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This is extra bizarre because my mother has taken 20 years to finish her own degree, that is in no way related to what she works on (and she's doing perfectly alright at work, regardless).
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If your field isn't an actual, hardcore technical discipline or requires a license to practice (medicine, engineering, law...), it's usually a safe bet that getting a degree is a complete waste of time compared with actually doing work in that field.
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This is completely leaving aside the (massive) benefits of cross-specialization and access to academic resources - because that argument is almost never made, and when it is, isn't made in good faith. If those things (or academic work) are not your goal, leave credentials out.
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