I have a “higher education” inflation theory that I believe contributes mightily to the phenomenon we’re seeing with overuse of therapy. It’s also one that I think explains the rise of DEI, and other oddities in American public life recently.
It’s fairly simple: Colleges and universities have significantly increased their enrollment since…
I have a “higher education” inflation theory that I believe contributes mightily to the phenomenon we’re seeing with overuse of therapy. It’s also one that I think explains the rise of DEI, and other oddities in American public life recently.
It’s fairly simple: Colleges and universities have significantly increased their enrollment since many decades ago, and are “in the business” of finding new students. But college really is not for everybody, and many students funnel into cake majors to get through and get their degree. When I went to college in the 90s, psychology was a HUGE major for students who didn’t know what they wanted to do. But they eventually graduate, and the fact that they majored in it makes them comfortable applying it everywhere. Seeking therapy for themselves, for their children, and recommending it to others. Of course, there was an overproduction of psychologists who also need to start their own businesses after graduating, and obviously are looking for regular patients who pay on time.
You can apply this theory to why DEI has become such a sacred cow juggernaut: We also have a huge overproduction of LGBT studies majors, Women’s Studies, Black History, Asian History…… Majors that often set themselves up in opposition to actual, mainstream History departments and other social studies departments, and which on many campuses have been focused on grievance. Those people graduate, too, and may seek to apply their “theories” to corporations and institutions that may eventually hire them to do something real.
I’m glad that Mr. Page, Abigail Schrier, and others are shining a light on this. And I’ve appreciated, too, that many critics are accurately pointing out that there is a place for therapy in specific niche areas. But that maybe we need to consider the possibility that it’s really not necessary for everyone. And we could stand to consider whether our colleges and universities need to review whether they’re wisely allocating their scarce (yet enormous) resources towards the developing needs of our country.
I have a “higher education” inflation theory that I believe contributes mightily to the phenomenon we’re seeing with overuse of therapy. It’s also one that I think explains the rise of DEI, and other oddities in American public life recently.
It’s fairly simple: Colleges and universities have significantly increased their enrollment since many decades ago, and are “in the business” of finding new students. But college really is not for everybody, and many students funnel into cake majors to get through and get their degree. When I went to college in the 90s, psychology was a HUGE major for students who didn’t know what they wanted to do. But they eventually graduate, and the fact that they majored in it makes them comfortable applying it everywhere. Seeking therapy for themselves, for their children, and recommending it to others. Of course, there was an overproduction of psychologists who also need to start their own businesses after graduating, and obviously are looking for regular patients who pay on time.
You can apply this theory to why DEI has become such a sacred cow juggernaut: We also have a huge overproduction of LGBT studies majors, Women’s Studies, Black History, Asian History…… Majors that often set themselves up in opposition to actual, mainstream History departments and other social studies departments, and which on many campuses have been focused on grievance. Those people graduate, too, and may seek to apply their “theories” to corporations and institutions that may eventually hire them to do something real.
I’m glad that Mr. Page, Abigail Schrier, and others are shining a light on this. And I’ve appreciated, too, that many critics are accurately pointing out that there is a place for therapy in specific niche areas. But that maybe we need to consider the possibility that it’s really not necessary for everyone. And we could stand to consider whether our colleges and universities need to review whether they’re wisely allocating their scarce (yet enormous) resources towards the developing needs of our country.