Is higher education a waste of time?

amber1979

celyn90 wrote: »

I must admit I didn't see the other threads, so I'm sorry if I'm off point.

My degrees are a requirement for the job I do, so I certainly don't see them as pointless. I didn't enjoy being at university, I only did it because I wouldn't have been able to work in my chosen field without the correct qualifications. I put my head down and worked like crazy. I held part time jobs whilst studying, took evening classes to pick up extra skills, used my holidays for internships and to get extra experience, did voluntary work.

I would say, however, that having a degree isn't the be all and end all. Everyone that went for my job would have been qualified in the same way and employers do look for other skills and expereince as well. I often find when I talk to the students that they have sometimes have an idea that a degree will be all they need and this is very very wrong. I always ask them if I had to select between them, what would make me choose them over somebody else and quite often I'm met with a stunned silence. There are a huge number of opportunities for students to develop useful skills outside their studies whilst at university.

I do think very much that education opens doors, but also that many people do not understand the importance of other skills relevant to the workplace. I used to work for a guy who often took people with lower qualifications on the basis that he could teach them what they needed to know, but he couldn't teach social skills.

So my arguement would not be that having a degree makes you less deserving of a job, but having only a degree and no other skills doesn't give you an advantage. Having just a degree puts you in the same position as many other graduates. You need to ask yourself what makes you better, what makes you different and what else you can contribute over above what every other applicant presents. Show what you can offer, not what you think you deserve.

I have never thought that having a degree entitles you to anything. However, I am starting to think that having been to university is actually a disadvantage - people seem to think less of you because of it.

Person_one

mrcow wrote: »

And also, aren't you currently unemployed?

Actually, I was offered a job a few days ago! Its in a completely different field than my degree because I've realised I don't want to spend the rest of my life working in that particular field and decided to pursue a bit of a childhood ambition instead, but I'm sure some of the skills and qualities I gained while studying helped me convince someone to take a chance on me with no relevant experience.

It was only six weeks from my redundancy to a new job offer, which I don't think is too bad in the current climate.

Even though I probably won't be using the actual subject matter of my degree much anymore, I'm still glad I did it.

EDIT: For the OP's benefit, my new job did not require a degree, and is at a substantially lower salary than my last job, because its entry level, a foot in the door. But they gave it to me anyway so I don't think there was any inverted snobbery or that it put me at a disadvantage. Interviewers have expressed surprise that I was interested in these types of jobs given my background but when I explained my reasoning they were fine and undertstanding about it for the most part, with one notable exception but there'll always be those!

amber1979

iamana1ias wrote: »

Pretty much, yes.

What about all non-useful subjects at school? Should we scrap history, english lit, philosophy, art etc?

Person_one

iamana1ias wrote: »

Pretty much, yes.

That doesn't really make any sense. We need people to educated in all sorts of fields. What about politics? Would you like the secretary for health or education to only have a few GCSE's or A-Levels?

Media, we all read newspapers and watch TV, its where we get most of our information about the world from so we surely want the people providing it to be educated and informed don't we?

Languages, I have an A level in Spanish, but I certainly couldn't interpret for a meeting between diplomats or top business folk. You'd need a degree in Spanish and a lot of experience for that.

Also there are sciences beyond medicine! What about people studying physics, they might be useful at some point.

Even the so called 'fluff' degrees like art or film are useful. We all want pretty things in our homes, we all want to go to the cinema!

celyn90

amber1979 wrote: »

I have never thought that having a degree entitles you to anything. However, I am starting to think that having been to university is actually a disadvantage - people seem to think less of you because of it.

I get teased by members of my family for being well qualified and it's really nasty; it's not common in my family to have studied. I've not had a problem elsewhere though. I certainly wouldn't think less of someone for studying - quite the opposite in fact. Really sorry if I misinterpreted the question; I was just trying to say that other skills are important as well and really do help when you're looking for work. A lot of the students I deal with who are coming up to leave are often so bemused when they don't get the first job they go for; it's really sad as they are usually really bright young things - but you need to have an edge to translate education to the workplace well

amber1979

celyn90 wrote: »

I get teased by members of my family for being well qualified and it's really nasty; it's not common in my family to have studied. I've not had a problem elsewhere though. I certainly wouldn't think less of someone for studying - quite the opposite in fact. Really sorry if I misinterpreted the question; I was just trying to say that other skills are important as well and really do help when you're looking for work. A lot of the students I deal with who are coming up to leave are often so bemused when they don't get the first job they go for; it's really sad as they are usually really bright young things - but you need to have an edge to translate education to the workplace well

No apology needed, I was a little harsh.

I know what you mean. I remember once watching the tele with a few member of my family and some daft gameshow was on. I answered a question right and was told "well it's all right for some - you got to go to university" as if I got there through sheer luck...

pjread

amber1979 wrote: »

What about all non-useful subjects at school? Should we scrap history, english lit, philosophy, art etc?

I've worked in 2-3 industries in at least a half dozen different roles over the last 12 years or so. A decent grounding in philosophy etc actually is advantageous when you want to go beyond assembly line stuff

Premier_2

amber1979 wrote: »

We have recently had two threads on this subject and the general consensus seems to be that people who go to university, are somehow less deserving of a job than others.

It appears to me, that having a degree causes so much resentment that it's actually a disadvantage in the jobs market.

Graduates are not less deserving of a job. If going to university made securing a job more difficult, 40% of school leavers wouldn't do it ... whilst amassing £000's in debts into the process.

But on the other hand, if almost half the school leavers obtain a degree, such qualification is no longer going to mean much ... certainly not the almost guarantee of a job that used to occur when only 2% of the population went to university.

mrcow

Person_one wrote: »

Actually, I was offered a job a few days ago!

Congratulations


I can only speak from a perspective of my own degree subjects (science based) and say that the experience and learning skills in the field at degree level is completely different to that of school level. It is a really good grounding for anyone wanting to go into lab or field based work.

I don't know how you could effectively get there without a degree level education? Employers don't have the resouces to go on to educate candidates in basic degree level science and the associated skills that come with that.

It would down-skill whole industries.

snowqueen555

the experience is worth more than the degree