I get what you're saying.. but "thrown away", really? Education's only purpose is work? An educated majority within society is desirable regardless of unemployment rates, and an educated mother will tend to provide with more opportunity for her children and create a virtuous cycle of good base education. That of course ideally should be provided by just as much contact with an educated father as with a mother, and I agree with the rest of what you said.
No that's true. But I think it's important to recognize education as a tool for learning and improvement vs. education as a social status marker so you can ensure you marry at the right level.
I'm frequently disappointed when some of my friends, who are otherwise wildly educated and smart, with great careers, simply drop completely out of their field for no other reason than they finally met a man who can support her at the prestige level she's worked so hard to obtain.
