Influence of Education on Personality

Being well-educated has become a norm in Western society. Higher

education is one of the main criteria for employers when considering a job
candidate. It serves as an indicator that helps people to form opinions
about each other, and the presence or absence of higher education often
impacts the life of a person significantly. The meaning of higher education,
for a modern individual, cannot be overestimated.
Education plays another significant role besides the social one: it
noticeably affects personality. Students often choose their major in
accordance with their ideologies and values, as their formed identities are
already in place when entering a university. However, the nature of the
material that students learn about and the methods used to master
disciplines learned can influence their world outlook and beliefs.
When I entered the faculty of philosophy seven years ago, I did not think
about the changes that this specialty could invoke in me. Most of all, I
cared about earning a higher education, and though I had some interest in
philosophy, I had no intention of going any deeper into it than was
necessary to pass the exams. But as time passed, I found philosophy more
and more absorbing, and when I graduated, I was a completely different
person compared to the times when I was a freshman.
One cannot study successfully without perceiving and analyzing new
information, and the faculty of philosophy is a place where students
constantly receive large amounts of data. Every philosopher, concept or
school of thought had to be scrutinized. This process was impossible
without a critical evaluation of the comprehended material. We agreed or
disagreed with famous thinkers, argued in favor or against theses and
came up with our own interpretations. We were in a condition of
permanent choice, sorting the material, and choosing those paradigms
that matched our outlook at that moment. This way we built up substantial
intellectual capital, which shifted our outlook and made it more full and
versatile.
It is not only the nature of the information which students receive in
educational institutions that affect their personalities, but also scientific
methods that are used during the educational process. A method is an
aggregate of ways and means to acquire new knowledge. Methods used in
philosophy are numerous and diverse; thus, when a person constantly
uses certain approaches for comprehension, they get used to thinking in a
specific manner. This manner determines not only the way of thinking, but
also the way of cognizing and interpreting the surrounding reality and
ones attitude towards it. It also contributes to changes that occur in
students identities.
It can be stated that education facilitates the formation of peoples
personalities. Though many students enter a university or college with an
already shaped set of values and attitudes, the nature of the material, as
well as methods that are used for its contemplation and comprehension
can affect ones identity significantly. I believe that despite the fact that it
may sound like stereotyping, people who share the same specialization
and the same profession have a lot in common. It would not be a big
exaggeration to say that physicians, lawyers, artists, musicians and others
share outlooks that are similar to some extent. Thus, education definitely
affects personality.