> Unfortunately, demonstrating intellectual curiosity often takes up personal time, so someone with heavy personal time obligations and a non-challenging day job is at a significant disadvantage.
This is true, and one of the things that tends to stack disadvantages against people who are older in the industry. There's a good correlation between free time and age in some ways, as people get to mid-career they tend to marry, have kids, and so on. Maximum free time comes during college and immediately after, for many people.
Valuing intellectual curiosity also tends to mean that this curiosity is valued over direct experience, which is what the older more time-strapped people have to offer relative to younger people who are doing the MOOCs.
This is true, and one of the things that tends to stack disadvantages against people who are older in the industry. There's a good correlation between free time and age in some ways, as people get to mid-career they tend to marry, have kids, and so on. Maximum free time comes during college and immediately after, for many people.
Valuing intellectual curiosity also tends to mean that this curiosity is valued over direct experience, which is what the older more time-strapped people have to offer relative to younger people who are doing the MOOCs.