If you did a degree in Zoology

[recluse]

Can I ask what you went on to do and how much you earn / earned doing it?

My son is interested in Zoology, has applied for Biology courses with a high Zoology component, but is also considering a second choice which doesn’t include much zoology partly on the basis that he doesn’t think it pays that well long term.

Oh sorry I misread and should clarify: I studied biology but with a zoology focus in final year. I would suggest doing a biology degree as can always specialise later.

These are all a bit depressing! I did zoology, followed it up with an ecology masters, became an ecologist and now earn 70k+ per year.

Starting salary for ecologists is 20+, rising up to c 60k for 10-15 years experience in companies I’ve worked in.

I did a joint honours degree in zoology and psychology, followed by a PhD in psychology with a bit of university/OU teaching on the side. The plan was to work in pet behaviour therapy, but 2/3 of the way into my training for that I developed some serious medical issues so I had to put it on the back burner (where it has stayed for 20 years :( ). I am now self-employed doing specialist proofreading/editing, mostly for medical and psychology research.

Thank you so much for all your messages, they are all very interesting and I am about to pass them on to my son.

Yes he is applying for biology and his first university choice has zoology modules so he will be able to pick them as he learns more about the whole course generally.

His second university choice (again biology) contains very little zoology, but hopefully he will get into his first choice.

Thanks again 😊.

Friend did zoology because she didn’t quite get the grades to do vet - did vet post grad

My degree was Zoology, I absolutely loved it, and now I work as a research scientist at a biotech company, in a role directly related to my degree. Most people on my course wanted careers in conservation/fieldwork, which I think are more competitive and lower paid areas (I might be wrong), whereas I was always more interested in invertebrates and lab work. Either way, a degree in a science is always worthwhile in my view, lots of transferable skills. Zoology is a broader subject than most people think, mine included genetics, cell biology, microbiology, etc but applying for biology then choosing zoology modules is a good idea, he can keep his options open and find what he loves. My best friend at uni did exactly that, she chose a lot of zoology modules, she’s a university lecturer now. Best of luck to your son!

I just remembered, Richard Dawkins did zoology at uni, the preface of one of his books (the selfish gene I think?) is just him saying why he thinks zoology is such a good degree!!

There will always be work for vets and their assistants. Not necessarily for a load of teachers. Covid19 has alerted people to the fact that learning can be online, for children and for adults
Interesting. Who do you think will set the online work for school children? Teachers don't just churn out the same stuff year on year, it's tailored to the particular set of learners.

Sorry to derail the thread.

My son initially worked at an airport looking after animals who were being transported, then at a zoo. He was unhappy with the welfare of the animals at the zoo. This was all minimum wage for very long hours. He is now a supermarket delivery driver but hoping to get back into animal stuff after finishing his Masters. It’s generally very low paid work though.

A friend did Zoology at a RG uni, then a masters in sustainable development at LSE. In asset management now. I think all zoology degrees are not equal, iykwim.

@CaptainMyCaptain

There will always be work for vets and their assistants. Not necessarily for a load of teachers. Covid19 has alerted people to the fact that learning can be online, for children and for adults Interesting. Who do you think will set the online work for school children? Teachers don't just churn out the same stuff year on year, it's tailored to the particular set of learners.

Sorry to derail the thread.

Have you noticed that, at last, BBC has begun to broadcast the standard State curriculum? Many other schools are online only, many other courses are available. O.U. has been going long enough for most people to realise all you need is for each unit of study to be available, from a selection of the best presenters. Hundreds or thousands can watch it, anywhere in the world, enrolled for gaining credits, or simply learning for interest. Learning experience can be better, because part of the built in system is summarising each stage and checking each learner's competent grasp of what has just been covered. The marking, by computer, is instantly available to the learner, enabling them to look back and run through the online detail to pick up their own gaps or misunderstanding.
Those who find it easy, can fly through the course at their own pace. Others can get there gradually. (Or, switch to a different set of learning, better suited to them) It is the equivalent of every child or adult nipping into any and every one of the best lessons and lessons previously only available to those physically attending a building.

People on this thread are in some cases too inflexible in their thinking to comprehend the analogy that it is foolish to keep village blacksmiths paid from public funds to make horseshoes. Other methods of transport have been invented. . Rigid thinking is now actually killing people. "But we always have big weddings, lots of holidays, go to the pub, love to fly round the world, love to make needless journeys, love parties, always gather at grandmother's each week, and of course the only way to get education is exactly the same way it was done in medieval days"

@20mum That might work for older students but absolutely wouldn't work for primary age children who need hands on experience and social interaction. Also, read the threads from parents struggling with their children's online learning, it's better than nothing but not hugely popular. Children are people not units of industry.

@20mum, you appear to be on a different thread to everyone else. Do you have some kind of bee in your bonnet about universities and blacksmiths? A disappointed academic?

OP, of the two people I know with zoology degrees, one is a biodynamic farmer, and the other did a PhD in a topic related to sustainability and now lectures at a business college in Switzerland.

P.S. The teachers laboriously tailoring to the "particular set of learners" every year are by any logic, wasting theirs and their students' time.
The tailoring can only be because some are disruptive, some are too clever and bored, some are too disaffected because they cannot keep up or simply because they have no interest in the subject and would prefer to acquire their credits on a different course or a different level.
One assumes one or two on Mumsnet have actually met children, and would be astounded at the fantasy that the year of birth must dictate any aspect of a human being. If you don't all have the same height, or hobbies, why on earth would you have much at all in common with a random round-up of those local people in your birth year?

[quote TwilledSilesia]@20mum, you appear to be on a different thread to everyone else. Do you have some kind of bee in your bonnet about universities and blacksmiths? A disappointed academic?

OP, of the two people I know with zoology degrees, one is a biodynamic farmer, and the other did a PhD in a topic related to sustainability and now lectures at a business college in Switzerland.[/quote]
I'm sorry that was probably my fault for picking up in a comment she made. I apologise and have no intention of further encouraging her batshitttery.

My friend did a zoology degree, after graduating she worked at an Owl Sanctuary for a time, now she’s a Science Technician in a secondary school- I think the salary is similar to a TA.

Mostly biology teachers, or in academia.

One did something to do with bats for the National Trust, but I think it was on secondment from a University.

Oh, and one's a vicar.

A friend did zoology and is now a train driver. Another did animal biology, worked in hospitality/admin for years and is now a SAHM.

Oh, and yet another friend did animal biology but couldn’t find a related job after uni. She went back to college and qualified as a vet nurse, which she loves.

I have a ;bee in my bonnet about the need to accept things have changed. Refusal to do that is no longer a personal matter. Every Covidiot is merrily staying in the old mindset, and actually killing people. Every Climate Change denier sticking to an outdated mindset is not destroying their own personal planet, but ours.

And everyone who mindlessly continues with anything merely because that is how it was done centuries ago is failing to engage brain for purpose of thinking. In this context of education, it is arguably committing child abuse, to rigidly continue as if we live in the middle ages.
Technology allows first class, tailored education. The teachers have a place in personal or small group attention to those who need it, wherever in the country they all are.

(Often, with any learning, most can be done alone, but some just needs encouraging, coaching, looking over a virtual shoulder to persuade the learner not to give up, or point out that the learner is wasting effort by going down the wrong path, before frustration and despair set in)
The proclaimed 'social' contact translates, for many, as being forced to go where bullies have access to them. Small children, however, are arguably better off to meet in playgroups. One online schooling system refuses to provide online exercise (though possibly that decision needs revising, now there are pandemics) Their logic was that hobbies and interests and social and family interactions are personal, and small people or adults gain from pursuing them according to their own wishes and as individuals in their own self chosen chosen groups

NC for this.

I have a Zoology degree and went on to do a postgraduate diploma (2 years) in a medical related degree which is relatively new in the UK and has a starting salary of around £35,000.

To work as a zoologist or even an ecologist requires further study (masters and usually a PhD) and significant dedication to your chosen career path. I knew I couldn’t commit to it so went down a different route based on my other interests.

I’d strongly encourage your son to really think about the long term plan and what he imagines his career and life to look
like down the line. Given my time again I’d do something more specific and possibly vocational. A degree these days is definitely not the only route to success, and with the debt incurred now I think it’s so important to be sure and confident in what you’ve picked and where it will take you. Easier said than done of course! Best of luck to him.

I know 2:

1, my dad did zoology years back. Worked for BBC natural history on TV programmes and then worked as sciences teacher
2 is an ecologist with his own firm.

So both stayed sort within their specialist area.

Isn't that what Kim Darroch studied? He then joined the FCO and ended his career as UK ambassador to the US. I think unless a degree is essentially vocational, it's really a function of interest, following on from what you liked at school. Get a good class of degree, you prove yourself capable, you've acquired lots of skills in the process, jump off into whatever you like then, where your fancy or chance lead you.

@20mum

I have a ;bee in my bonnet about the need to accept things have changed. Refusal to do that is no longer a personal matter. Every Covidiot is merrily staying in the old mindset, and actually killing people. Every Climate Change denier sticking to an outdated mindset is not destroying their own personal planet, but ours. And everyone who mindlessly continues with anything merely because that is how it was done centuries ago is failing to engage brain for purpose of thinking. In this context of education, it is arguably committing child abuse, to rigidly continue as if we live in the middle ages. Technology allows first class, tailored education. The teachers have a place in personal or small group attention to those who need it, wherever in the country they all are. (Often, with any learning, most can be done alone, but some just needs encouraging, coaching, looking over a virtual shoulder to persuade the learner not to give up, or point out that the learner is wasting effort by going down the wrong path, before frustration and despair set in) The proclaimed 'social' contact translates, for many, as being forced to go where bullies have access to them. Small children, however, are arguably better off to meet in playgroups. One online schooling system refuses to provide online exercise (though possibly that decision needs revising, now there are pandemics) Their logic was that hobbies and interests and social and family interactions are personal, and small people or adults gain from pursuing them according to their own wishes and as individuals in their own self chosen chosen groups

What on earth does this bizarre tirade about bricks and mortar schools/universities being tantamount to to living in the Middle Ages AND child abuse have to do with the OP’s question about careers after a Zoology degree?

The 'tirade' is one of the most tiresome aspects of this site. So much bloody bickering and charging off on tangents.