Experience vs Qualification
Student – Dear Lama la, I work in an office where I’m by far the most experienced member of the team, yet I hold fewer formal qualifications than my colleagues. Because of this, even though we do the same work, I’m paid less and often feel overlooked and undervalued. It’s disheartening. Why does formal education and credentials carry more weight than hands-on experience and actual contributions? My colleagues sometimes make snide remarks about me because of my lack of qualifications and look down on me. I find this hard to take, and it leaves me feeling demoralized. We’re all human. Why treat others this way? How can I handle this situation without feeling disheartened?
Master – When you invest years of effort, build deep knowledge through experience, and still feel undervalued or overlooked because of a lack of formal qualifications, it’s natural to feel dejected.
You ask why formal education is often valued more than experience. In many organizations, qualifications act as a kind of shortcut — a quick way for employers to assess competence or potential.
Degrees and certifications are easy to quantify and compare; experience, on the other hand, is harder to evaluate and often demands more effort, like reviewing references or digging into past roles. That doesn’t make it fair or effective — it’s simply how systems have evolved: for speed and standardization, not for depth or equality.
Traditionally, especially across Asia, many fields relied on the apprenticeship model. Whether in Buddhism, medicine, martial arts, construction, culinary arts, or carpentry, students had to demonstrate sincerity and discipline to earn the guidance of a master. This hands-on, immersive approach emphasized lived experience over abstract theory.
Unfortunately, it has been displaced by a Western academic model that prioritizes credentials over real-world learning — often at the cost of high student debt and a disconnect from practical application. Ironically, this model is now more common in parts of Asia than in the West itself, where the pursuit of prestigious schools and colleges has become nothing short of an obsession.
In this way, colonial education successfully achieved its goals: sidelining indigenous wisdom traditions in favor of imported academic systems as a means of control and to assert authority.
Thomas Macaulay, a British politician, spelled it out in 1835 when he dismissed Indian learning and promoted British academic education instead. He proposed creating a class of people who were, in his words, “Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.”
That logic didn’t just direct education policy; it undermined cultural self-worth in countries influenced by the British education system for generations — and continues to do so today — instilling the belief that anything from the West is inherently superior.
Personally, I believe experience brings a depth of understanding no classroom can replicate. A person with hands-on exposure is far more likely to see patterns, anticipate challenges, and solve problems in ways colleagues with just an academic background can’t imagine. The value of that is immense — even if it’s not formally recognized.
In contrast, individuals whose expertise is limited to academic knowledge and who lack familiarity with real-world conditions — yet are appointed to high-level positions based solely on qualifications — often create rules and systems that prove impractical and ineffective. Departments shaped more by theory than experience tend to implement policies that create problems rather than solve them.
How should you face these issues? Until systemic change occurs — where experience is valued on par with qualifications — the imbalance will persist. You can raise the issue with your superior, especially if your performance clearly exceeds your role or pay. Otherwise, you might seek a company that genuinely values hands-on expertise, but that too can be difficult as many workplaces are still shaped by colonial-era hierarchies.
In the meantime, don’t let the situation weigh you down. Let job satisfaction — not salary — guide you. Income alone rarely brings fulfillment without meaningful work. That’s why many people in developed countries leave high-paying jobs to pursue simpler, more rewarding lives — like running an organic farm or opening a bookshop — realizing that daily experience contributes more to well-being than a paycheck ever could.
Why do people look down on others? Often, it’s because they use status symbols — degrees, titles, possessions — to measure worth and assert superiority. But, behind that is a deep-seated insecurity. Maybe they grew up in difficult circumstances or were bullied and made to feel inadequate in school.
Does belittling others help them feel better? No, not even slightly. In fact, it deepens their insecurity because they’re relying on external validation rather than building grounded self-worth. The more we depend on status to define ourselves, the more fragile our confidence becomes.
This isn’t just an opinion — it comes straight from Buddhist philosophy. The Buddha taught that unenlightened life is marked by anxiety and dissatisfaction because we seek happiness in unstable, ever-changing things. It’s like leaning on a wobbly chair for stability. It doesn’t work and collapse is inevitable.
Someone who ties self-worth to status or wealth will always fear being outshone by someone with more. Even if they keep their position, there’s anxiety: fortunes can shift overnight. If your value depends on forces beyond your control, you live on edge.
As for your colleagues, try responding with empathy. Imagine how difficult it must be to feel so unsure of yourself that acting superior and arrogant becomes a coping mechanism. A sense of self-worth built on constant external validation is fragile — and exhausting. It’s a stressful way to live, always relying on others’ affirmation just to feel okay.
And when I say empathy, I don’t mean the sarcastic kind: “Oh, poor you, you’re just insecure.” That’s not true empathy, but ego in disguise. If you respond that way, you’re entering the same competition your colleagues are playing. You’ve been pulled into the cycle of insecurity and one-upmanship and are helping to perpetuate the pain.
Instead, try to understand why they feel insecure — what situations they may have endured that left them feeling small or inadequate. With genuine understanding, your reaction changes. That doesn’t mean you have to accept discrimination or disrespect, but you’re no longer responding from a place of hurt — you’re grounded in steadiness and clarity. And from that space, there’s a chance to shift the office dynamics.
When you choose understanding and awareness over defensiveness, you create the possibility for them to recognize the very cycle they’re trapped in — a chance that simply doesn’t exist if you respond with negativity or assume the role of the victim.
This is a situation where everyone wins: you’ll feel more at ease, and they’ll be freed from the exhausting need to prove their worth through external validation. They’ll also feel better about themselves — after all, constantly operating from a place of competition and unkindness isn’t enjoyable. It’s painful — which is why you rarely, if ever, encounter genuinely happy people who are driven by arrogance or who habitually look down on others.
Finally, one practical approach to working with mental — and even physical — pain is through a powerful Buddhist practice known as ‘tonglen’, which translates to “giving and taking.” The idea is simple: as you breathe in, you visualize taking in the suffering of others who are experiencing the pain of discrimination similar to yours; as you breathe out, you send them healing, comfort, or compassion.
It’s not about excusing someone’s behavior or silently enduring harm or pain. It’s about changing your relationship to a difficult situation — softening around it instead of hardening against it. Practiced regularly, tonglen can gently shift how you experience your situation and create a space for understanding.