Would you be with someone less educated than you?

[tt3t]

I was talking to a friend, and she mentioned that a male in our friend group said he liked me but wouldn't want to be in a relationship as I didn't go to university. I thought if you like someone and get on well, that shouldn't matter.

Does this matter to you? Would/did you consider this when choosing a partner?

Yes. Being more educated doesn't equate to more intelligent, however equal intelligence is important to me as otherwise conversation would be very limited

@maddy68

Yes. Being more educated doesn't equate to more intelligent, however equal intelligence is important to me as otherwise conversation would be very limited

This.

Absolutely I would, I've got a degree and a Masters and I've mer some right numpties at uni and some of the sharpest people I know left school at 15. My DH has a degree and professional qualifications but when I met him he worked in dispatch at a factory.

He sound like a stuck up dick and a snob.

I'm an academic, my partner barely completed school.

I thought it didn't matter but the cracks really show.

*sounds

I think similar levels of intelligence is best but not necessarily the same level of education as that can depend on opportunities or choices of job etc

Education & intelligence are very different things.
Intelligence does need to be broadly equal IMO.
But somebody not having been to university means nothing as far as actual intelligence goes, & it’s pretty shallow to think that it does, so you’ve dodged a bullet there.

Mainly women won’t but men will marry someone less educated or well off

I used to feel the same but I'm married to a man who flunked school and I have a Masters and would love to do a Phd. Took me until my 30s to recognise the difference between education and intelligence. More fool me.

Agree with PP. Matched intelligence is important but education isn’t the measure of intellect.

DH has a degree and I don’t

I would say sense of humor and similar outlook count more, plus wanting the same things house family holidays general life goals

I couldn’t be with someone who’s lazy or has no work ethic or future goals. Or someone without any zest for life.

It’s not even about money. Money doesn’t make you happy if the relationship is bad.

Less educated yes but not less intelligent.

It’s not a hard no, but I would need someone who saw the world in a similar way to me, someone who maybe had shared experiences. I’m quite philosophical and love a good debate, I need a sparring partner. I am highly educated and my sister is not - I genuinely find it hard to converse with her because we have such different outlooks on so many things and she has not learned to articulate her thoughts. Of course that doesn’t mean that I would write off anyone who hasn’t been to uni, and I also work with some very impressive people who joined the business straight from school. Also - I recognise that the opportunities I have had mean that I’m privileged; not everybody has those doors open to them.

It also depends a little on what his qualifications are - if he has a PhD from Oxbridge that’s very different to some irrelevant subject from some nowhere university inasmuch as their experiences will be so far apart.

All that aside, you deserve someone who sees the best in you, and it doesn’t sound like he’s the one!

Yes. DH went to a very fancy public school but left without even taking his GCSE’s! He went to work in TV and Radio and it’s never held him back.
I went to a big standard comp and have GCSE., A Levels, BSc, MSc and MBA

DH is very intelligent though, could have easily gone to Uni. He’s very well read, politically astute, very clever. The fact he has no qualifications doesn’t matter a jot.

I think I’d need to be with someone intelligent but I’m not interested in qualifications (and I work in HE!!)

DH is less educated than I am.

However, in his case, it was due to a lack of opportunity rather than a lack of intelligence. Frankly, coming from his background, he did really well to get as far as he did.

Sometimes, I think the difference in education is an issue, but most the time, it really doesn't matter. A significant difference in intelligence would be a deal breaker for me.

I’m a lecturer. Intelligence and academic achievement aren’t as closely linked as many people believed.

I’d definitely date someone who didn’t go to university. I couldn’t date someone who wasn’t somewhat intelligent though. I need decent conversation. I need someone who doesn’t get their news and ideology from Facebook/YouTube/Tabloids. I need someone who is logical, hard working, excellent at communicating etc.

You don’t need a qualification for those things...

I did. Like @MumsDirtyTeaTowel i have to be honest and say it does grate at times. Luckily his other qualities make up for it.

My soon to be husband left school at 15. No qualifications. From a family that have never had education past gcse. Has had a stint in prison.

Me? University degree and professional career. Come from a family that all go to university and work in professional careers.

We've been together almost 18 years. It doesn't make one iota of difference to our relationship

Yes, but not more ignorant.

Agree that education and intelligence aren't the same. I'd want matched intelligence levels. I tried the opposite and it didn't last very long and wasn't the right thing for either of us. But I wouldn't care if they didn't go to university.

To add; he's the first one to admit that he's far from educated and that he's not academically intelligent.

However, he's kind. He's an amazing dad and wants better for his kids, he's funny, he's loyal, we have lots of fun together, he is domesticated (unlike me!).

I have a degree and my current dp hasn’t. He’s a highly astute businessman and just as intelligent as I am. This guy you mention sounds like a chump.

Absolutely!

There could be any number of reasons why someone has the level of education they do.

What matters is how you get on and what your values are. Who'd want a well educated Trump voter?

The man you mention sounds like an arsehole. My DP doesn't have any qualifications, but is exceedingly intelligent. Academic achievement is not the same as raw intelligence.