Stop Feeding the Rider
By
Cath Ellis
“She can’t do the work, she doesn’t have a degree.” Discover why a Master’s Degree didn’t help my career, and why your portfolio is worth more than any university diploma.
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In 1999, I wasn’t sitting in a lecture hall learning about “Pedagogical Frameworks.”
I was on a ship. Specifically, a Carnival Cruise Lines vessel, working as a Purser. I was in the trenches of operations, solving problems, and helping customers. Management noticed I had a knack for showing people how to do things better, so they pulled me into the Corporate Training Department.
I didn’t have a diploma on my wall. I had a Crew Training Centre to run, a ship full of crew to train and real problems to solve. I learned by doing.
Fast forward a few years. I had moved to Australia and was working at the Victoria Police Academy. I was confident, experienced, and capable.
Then, one comment shattered it all.
A colleague, someone on the verge of retirement, sneered in front of the entire department: “She can’t do that work. She doesn’t have a Degree.”
That single sentence hit my confidence like a freight train. I felt like a fraud.
So, I did what I thought I needed to do. I went to University. I spent years grinding out a Degree in Adult Learning and Development. Then, still trying to silence that colleague’s voice in my head, I went back and got a Masters of Education.
I spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours. And when I walked out with those letters after my name, I asked myself the hard question:
“Did this actually make me better at my job?”
The honest answer? No.
Sure, I could cite Vygotsky and debate the finer points of Constructivism. I could name every theorist in the book. But did my Master’s teach me how to manage a difficult Subject Matter Expert? Did it teach me how to use Articulate Storyline? Did it teach me how to design a user interface that doesn’t frustrate the learner?
Not even close.
The hard truth is that University is too slow for our industry.
eLearning sits at the bleeding edge of technology and psychology. By the time a University curriculum is written, approved by a board, and accredited, the tools it teaches are already obsolete.
The day you graduate, your knowledge is already dated.
If you want to be an Academic, go to University. If you want to be an eLearning Designer, go to work.
If I were hiring today, and I had to choose between:
I am hiring Candidate B every single time.
This industry rewards competence, not credentials. It rewards the ability to turn a messy Word document into a sleek, engaging digital experience. No professor can teach you that grit; only practice can.
That colleague at the Police Academy was wrong. My lack of a degree wasn’t a weakness; my real-world experience on the cruise ships was my superpower.
If you are wondering whether to drop $40k on a Master’s, stop. Instead, invest that money in You.
Don’t let anyone, especially someone who did their degree 40 years ago, tell you that you aren’t “qualified” because you took a non-traditional path.
Some of the best designers I know started as teachers, pursers, loss prevention, or tech support agents. They brought empathy and problem-solving skills that no textbook can capture.
You don’t need a degree to change behaviour. You just need to be good.
Imposter syndrome holding you back? You don’t need a degree; you need a strategy. Book a coaching session with me, and let’s turn your “non-traditional” experience into your greatest asset.
