Comment by dartos

I don’t think there’s any misunderstanding. Your comment seems in line with what I said and what I believe.

One can teach themselves how to be a mechanic and pass the ASE. Most go through some course to learn the trade, of course. It’s more structured that way and many find it easier.

I’ve never had my auto repair shop attribute their mechanic’s skill to where they learned to be a mechanic. I never turned down a mechanic bc they didn’t go to the brown or Harvard of car repair.

On the other hand I’m an expert in my field, but I’ve been turned down from at least 1 job specifically because I didn’t graduate from Brown university. (It was a backend job for the now-defunct Delivery Dudes)

OP attributed the mettle of the author to higher education and academia, which I think is weird and elitist.

Attributing success or ability to an institution fosters that kind of weird elitism.