OU degree - recognised by employers or not really?

dseventy

Am I the only one to vote "Brick uni" vs "OU"?

D70

bristol_pilot

As an employer of graduates, I would say that we do regard the OU degrees themselves highly HOWEVER the issue is that whilst red bricks turn out a source of 21 year olds, people doing OU degrees tend to be in their 30s and 40s which is too late really to be starting a 'graduate' career such as via a graduate scheme. There is potentially the 'question mark' of why they weren't good enough to go to university at 18 in the first place. I have known loads of people in support roles who go off and do an OU degree on their own initiative and are then disappointed to find that they are not promoted to a professional position. We have occasionally taken on people who do a degree mid-career - both red-brick and via the OU route - but they are the exception rather than the rule.

redlady_1

Sometimes it wasn't they "weren't good enough" and to be honest that is a pretty blinkered approach. There are many factors as to why someone does or doesn't go to university, just as there are many factors as to why someone would choose to do an OU degree.

cazziebo

I don't think this is about Open vs trad Uni - it's about what fits the person's needs and aspirations.

My first degree is from a Russell Group Uni. I got the OU bug when I did an MBA which suited my circumstances as a working single parent of young kids. I then went on to do an MSc with the OU.

I'm a Course Director for some programmes running at an Oxford Uni college and I'm working with a redbrick advising on courses (as a non-exec).

I'd say all have their plusses and minuses. The redbrick I've found to be more flexible and innovative, and more able to tailor courses, and do that quickly. I think this makes for a good student experience. I loved the OU, good camaraderie, great support but found quality of teaching to be variable, and it was a bit rigid. Nothing on Oxford though, extremely rigid and very slow to get changes approved. Loved my first uni but really don't think I'd enjoy being a mature student sitting alongside the equivalent of an 18year old me - immature, know-it-all that I was! :rotfl:

spandangled

wantsajob wrote: »

I was doing a masters in Psychology at one of the top Universities for the subject in the UK. A fellow student had done their degree with the OU and struggled somewhat, in particular with the statistics and SPSS, and dropped out after a few months. To me that suggests that the skills the OU course imparted did not quite match up to the degree course I did at an ex poly.

Edit: I say this as some people would say an ex-poly University degree is worthless. It could be that he selected a course which did not include these or that the course was not BPS approved like the one I took. Also I am sure employers will go by previous experience and if they find employees from OU a bit "iffy" then that will be their decision made.

Then again one of the best most engaging lecturers at my Undergraduate University, left to work for the OU http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/staff/people-profile.php?name=Darren_Langdridge

I suspect I went to the same ex-poly. But as you'll know, or as I found, SPSS and the statistics are quite difficult to get your head around at first, I found learning to use a software package in 3-hourly laboratory lessons difficult (I suspect it being at 9am on a Friday morning did not help), I can't imagine learning to use it from a distance.

It depends on the job you want and the type of degree. I was shocked that a colleague of mine got a 1st in Psychology from the OU by reading a few books, sending in an essay every three months and taking a few exams. Now I don't have a degree in pscychology myself, but when I did my degree at university, we weren't given a book to read and then "read this chapter of this book, answer this question, the answer's in the book" ... we were shown into the library and we had to research it ourselves. We also had to produce a lot more essays than one a month.

I did psychology at university, I went on to do business through the OU. For my main psychology module I had to produce a lab report once every three weeks, which we had three hours of class time to basically be fed the answers. For the OU, I had to produce an essay once a month per module, with two hours of class time which clarified answers we were already expected to know through our reading. For me personally it worked a lot better, because I had read and digested the text and I came to the session to have a discussion rather than to sit in a lecture hall of 300 people and be well...lectured at.

I think it depends on your learning style. I don't particularly think my brick university learning was value for money - 300:1 class to teacher ratio, compared with about 9:1 class to teacher ratio through the OU, and we were also assessed online through our contributions to forum discussions, which was very clever, because it made you do the reading as you went along otherwise you wouldn't be able to discuss the topic and you'd lose 5% of your mark off every essay.

That said, I take my hat off to anyone who can hold down a full-time job and study at the same time. Not just because it's difficult to find the time, but also the motivation and support from the students around you.

This I agree with! But you do have classmates and the online forum's quite good because if we're all struggling I think people are less afraid to say so.

The other benefit I found, was that much of my first degree I didn't understand until I went out into the world and learnt how to apply it. The beauty of studying and working, is that if the subjects are related you can apply it and learn it a heck of a lot easier, because there are examples to which it relates to.

Andy_L

heretolearn wrote: »

One thing though 'May combine into "Open" degree and have fun along the way'. This isn't a good idea if you want to use the degree for your career/advancement. The Open degrees are not available at honours level,

Yes they are
http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/bd.htm#classification



Andy L BSc(Hons) Open (Open)

grumpyoldwoman41

Juicyloo wrote: »

Maybe a basic grammar and spelling course would be your first step?

Oh... how sweet, keep those comments coming please.....

FYI - English is my THIRD language. How many do YOU speak?

And confusing spelling mistakes with simple typos...

Hope I have made your day? Feeling better about yourself?

Bit of advice from me to you too, get a hobby....

:rotfl:

Oh - Perhaps you will recognise this from one of YOUR posts???

Really hope I can post this and get genuine advice and not be attacked.

So you do not want anyone to attack you but you are happy to attack others?
That grammar school you went to did not teach you any manners?

Peace... LOL

immoral_angeluk

I'm now on my 3rd OU course, working towards a BA Hons in social science and economics. It's hard work but so worth it

grumpyoldwoman41

Thanks to everyone who posts on topic - all views very much appreciated

WhiteHorse

Savvy employers know that OU degrees are often to a higher standard.

I've also known a regular university tutor credit a Level 2 OU course as a Level 3 because he knew it was to a higher standard!