have perseverance, hunger for success and a importantly he should be able to constantly innovate himself and his methods of work.

If you check the biography of persons like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, Einstein, MK Gandhi, take any celebrities like Amitabh bachhan, Amir Khan.....
They all either dont have a formal education or their education is not related with the field of work they are known for. According to me they all are successful in their fields.

I would say there no relation or co-relation whatsoever between formal education and Success.

[jalaja87]

I feel the two are extremely correlated. There could be a few exceptions like Bill Gates or Einstein, but most of the other successful people are well educated. Education basically helps one hone his skills and guides him in the right direction.

[lovishsharma73]

hey i think before searching for the correlation between education and success one must define success for himself....for a normal person getting a good job and living a comfortable life is a success...but for smeone else it may be not...i think education is not the sure short formula for success but i think in modern day scenario it is one of the most important ingredient of success

[charactereducation]

Education doesnt mean the only college or school education. Success is definitely directly correlated with the success but the part of education which contribute to success is the education of character.

Character is the foundation for all true success. A person may have money, position, or power, but unless he has “good” character he or she is not considered to be truly successful. What is character education (http://www.iamgoingtocollege.com/character_education/)? Character education is the teaching of virtues. To many people the word virtue has an old-fashioned and negative connotation. Yet the lack of basic virtues is what is causing our society to crumble. Because children are not being taught character education at their homes.

We do not often think of character as having such a direct effect on our successes or failures. But when we break character down and consider the individual qualities that together make up character, we can easily see that it is true that Character Determines Success.

[ashpt33]

yes........................................................

[trance]

My stand says that the two are not correlated when one has lots of chances and the right time is there for success. the level of competition demands the level of intellect and level of intelligence. This level can be generated from the level of formal education one undertakes. Take example of BillGates and SteveJobs, both were not successful because of any other reason beside having a handsome knowledge about their work and industry with proper marketing practices applied to oneself and into the work.
Sometimes this understanding doesnot come automatically from senses. At this moment of time, one has to go with formal education or any degree to know things better and to understand how the things work in real life. however, at the cost of time and experince also one can learn this thing. So i would be happy to end up my answer in a more diplomatic way.
P.S.: my post graduate institute has conducted many programs for entrepreneurs (formal and informal) and collectively have produced SME busniess owners or entrepreneurs in lacs. This can be a significant example of how people who have taken formal course in entrepreneurship have build their career.

[vibhasm]

success depends upon many things and education is one of them. in todays competitive enviroment one needs to be aware of different aspects of business, enviroment, practices to become sucessful where a high quality education plays an important role and hence it is corelated to success.

[aneeshapillai13]

No correlation per se.Education + experience =Success

[sharad.cyberspace]

Definitely there is a correlation...we can't survive in todays world if we dont have any degree unless u are born with a golden spoon in ur mouth..

[punitha.sundaram]

I cannot say there is no correlation. But success does not only depend on education. It is more of the experience we earned with our mistakes and failiures.