Monopolizing yourself
The world runs on signals. The primary reason most of us obtain a college education is not actually because of the education we attain but because of a diploma’s signaling value. A diploma proves we can survive in a structured academic environment. Our GPA signals the degree to which we can thrive in that structured environment. If you do not believe this, the signaling value of a diploma becomes apparent when you consider job prospects. Even if an applicant was incredibly well educated in whatever field they were applying to, if they did not possess a diploma, all the knowledge in the world will be unlikely to land them a job.
Signaling is seen throughout the animal kingdom — most notably in peacocks and their feathers — but the practice is most valuable to understand in humans considering our sophisticated social nature.
Most human societies do not rely on human violence as a means of distribution but instead form complex sociological systems in order to allocate resources, such as hierarchies, economics and educational systems. Considering this is the way the world operates, it is imperative to understand the concept of signaling to ensure what you’re signaling aligns with your goals.
While there are numerous goals signaling is essential for — such as forging an identity and romantic endeavors — the scope of this article is going to address occupational signaling. As mentioned earlier, the purpose behind a degree and any sort of job experience is to distinguish yourself from others and to signal potential value-creating qualities. Once it is understood this is the goal behind many of our career-oriented activities, we can understand our ultimate aim should be to monopolize ourselves.
Two market types relevant to this issue are concepts of monopoly and perfect competition. It’s not necessary to understand all the elements of these two market types. It is relevant, however, to understand perfect competition encompasses markets with many producers providing a homogenous good, causing prices to be determined by market dynamics. Monopoly on the other hand, is when one firm has sole control of a market and therefore has the ability to set prices as it pleases.
The modern job market, or diploma factory, is essentially a definitional perfectly competitive market. Every year, thousands of degrees are produced in every subject imaginable. Considering the overwhelming supply of this product, people merely offering the value of their degree have very little say in the “pricing” of their qualification to an employer. The only way to escape this perfectly competitive cycle is to intentionally work to seize monopoly power by pursuing a range of diverse experiences that have distinguishing signal value to employers.
There are many English majors in the economy. There are less English majors that double major in English and economics. Of that group, there are even less who publish regularly for the university newspaper. Of that small group, an even smaller group decides to study abroad or learn a foreign language. Whatever it may be, this example illustrates how the decision to pursue even a few heterodox experiences allows one to develop a significant degree of monopoly power.
If you monopolize your life and learn how to signal uniqueness through the experiences you pursue, you will likely have significantly more opportunities and the ability to truly become a price setter in the modern job market. This is your education and ultimately your signal, so take control over it. If you’re going to engage in the modern diploma economy, it’s much better to be a monopolist instead of just another standard graduate, subject to the whims of employer expectations and aggregate supply and demand.
Kristian Fors is a student at Utah State University majoring in Economics and is an opinion columnist for the Utah Statesman. He enjoys studying psychology, traveling, and living life as intentionally as possible.
—krfors@gmail.com