To think more well educated people are there to think and not do?

That sample of one person can't really be used to represent everyone who attended a top university and got a certain degree.

Same happens in accountancy. Graduates come in straight from Uni and think they know it all. Even those with good grades in an accounting degree often havn't the first clue about the job itself. In work, they all go through the same training process as school leavers which they tend not to like, (yes, they get a few exemptions from professional exams but the actual hands-on work experience is the same) but it's essential, as the "real job" is absolutely nothing like the theory they've studied and passed exams in. An accounting degree doesn't make you an accountant! When we were doing Uni open days with DS, we sat through an accounting subject talk, and when the presenter pointed out that the "route" to a professional qualification was a training job/contract with an employer alongside studying for the chartered accountancy exams, a few of the audience queried it as they genuinely believed the accounting degree made them an accountant and were aghast at having to spend another 3/4 years doing professional exams alongside a full time job!! Makes you wonder what other students would think when they found that out at a later date if they'd not sat through the Uni subject talk as there is clearly an unwritten "assumption" that an accounting degree makes you an accountant. I've also heard of graduates with law degrees, straight out of Uni, calling themselves a solicitor, when that's also impossible!

In my experience university degrees aren't necessarily a good indicator of talent. One of the most stupid, vacant people I ever met studied at Cambridge, for example. Unbelievably they had a job at a top City law firm.

Have we lost sight of who has three degrees or a mere two degrees from which Ultra Top Global Universities of International Standing?

I wish she worked for me. She could think while doing the shredding, the photocopying, making the tea and doing the sandwich run.

She doesn't sound stupid or lazy to me, sounds quite smart. Wish I had the balls to pull that off. The paperwork is probably pointless busywork anyway.

I don't know about your coworker but thinking is doing something. Imagine if everyone just acted and no one did the thinking. There is purpose to thinking. Also, thinking uses energy just like "doing".

Having 3 degrees is being lazy. Studying is not paid employment - many self funded ‘academics’ freely admit they don’t so they don’t have to work!

It's not something I've ever noticed. I have an Oxbridge degree and during the course of my career (teaching) I've worked with quite a lot of others who did. I work hard and I can't say I've noticed any difference in work ethic in people with 'elite' university degrees. I suppose I don't work in a job where people can get away with just wafting around having fancy ideas though.

That’s the spirit.

I mean. Not your circus if they are in a different team so I wouldn't get involved. On a theoretical basis though it depends on what their job description says. Some people are hired to think. Others to deliver. If you are paid to do a job and that includes the admin delivery side of it and you aren't doing it though then they require performance management regardless of their university. It's all about what their job description is though.

Agree with previous posters that this is about the laziness of an individual. I have a degree from a v top uni and am reasonably senior but still found myself doing admin tasks until my boss stopped me and observed that no man at my grade does that so why should I… I wonder if this person is a man?

I’d also just observe that you do seem to have jumped to the conclusion it’s to do with their education and maybe you should think about whether you have some inverted snobbery?

Lazy and self important, extremely few people are paid to just sit around thinking. I do have a family member like this, they believe they are right because they have a high IQ but they usually don’t bother with things like facts and information, just “I am clever therefore my view must be the right one even though I’m ill informed”. His equally clever sister is much more of a grafter and I would argue a better thinker because she gets stuck in and actually thinks and engages with whatever she’s discussing and doing.

I do have a few family members who have had trainees from elite universities, they still have to learn from scratch and most have the good sense to pay attention. I think it’s this specific person not people generally.

Pretty much everyone I work with has at least a first degree from a higher tier university plus post graduate professional qualifications, quite a few have doctorates. I don’t know of one person who behaves in this way and it is a very large organisation. They wouldn’t last long with that attitude.

is this a man we are talking about here, perchance?

We had a guy in our department who excelled at academic learning, but made zero actual contribution to our department.

He went on a very expensive course to learn a particular area, then contributed nothing to that area at work. He would just go to meetings, but moved nothing forward. He was mates with our old boss. Then, We got a new female boss who spent 6 months observing everyone’s contribution. This guy was got rid of, and after he left, it made no impact to the department. Not a ripple! Except I got a promotion . My boss said that she was interested in contribution and couldn’t work out what this guy even did.

Anyway, with your colleague and team, keep talking about contribution. If this person contributes nothing, ask your boss about it.

This person is either lazy or stupid or boths, and definitively deluded!

It's got nothing to do with the university, your colleague just doesn't want to do the work. She thinks she's above the boring bits and prefers to leave that down to you. There are a lot of people in senior roles like this, who are 'carried' by the rest of the team, who all complain and eye roll about it but essentially keep these CF delusional people in a job.

People from all walks of life are happy to cruise and be lazy whilst others work like demons.
Don't think it has anything to do with which university they did or didn't go to.

Whether you went to a ‘top 5’ or ‘RG’ university is irrelevant in general work places. Those metrics are invented by universities to attract more students. They don’t mean anything.

I can understand setting some time aside for creativity/innovation/thinking, I think that's smart as it is hard to see the wood for the trees if you're constantly grinding away at day to day stuff, but not attending meetings or reading documents and not producing anything at all is just someone slacking and being shit at their job. I don't think this reflects oxbridge/American ivy league graduates to be honest. Possibly its made this person feel that this job is beneath them, possibly. Could also just be they're not actually into it, are looking for something else, prefer academia (hence doing several degrees) or they're just a dickhead who has worked out they can sip coffee and delegate all the actual work to others. I've not experienced this with other people who are graduates from those places tbh. I've actually found them really hard working and interesting people (generally), there are always tits in the world though, wherever they study.

They just sound lazy honestly

So you are well educated yourself. Do you think I are there to think then? I’m confused why you are berating people in the same position as yourself.

I don't think this person is lazy so much as arrogant. Arrogance isn't the sole preserve of the academic elite....but there sure is a lot of it there, very much helped along by a "we're the top 0.1%, you can't touch us" mentality! When these people become obscenely rich is when they really become obnoxious (mostly).