Degrees - have they been devalued and are they a waste of time?

[david51058]

Don't you think degrees have been devalued since the ridiculous ambition of the last government to get at least 50% of school leavers into university? They used to be only for the academically gifted, now every man and his dog can go through uni and come out the other side with some worthless degree that is no use to anyone. I am coming to the conclusion it is a waste of time and money unless you have ambitions to become say a doctor, lawyer, engineer, something that has definate potential of a good well paid career at the end of it. There is no point in just drifting into it, looking for an easy course, then coming out with a huge debt and no job prospects and no idea what career you wanrt. What's wrong with learning a trade or doing an apprenticeship and working your way up through the ranks of a company or organisation? You could have your further education paid for with a salary on top. Going to uni isn't the be all and end all.

[DTCwordfan]

I once went on the Uni milk round as an interviewer, still being on the right side of 30 at that time and 'somebody students could identify with' - we only covered about eight of the premium UK unis.....(now isn;t that arrogant but it was twenty+ years ago).

Anyway we were at Bristol, interviewing in twos, an HR (Human Remains) person being present. This very charming girl at the end of her interview and on the exit said to us "Good luck with the next candidate." Somewhat precocious.....

This chap comes in sits down and says nothing. My colleague asks an open question - about his course which was in Art History - no response really. I ask one about his research work, titled something like "A comparative study of the impact of art on the construction of pottery chimney stacks in Norwich and Bristol Delft factories and their mathematical linkage to 17thC philosophy."

Response, "You wouldn't be interested."
But we are and would like to hear a summary, "You wouldn't understand."

The interview continued like this until in frustration my colleague asked a q about the TA which was in his cv. This released the dam - blahed on and even dropped down prone behind a waste paper basket to demo how soldiers minimise their body against snipers.

Finally he pulled himself up onto the chair. "Well that is the end of the interview. I look forward to hearing from you on where Round 2 is." And he gets up, walks out, leaving us tow agog. We probably turned down a future CEO.

[LoftyLottie]

LOL

[CovKid]

I am concerned that many school leavers are told that a degree will almost guarantee a higher lifetime income. Now the only way to collect data for that is to look at the incomes of people who have worked a lifetime...now retired. They won university places when entry standards were high (maybe 10 or 15% made it). Even though some won places because they had a privileged education but most were academically able. That may not apply when 50% of people go to university. There may be some seriously disillusioned people with large bills to pay. I think we need to stop thinking of people as of lesser worth if they do not gain a degree. We tend to looo down on dustmen, roadsweepers and cleaners, even though they do important jobs.

[DaisyNonna]

Footwear studies could only award an upper second.

[sophie_1003]

I've probably mentioned this on here before but I'll say it again; when doing A-levels I wasn't sure what I wanted to do so didn't want to go and despite everyones response to me not going being "Ooh but you'll miss out on the experience" (this was pre-top up fees so £1000 a year for 'the uni experience' alone wasn't so bad!) I was still adamant I didn't want to go when I wasn't sure what course I would want to do, I knew I wanted to do something with children so wondered if I could do another college course to achieve this.
I went to the college "Careers Advisor" who told me that (despite being willing to do another college course) without a degree I would only get retail or warehouse work, for all the second year of A-levels Form Tutor times were spent sitting around whilst others filled in uni applications, wrote personal statements etc.
As it happens I went on to do a childcare course, worked for a year as a Teaching Assistant and am now in the final year of my education degree.
The advice for people doing academic post-16 qualifications who do not want to go on to uni, in my experience is severely lacking so that is why wanting to do an apprenticeship is seen as 'wrong'.

[joko]

i have a degree from a very prestigious university - but not once in my working life - as a freelance who has to send out hundreds of Cvs a month - have i ever been asked about the degree, the marks, the course, anything...not once!

i was also once told my a very rich and famous designer of hollywood blockbusters that he has no interest whatsoever in qualifications on CVs, and doesnt even look at them...he just wants to see what people you have worked with and if he knows them...