Enormous incentives for highly qualified training

Executive Summary

The Gradido system with its Active Basic Income solves one of the most fundamental barriers to highly qualified training: the existential fear of losing one's livelihood during long learning phases. At the same time, motivational research clearly shows that people become doctors, engineers or professional musicians primarily out of intrinsic motives - not because of the money. Those who opt for bullshit jobs, on the other hand, usually do so out of financial necessity, not out of free choice. Gradido removes this compulsion. The result: more people follow their true calling, training becomes more practice-oriented and more deeply rooted in society - and AI takes over the routine work.

1. why do people become doctors, engineers and professional musicians?

The research situation: Intrinsic motivation dominates

Scientific studies in motivational psychology consistently show that highly qualified people choose long training paths predominantly for intrinsic reasons, not primarily because of the subsequent salary.

A survey of 1,545 medical students at German universities identified the most common reasons for studying medicine: „Diverse areas of work“, „Varied work“, „Helping patients“ and „Scientific interest“ - in that order. Career aspects such as prestige and earnings ranked significantly lower and were cited more frequently by men as a motivation.

A recent study from 2025 (Frontiers in Medicine, University of Minho) examined motivation types in medical students and found that „Identified regulation (EMID) and intrinsic motivation (IM) are the most common types of motivation extrinsic regulation and income were among the rarest.

In engineering, the picture is the same: according to experts, a doctorate in engineering (Dr.-Ing.) requires a „high degree of intrinsic energy“ - the doctorate takes 3 to 6 years and requires considerable personal effort, which can only be maintained through genuine interest in the subject and a clearly formulated personal motivation.

There was also evidence for psychology students: Those who studied out of interest in the subject, inclination and aptitude as well as the desire for personal development showed significantly higher job satisfaction and career success.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT): The theoretical framework

The Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) is the most widely accepted theoretical framework for career motivation. It distinguishes:

• Intrinsic motivation: Being active for the sake of it - out of interest, joy, inner satisfaction

• Identified regulationGoals that you have internalized as personally meaningful

• Extrinsic motivationActing because of external rewards or pressure

Highly qualified career choices are driven by intrinsic and identified motivation. According to SDT, the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs is decisive for learning success: Competence, autonomy and social integration.

The flow effect: when learning drives itself

The psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi describes with his Flow theory the state of complete absorption in a task in which intrinsic motivation reaches its highest form. Flow occurs when the demands of a task and a person's abilities are in optimal balance - this is precisely what happens in complex specialist training when the learning level is right.

The decisive effect: in a state of flow, you no longer need external incentives. The path becomes the goal. Professional competence grows for its own sake - it motivates itself. If you love playing the piano, you won't become a concert pianist for the money, but because practising is deeply satisfying.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs: the crucial problem

Maslow formulated a fundamental problem: people only strive for self-actualization - the development of their own potential - once the underlying needs have been met. Self-actualization includes developing one's own creativity, exploiting one's own potential and giving meaning to life.

The current system is blocking this ascentIf you have no existential security during a 6-year medical degree or a 5-year engineering course, you cannot fully focus on self-realization. In Germany, almost 44 percent of all university graduates with significant debt into working life - often well over 6,000 euros, sometimes over 10,000 euros. Student loans with interest rates of 6.31 percent can become a debt trap.

If you can't afford a room in a shared flat, you have to work part-time - and lose time and energy for your studies. The selection process is not based on talent and motivation, but on background and financial strength.

2. why do people choose bullshit jobs?

The anthropologist David Graeber defined in his work published in 2018 „Bullshit Jobs: A Theory“ a bullshit job as a form of paid employment that is „so completely pointless, unnecessary or harmful that even the employees themselves cannot justify the existence of the employment“. Graeber estimated that over half of all work in society can be classified as pointless.

Decisive: Most people don't choose bullshit jobs out of conviction, but because of financial pressure. The failure of the existing system to guarantee existential security during education forces talented people into quickly available but meaningless gainful employment. The economist John Maynard Keynes predicted the 15-hour week through automation as early as 1930 - but instead of meaningful leisure time, more and more bullshit jobs were created.

Graeber formulated it precisely: the higher the social benefit of a job, the worse it tends to be paid - and vice versa. This is not a market failure, but a systemic feature of the current monetary system.

3 Gradido and the Active Basic Income: The paradigm shift

The basic model

The Gradido model provides for a Active basic income of 1,000 GDD (equivalent to 1,000 euros) per month for every person. It is earned through a maximum of 50 hours of community service per month (20 GDD/hour). Anyone who contributes to the community with their talents and inclinations receives this basic income - regardless of their background or professional status.

The model is based on „Unconditional participation“Everyone has the right to contribute their skills to the community and receive the basic income in return. This differs from the unconditional basic income in that a mutual connection to the community is emphasized - actively, not passively.

Gradido founder Margret Baier formulates the core principle: „When we do what we love and thus create benefits, we unfold our full potential. We follow our individual mission in life. As a result, we become better, happier, healthier and more successful.“

What research on basic income shows

The First German long-term study on unconditional basic income (2021-2024), conducted by a research consortium consisting of DIW Berlin, Vienna University of Economics and Business, IAB, Oxford, Frankfurt School and the University of Cologne, provides empirical evidence for the Gradido thesis:

• People do not stop working - the proportion of people in employment in the basic income group was almost identical to the comparison group.

• More training: Significantly more people in the basic income group continued their education.

• Greater job satisfaction and mental healthThe recipients were significantly happier at work and mentally healthier.

• Increased sense of autonomyThe study confirms increased self-determination - a central basic psychological need according to SDT.

One participant reported: as a fitter, she wanted to study mechanical engineering - thanks to the basic income, she was able to afford a room in a shared flat and did not have to work so intensively on the side. The existential security paved the way for self-realization.

4. how educational institutions can integrate projects for the common good

The concept of integrated internships for the common good

Educational institutions can offer contributions for the common good as a structural component of the curriculum. With the Active Basic Income, these contributions are remunerated - and create three effects at the same time:

1. Existential security during the training

2. Practical relevance and in-depth skills development

3. Social embedding and a sense of purpose

This corresponds exactly to what the Self-Determination Theory demands: Competence, autonomy and social integration.

Subject-related internships for the common good

Contrasting compensatory internships

As a conscious Counterweight In addition to the theory-heavy study phases, public welfare projects that require completely different skills are available:

• Permaculture garden of the training institute: closeness to nature, physical work, systemic thinking

• Handyman repair services for older peopleSolidarity, practical skills, intergenerational bridge

• Communal kitchen / social canteenCooperation, nutritional awareness, direct human contact

These contrasting internships not only create a balance, but also strengthen precisely those Soft skills, which, according to the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025, are increasingly in demand: critical thinking, resilience, creativity, emotional intelligence and systemic thinking.

Peer learning as an educational multiplier

When medical students work as nursing staff and teach music students, they are practising at the same time. Peer Learning - learning together at eye level. Research shows that peer learning promotes social skills and professional competence and increases the willingness to learn together. Passing on knowledge deepens one's own understanding - teaching is one of the most effective learning methods.

5 AI fundamentally changes the equation

Bullshit jobs are eliminated

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy published an empirical study in 2026 with clear findings: AI does not destroy jobs - it changes them. Companies with heavy AI use are hiring more skilled workers, while simple office tasks are declining. The bottom line is that overall employment remains stable, but the Pressure to qualify increases.

According to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Germany could see around 800,000 jobs lost due to AI - and around 800,000 new ones at the same time. Most of the jobs that will be lost are routine activities: Secretarial and clerical services, call centers, simple administrative tasks.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, put it provocatively: jobs that AI can do were probably not „real work“ in the social sense anyway. What remains are precisely the activities that human depth require: medical diagnosis with empathy, creative engineering solutions, emotional care, artistic originality.

Highly qualified people will be better with AI, not replaced

The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies the fastest growing skills up to 2030: AI & big data (+87%), network security (+70%), technological expertise (+68%), followed by creative thinking, resilience and leadership.

AI makes highly qualified people more productive: a doctor with AI diagnostics treats more patients better. An engineer with AI simulation designs more efficient systems. A software developer with AI coding solves more complex problems. The Complementarity between human expertise and AI is the central working world dynamic of the coming decades.

In the Gradido context, this means that there will not be too few skilled workers because AI would replace them - rather, AI creates a Amplifier effect for the capacity of qualified people. Thanks to AI, fewer skilled workers can do more - and have more free time.

6 Systemic effects of the Gradido model on the training landscape

Democratization of education

In the current system, long, qualified training is a privilege. Almost every second graduate starts their working life with debts. Those without financially strong parents have to work and lose study time. Those who grow up in structurally weak regions have poorer starting opportunities.

With Gradido and the Active Basic Income, a long specialized training Affordable for everyone - regardless of origin, parental home or place of residence. The internships for the common good replace the part-time job as a source of funding - and offer more learning value.

Gradido thus creates a system in which, according to the Gradido Academy, „every member is supported in the best possible way with their interests and talents“ - as a basis for the greatest possible success of the entire community.

Getting to the root of the skills shortage

The shortage of skilled workers in Germany has two causes: Too few people can afford the long training period, and too many qualified people are leaving the country or going into better-paid but less socially useful fields.

Gradido addresses both causes:

• Financing barrier no longer appliesActive basic income secures the training period.

• Increasing social recognitionPublic welfare work is explicitly valued and remunerated.

• Increasing attractiveness of social professionsCare work, nursing and education are no longer structurally disadvantaged.

Training as social co-determination

The Gradido concept of „unconditional participation“ goes beyond pure financing: it combines education with social participation. Students are no longer just learners waiting to be released into the labor market - they are active members of the community who already create benefits and experience appreciation during their education.

This corresponds directly with the Gradido mission: „Building an international research network and promoting awareness to help each other develop our full potential.“

7. concrete vision: educational institutions in the Gradido ecosystem

An example: Faculty of Medicine

A medical faculty in the Gradido system could be structured as follows:

Weekdays 3-4 daysLectures, seminars, laboratory practicals, clinical visits (as before, but without financial pressure)

Layers of the common good:

• First aid courses for schools and clubs

• Accompanying elderly patients in nursing homes (social empathy)

• Basic medical care in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods

• Nurses in clinics

Contrast internship:

• Working in the university hospital's community garden

• Cooking in the communal canteen

• Repair café for the hall of residence

The result: students experience medicine not as abstract specialist knowledge, but as a living social practice. They develop empathy through direct patient work at an early stage of their studies. At the same time, they have a secure livelihood and can concentrate fully on their studies.

An example: University of Music

Regular studiesInstrumental lessons, music theory, ensemble, composition

Contributions to the common good:

• Lessons at the youth music school

• Concerts in retirement homes, kindergartens, social institutions

• Music therapy assistance

Contrast internship:

• Gardening together in the university's permaculture garden

• Craftsman repair services

Music students develop pedagogical competence, social effectiveness and emotional depth - while securing their livelihood through contributions to the common good. They are no longer isolated virtuosos, but networked social actors.

8 Critical review: Will there be enough skilled workers?

Concern: Are top earnings still possible?

Yes! In the Gradido system, high incomes - for example for chief physicians or other top executives - remain just as possible as they are today, only tax-free. Those who earn well in their profession do not need the active basic income and can do without unconditional participation. The basic income therefore primarily acts as security and a springboard for those who are still building up their vocation or taking time out without restricting the possibility of high salaries for professionals.

Worry: Is the basic income enough to study in expensive cities?

1,000 GDD per month does not cover all living costs in Berlin or Munich. Public welfare internships offer an elegant solution here: Training institutions can facilitate additional community service hours through internship placements, which generate additional income. At the same time, taxes and social security contributions are eliminated in the Gradido system due to the triple creation of money. The structurally lower price level for many goods could close the coverage gap.

The decisive argument: comparison with the status quo

In the current system missing already significantly skilled workers - despite (or because of?) the financial pressure. 44% of graduates are in debt, many switch to better-paid sectors after graduation instead of socially important jobs. The theory that the current market mechanism reliably produces enough doctors and engineers does not hold up empirically: Skills shortages in healthcare, education and social professions are a structural feature of the current system.

9 Synthesis: The New Balance

The following table summarizes the systemic differences between the current and the Gradido education ecosystem:

The Gradido model reverses the logic of the current system: Instead of tackling skills shortages through market mechanisms and financial incentives, it removes the structural barriers that keep intrinsically motivated people away from their vocation. And it is precisely these intrinsically motivated people who will be the best skilled workers.

Conclusion: A system that relies on people

The key philosophical foundation of the Gradido model is a positive view of humanity: „A healthy and satisfied person has a very natural, pronounced desire for growth and development.“ The concern that people without existential pressure will stop performing has been refuted both theoretically (SDT, Maslow, Flow) and empirically (BGE long-term study).

What the Gradido Academy is proposing with its internships for the common good in educational institutions is nothing less than a new link between individual skills development and social responsibility. Training is no longer just seen as a personal investment in future income, but as a Maturation process in the community - financed by the community, anchored in the community, effective for the community.

The creativity of the possibilities is actually almost unlimited. Every educational institution can develop tailor-made public welfare projects that are both subject-related and contrasting - and shape the personality of the students in a way that no purely theoretical course of study can achieve.