Is higher education a waste of time?

amber1979

Premier wrote: »

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.

Most people go to university because they are told that it's a good idea by the school, the school is generally wrong.

As far I'm concerned, I'm practically unemployable as I have two degrees and a post-graduate qualification.

I have worked for years in a scientific discipline which I can no longer do due to health problems.

I am fully intending to scrounge off the tax payer for the rest of my life. It's sad as I'm quite capable of doing an admin or shop job or anything else which does not require a great deal of heavy lifting.

Person_one

amber1979 wrote: »

Most people go to university because they are told that it's a good idea by the school, the school is generally wrong.

As far I'm concerned, I'm practically unemployable as I have two degrees and a post-graduate qualification.

I have worked for years in a scientific discipline which I can no longer do due to health problems.

I am fully intending to scrounge off the tax payer for the rest of my life. It's sad as I'm quite capable of doing an admin or shop job or anything else which does not require a great deal of heavy lifting.

Amber I've read a few of your posts and you sound so angry!

It sounds as though your problem is not that you have a degree and are being discriminated against because of it, but that you are no longer able to work in the field of your degrees which has rendered your degrees irrelevant.

Do you have any experience in the kind of jobs you are applying for now? Do you do any volunteering or training to get this experience such as doing admin for a non profit or helping out in a charity shop?

Are you getting interviews but not jobs or are you not even getting to interview stage?

amber1979

I have experience, I'm not a new graduate by any stretch of the imagination. My CV has been re-written, re-formatted and generally re-jigged so many times it's daft. I give up.

dave4545454

yes higher education is a waste of time in terms of degrees (but it's fantastic fun ). everyone has degrees these days and employers don't care about them. they want people with experience who've done that exact job before. i've got a first honours and never been offered a paid job ever.

B.E.N

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.

To be honest, I think it's the pretentious nature of some of the thread originators that you reference invite disgruntled responses.

- We have just come out of the worst recession since the 1930s, thousands of highly educated and experienced workers have been displaced and are in the job market.

Then we have someone graduate from university, with little/no actual experience of applying the theory that they have learnt, and they expect someone to meet them at the Uni Gates and offer them a job on a plate!:mad:

I don't blame the Graduates for having high expectations, drilled into them by the Government, Teachers, even Parents, but the simple fact of the matter is that at the moment, there simply aren't enough jobs to go around, so experienced graduates/experts will get first pick at the jobs that are available.

Premier_2

amber1979 wrote: »

Most people go to university because they are told that it's a good idea by the school, the school is generally wrong.

Why is it wrong? Hopefully those that who are advised and actually go to University are those who have the academic ability and desire to do so.

Whilst it doesn't guarantee you anything as you are in the same boat as 40% of other school leavers, it does put you ahead of the other 60% when in a queue for a job that requires such ability.

You may no longer have the medical health to continue in your originally chosen career, but that is not the norm and so shouldn't put others off.
To be honest, I suspect many graduates don't use any of their specialist education within their current job. Going to University is not only about what you learn, but in most cases, how to learn.

amber1979 wrote: »

...

I am fully intending to scrounge off the tax payer for the rest of my life. It's sad as I'm quite capable of doing an admin or shop job or anything else which does not require a great deal of heavy lifting.

That'll change when Cameron rolls up his sleeves proper

Why don't you do shop work or admin if that is what you are capable of doing?
If you've not got the experience (since every Tom, !!!!!! & Harriet usually apply for such positions), get some by volunteering somewhere first; that will hopefully put you ahead of the crowd.

Hammyman

My tuppence.

The problems:

Many degrees aren't worth a toss and are an utter joke - you can get a degree for playing games consoles for heaven sake.
Many people will take ANY degree to get one, usually Media Studies or some other easy one, and somehow think it'll get them into a job in an unrelated field.
Many students have been sold the line throughout their entire school lives that qualifications will get you the job you want and that if you don't have any or have poor ones, you won't get a decent job.
Many students currently leaving university have no better literacy or numeracy skills than those who haven't been to university.
There are far too many going because it is too easy to enter.

Is higher education worth it?
A level - very dubious. Bears little real world relevance to jobs. Not specialised enough to be of any worth at all. BTEC ONC/OND was better until they watered that down.
Degree - yes IF IT IS RELATED TO THE FIELD YOU WANT TO WORK IN and you have a period of work experience as part of it.

Did I go into further education? Yes. Three different vocations - mechanics, electronics, IT at College level. Was it of any use? Yes. Would a degree been of any use? Definitely in IT and electronics but not mechanics.

noname123_2

I think someone who studied something vocational or someone who went to a Russell group university and got a decent grade may have a problem finding something in the short term given the current climate but in the long term will find it an advantage.

Someone who with a 2:2 from a university at the bottom end of the scale, in something that doesn't relate directly to a job may eventually find that that it wasn't the best investment they could've made.

Premier_2

noname123 wrote: »

...someone who went to a Russell group university ...

Oh well, that rules out graduates from Durham Uni, often the university of choice for those that fail to make it into Oxford or Cambridge.

Interestingly though, graduates from the University of Newcastle*, formally Kings College, Durham, may be in with a chance.

:huh:


* Not to be confused with Newcastle University, later renamed the University of Northumbia in Newcastle, or then shortened to Northumbria University (apparently the longer name was too long for the little darlings there to get their head around), and formally known as Newcastle Polytechnic.

Smoke & mirrors, did someone say...?

WolfSong2000

All depends what you do with it...I went to do a degree because I didn't know what I wanted to do when I left school. 4 years later I've just graduated with a 2:1 history degree (went in as a philosophy student. lol) from a good university and have just been accepted by St. Andrews to do a masters in Peace Studies...history is not the usual route into this masters, but I think the reputation of the uni, my grade and the fact I had experience outwith uni all combined and (thank god) made it possible.

I am now going from a rather abstract (I fell into medieval history) degree to a more practical masters which should, fingers crossed, land me a decent job in an area I am interested in. I've done my research and peace studies is an up-and-coming area of international development, but the field is impossible to break into without a masters (at minimum). So for me at least, it's worked out really well and I don't regret a minute of it.

Looking at it from another aspect, I've also grown a lot as a person and am much more confident than when I left school .