I'm 26 and I've realized that most of the people I've "dated" (very loose definition in my case :roflmao or have been interested in ended up holding at least a bachelor-level degree. I also read that only about 40 percent of people my age/cohort (in the US) hold a bachelor's or above. I've wondered if it's because statistically gay people are more likely to have a college degree or is it because it just happens to be the kind of guy I mutually attract (haven't seen "college grad for same" on a dating site yet :lol. I've wondered if maybe "naturally" college graduates self-select each other (I didn't always know every single guy I dated had a college degree until afterwards). Would you be less willing to date someone who doesn't have a certain education level? Have you usually ended up dating people with or without degrees (if under 25 it might be less accurate since many are in school, but after 25 people are less likely to return to school to complete an initial degree).
I'm from the generation under and have yet to graduate high school, but I imagine myself at least getting some sort of special degree. :/ I don't care if my partner has a special degree, but I think that having both partners work is definitely important if you're living together... Oftentimes partners who don't work together when they live together face a power imbalance which I'm just not fond of.
It's interesting--I've never really thought about it before, but I'm not sure I've ever dated anyone who didn't have a college degree (and well my sample size is bigger than I tend to admit in polite conversation). I don't think it would be any kind of problem for me, but tbh almost all the gay guys I know or have known have had a degree. When you put it in light of that statistic that itself seems rather remarkable. I suspect it has less to do with how many gay people have degrees or with self-selecting for educational attainment than it does either self-selecting or just situationally selecting for social class. The group of gay men I know is pretty diverse in pretty much all respects except for social class if I really think about it--it's pretty much a middle class on up sampling which is going to skew toward more education, I suppose.
Apart from before uni, I've never been involved with someone who hasn't gone to uni. I did see a guy who wasn't from a very prestigious uni earlier this year, and even that was a bit of a struggle. There was a clear difference in social lives, academic standards and just the level of discourse. To be honest I don't know many people who don't go to or didn't go to a good university.
My girlfriend and I graduated with our bachelors at the same time. I wouldn't turn someone down just because they didn't have a college degree, but I wouldn't be as willing to date the if they didn't at least have career plans that they were working towards.
For me the education level isn't really a big deal. Plus plenty of successful, influential, people never went to college. Some even dropped out of high school. But with a partner they would have to have passion and drive for what they wanted to do. I couldn't be with someone who worked a non career job and hated it but refused to do anything else for no reason. I'm actually considering going back to school next spring. If I do I'll be 26 by then, so ehh...
I have a pile of college degrees. Recently I moved to an area where a smaller percentage of the population completed college. In general, I find I have plenty to learn from high school graduates around here, and in addition there are lot of things about many of them that I find interesting. So I'd answer YES.
Pretty much this. But, tell me you also graduated with a STEM degree and you get major attractiveness points.
^Tell me you studied history, English, or philosophy and you'll exude sexiness in my eyes Sadly at this point I do not think I can afford to be too selective in my dating preferences. That said, I would of course prefer to date someone who was college educated, since I would like to engage with them on cerebral matters and a college educated person might be more likely to be able to do so, and since I am employed in academia, it would be nice to be with someone who has had that experience and could relate on some level to what I do. But it's not as if I would put people through a screening process. You never know whom you will meet and whom you will come to love.
Seems like most of the people I'm interested in are blue collar guys who went to trade school. :lol: I'm in college as it stands.
You're good, Alamo, though unfortunately my brother has an economics degree, so I'm probably going to always think of him if I meet someone else with such a degree. And he would be a train wreck to date (based on his romantic history), even if he were not my twin Though perhaps not all economics majors are hotheaded go-getters lol
No. I have dated people with degrees and people with no qualifications whatsoever. My worst experience was with someone who had a very good degree actually - a two-faced, self righteous and appallingly narrow minded individual who seemed to think the world owed him. So short lived was our relationship that I prefer not to count it. Educational achievement is important and I'm not seeking to devalue the worth of good qualifications, but please don't underestimate those people without formal qualifications. Keep an open mind because there are good and valid reasons why some very bright and intelligent people don't do well in an academic setting.
I agree with this. Post-secondary education isn't the hallmark of an "intelligent" person, but many who would be considered as such do posses such credential (of course, there are many people without formal qualifications who are also "intelligent." Of course, this also raises the ethical issue of not dating someone who you feel is not to "bright" for you. I remember reading that people have relationship and communication issues if the other person is more than two standard deviations away from you in terms of IQ (while it doesn't present a full picture of a person it still presents a starting point for many issues), which can correspond to a 30-point gap.
My dating history remains at zero, so I don't have personal experience. But this is a question I've wondered about. Mainly because I lack any degree past high school. Will it make me hard--impossible?--to market to potential boyfriends? What makes it particularly problematic for me is that the sort of person I'd like to date would likely have a college degree of some sort. (Although it's not a demand I have--indeed, making such a demand would be unfair, given that I, myself, don't have a degree, and would want a possible boyfriend to look past that point.)
