Just a little personal insight from my own personal experience.
I grew up with parents whose educational level was minimal & who basically had no drive to succeed at anything (at least that it is how it looked from my observation perspective) Because of that, I admired people who had their education & swore that I was going to get my degree & be successful. So I worked harder than the others in school who grades came easy to in order to get good grades. I had battles & blew off everything family (& my now ex) said to get my degree & have my career.
In some ways the battles I went through created that superior/inferior attitude internally in me & the people I did any socializing with were educated the same.
So I left my marriage & bought a farm. It has been a wonderful experience because it has showed me that common sense is just as critical (if not more) than an education. Lol....I only play my "degree card" when someone decides to talk down to me as if I don't know what I am talking about & they shut up rather quickly. Most around my rural location are highly educated but I think that is what I love about my community is that everyone is treated as equals with or without a higher education because we have something more valuable that draws us together as equals.
Sometimes it is only something people lesrn with time & experience. It doesn't always mean it comes from a narcissistic personality.