In a recent “scholarly” article that we have completed entitled, “College Education and Dating/Mating”, we chronicled some key aspects of the marriage and non-marriage markets in regard to education and employment, with a focus on assortative mating.[1] We used very good source material to demonstrate that those with college education, in general, desire to marry others with college education.
We also showed some of what those with college education who desire to marry others with college education may be missing out on in choosing not to marry those that are not college educated. While college education does generally place one in the best possible situation to move higher up the economic ladder, there are still many good jobs that pay well that do not require college education. Some of which may never go away and could potentially still place a person in a reasonable position to continue to move up the economic ladder as well.[2]
While this document is somewhat “scholarly,” it does go into a good amount of detail to demonstrate the key aspects, as some have seen them, on the importance of education to many people. One key aspect that it shows regarding education is the social status issue. Education seems to place one in a higher social status and even places one in a higher social class.[3]
Throughout the years, we have witnessed many who were auto didactics[4] who obviously did not just focus on their professions that generally were not college related. While college does open one up to different subject matters and exposes them to the learned environment, college alone does not prove intelligence. As a matter of fact, we have observed a good number of college graduates who beyond their own individual degree focuses, could tell you little to nothing about anything else. It would appear that many of them stopped studying post college. This is in no way to slight college graduates for the simple fact that some of us attended community colleges as well as university. But the reality is that college does place one on the path, depending on degree focus and level of education, to higher income potential, higher social status and class, and in today’s sexual marketplace more viable for the consideration of marriage.
In today’s environment of the sexual marketplace, men and women, generally, desire to attract the best possible mate that their looks and their bonus material, i.e., education, employment, automobile, place of residence, style of dress, charisma, charm, game, etc., can attract. Some desire marriage early, others over time, while others play the field for a prolonged if not indefinite period of time. It was important that we have labored through all of this information, with more to come, to demonstrate some of the reasons of why we are where we are today.
We hope that you take a look and that the information is helpful. If you desire to comment, please comment here and let us know what you think. To download the document, please click on the title here: College Education and Dating and Mating
[1] Assortative Mating – Denoting or involving the preferential mating of animals or marriage between people with similar characteristics. Oxford Dictionary Online.
Assortative Mating – a: mating between the more similar individuals of a population especially when regarded as a factor in evolutionary differentiation within a population.
b: selective mating between individuals whose choice of marriage partners is determined by similarity of social environment. Merriam Webster Dictionary Online.
[2] See “Good Jobs That Pay without a BA: A State-by-State Analysis” completed by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce at https://goodjobsdata.org/
[3] See the essay “College and the New Class Divide” completed by Jeffrey J. Williams at https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/07/11/how-college-helping-create-class-divide-america-essay
[4] Autodidact – A self-taught person. Oxford Dictionary Online.
A Traveler 
Many so-called “blue collar” men who work in the trades are having difficulty finding women who are willing to marry them. Even women who only have a high school education today are insisting on marrying a man with a college degree. The fact is that more degrees are now awarded to women in the US annually than to men. This means a lot of disappointed women, and men who are gainfully employed at honest occupations not marrying.
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This is true. College education does generally place one in a position for hire earning potential, but as I demonstrate in the “scholarly” document that this concise explanation is discussing, that is not always the case. It’s amazing how many women believe that they are entitled to something that they have to bring little to nothing to the table for. Why should an educated man who makes good money, or even a blue collar man who makes good money have to necessarily accept or decide genuinely to be with a woman who has little to nothing to bring to the table?
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