Education & Academia / Education Systems / Higher Education

The Lifelong Learning Trap: Why Going Back to School Is Destroying Social Workers

Akademische Weiterbildung für soziale Berufe

Nicolas Schöpf

We’re told education equals freedom—get a degree, get a better job, live a better life. But what if that promise is a lie? This video dives into the shocking data from a five-year experiment at OTH Regensburg, Germany, led by editor Nicolas Schöpf, as detailed in the anthology *Akademische Weiterbildung für soziale Berufe* (Academic Continuing Education for Social Professions). We uncover the brutal reality: frontline social workers and nurses are being pushed into academia while still working full-time, leading to burnout, isolation, and a system that extracts their time without offering real rewards. From the ‘running stands still’ phenomenon to employer retention contracts that trap workers in low-paid roles, we expose how lifelong learning becomes a trap. Watch to understand why 72% of students describe their studies as an agonizing ordeal—and who really benefits from your exhaustion.