<p>
</p>
<p>Not really. </p>
<p>Other cultural and institutional factors could play just as important of a part…such as an educational system which tracks from much earlier ages which provides no “second chances” if one screws up or displays academic slacking tendencies at any point from late elementary/middle school onwards which admittedly does weed out the vast majority of those who aren’t going to work hard. Then top it off by having a cutthroat competitive national college exam which weeds out most of the applicants* for entry to ANY college. </p>
<p>Another factor is the strong cultural sense of shame which accompanies academic mediocrity/failure and/or slacking in one’s studies/work ethic due to the great importance placed on one’s educational performance in such societies. Consequently, unlike in the US…you won’t see too many prominent folks making light of or even taking pride in flunking out or graduating with mediocre grades/stats as one recent twice-elected US president has done. </p>
<p>Over in East Asia and in some parts of Europe, the shame and embarrassment of mediocre/poor academic performance is such that most would rather keep it hidden…especially considering it can still be used against them by critics, political opponents, and the electorate**. </p>
<p>More ironically, one recent phenomenon after the pulling of educational subsidies which made college free in the late '90s is something called a “graduation certificate”. According to several friends who taught in Chinese universities within the last decade, it’s provided in lieu of a college degree for students at elite universities who flunked out or otherwise didn’t meet academic graduation requirements. Reasoning behind this policy is that the Profs/admins felt that in light of how hard the students worked to gain admission under the cutthroat national college entrance exams and paying tuition, they felt students who had no disciplinary issues and who couldn’t graduate because they couldn’t meet academic standards shouldn’t be left “empty handed”. </p>
<p>As a result…enter the “graduation certificate” to at least certify they qualified for admission to an elite university and didn’t leave due to disciplinary issues. </p>
<ul>
<li>Those who weren’t already tracked off the academic track for college-aspirants.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>** Attitude here isn’t too far removed from President Abraham Lincoln’s true feelings about his background of growing up in a log cabin and working hard doing manual/farm labor from a young age. Contrary to a campaign which made use of those facets of his early life as election campaign/popular historical heromaking, he was actually deeply ashamed of them as he felt it made him seem like a “backwoods rube” and did his best to try to leave it all behind before politics made that a futile quest.</p>