India, Jan. 16 -- There was a time not too long ago, when an engineering or medical degree, or a professional course like chartered accountant or MBA was crucial to young people's professional success. Designations were crucial, and people vied to get that respectful title that gave them power above a team, teams, department, or divisions. It was cool to be a vice president or president, a partner or director. Not any longer. Gen Z, according to a recent survey, shuns degrees and job titles. A small, but substantial, minority does not even believe in formal and organised higher education, and more than 90 per cent of the surveyed are uninterested in hierarchical designations.

For the parents, and older generations, such attitudes towards...