If we trust the data that went into Hunter and Hunter's meta-analysis on job
performance (_Psych Bulletin_ 1984 "Validity and utility of alternative
predictors of job performance"), intelligence, not education per se, is the key
factor. As summarized in the Bell Curve:
Predictor Validity coefficient
--------- -------------------
cogntitive test score .53
biographical data .37
reference checks .26
education .22 <-- I assume # and/or types of degress went
here
interview .14
college grades .11
interest .10
age -.01
You have to be careful interpreting some of these - no doubt it's hard to
separate effects that are usually confounded (I haven't looked at the details of
their paper)- but it appears consistent with the idea that the correlation
between success and education is, in fact, "correlational."
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John W. Kulig [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig
Plymouth State College tel: (603) 535-2468
Plymouth NH USA 03264 fax: (603) 535-2412
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"What a man often sees he does not wonder at, although he knows
not why it happens; if something occurs which he has not seen before,
he thinks it is a marvel" - Cicero.
