Do you assume your dc will go to uni? And will you be disappointed if they don't

[Vegetablespringrolls]

Just wondering as ds1 was adamant he wasn't going to university, then decided he was at the last minute. Ds2 was always planning to go. Dc3 doesn't want to go but he's only in year 11 so plenty of time to decide. Younger 2 probably not able to but you never know.

I've been talking to someone who is assuming their currently primary school aged dc will be going to university. I don't know, it just seems odd to me that you would even think about something that far in advance. I understand saving money for "the future" and we have done that too but university has always been something the dc have chosen or not, it's not something we ever expected them to choose.

It depends on what degree you do and from where. So you might struggle with say Surfing Studies at Plymouth or Viking and Old Norse at UCL.

Equally degrees that once seemed a safe option such as accounting and finance or even economics are at a high risk from AI. Whereas subjects such as nursing, teaching or even dentistry are a lot safer from AI replacement.

Also people say ' degrees are worthless now' and reel off random degrees that they think are the only useful ones ( normally Law, which is not needed to go into the Legal profession and is a hugely saturated market) or accountancy which is a career that is very well serviced through the apprenticeship route. No one agrees on what a ' useful' degree is and actually no one knows what skills will be needed in the future. If everybody else's kid becomes a plumber or an electrician then there will be a huge saturation and not enough people to pay them.

oops cross posted here. But it proves my point. I think that ' surfing studies' at Plymouth has quite a high employment rate because it's specialist and specific to the surfing industry. Which is a big part of the leisure industry in Plymouth/Cornwall. I think there's another example in Birmingham that's always mentioned too but is tied into the jewellery industry in the Midlands as well as some creative arts degrees in Salford/ Manchester that are related to Media City. Nursing degrees and dentistry are capped I believe and people also moan that nursing shouldn't be a degree, so depending on your generation, depends on whether you see a nursing degree as ' useful'. Education is not recommended as a first degree. There are apprenticeships but mostly to become a teacher you have to have done a first degree in your subject then a PGCE.

Ironically, using anecdotal evidence as evidence of a general trend is showing a lack of critical thinking and independent thought. Although I recognise that this is perhaps an off-the-cuff comment.

I don’t doubt that there are courses and students out there that are lacking in this area but since disagreement is fundamental to academic enquiry, i would be surprised if this
really is a widespread problem. Students are supposed to be taught to question assumptions,
challenge arguments and draw conclusions based on evidence. This process can of course lead to a student either agreeing or disagreeing with the academic consensus. is this actually what is on your mind that students/graduates agree with the academics and you don’t?

No uni is not the prestigious establishment it once was. Now practically anyone can get into uni. Unless you are studying something like medicine or teaching then it’s not worth it. I’ve seen so many people go to uni and end up in the same job as myself (retail) getting a job in the bottom rung of a company and working your way up is the best way.

I'd rather my kids didn't go to university, or at least not straight from school. If they need a degree for a chosen career once they've experienced the world of work that's one thing, but I'm not keen on the automatic school to university pathway now that degrees are so expensive and often don't increase lifetime earnings.

Always talked about uni with ours from a young age. We used - When you go, whilst there etc. it just became a given and gave them both something to aim for.
That was a good few years ago and now DG is at Uni.

Yes. DS has wanted to be an engineer since he was about 10. A degree is essential so I've always taken it as a given that he would attend uni and saved accordingly.

If ds had changed his mind at the last moment or messed up his a'levels, I'd have used the money to help him in some other way.

I have 3. One just graduated, one is at film school and the third isn’t sure if she wants to go. I have always made sure that Uni was something they could assume they could go to if they liked, I have always said they would be supported in whichever avenue they took ( apprenticeship / Uni) but I have made it clear that I expect them to pursue qualification beyond level 3 in some way. Not necessarily immediately after college, but when they are still young.
I did not come from the demographic where Uni was the norm. In fact I am doing my first degree as we speak in my fifties. I have lived a life ( before children) where I hit the glass ceiling because of the lack of degree and it was very frustrating. I always felt a bit cheated, tbh. So, I wanted to my kids to know that they could take any path they chose as long as they put the work in. I have also always told them they should aim for a job / career they love. I always wondered who were the people that did those interesting jobs and then I realised it was the people they believed those jobs were open to them.

For doing a criminology degree from a third rate establishment? I dont think so.

Much of the problem is how we've devalued our own further education system to massage education and unemployment statistics. Many grads end up with jobs that neither relate to their degree nor require one full stop. We've made every conceivable area of interest a degree when they don't need to be. The way successive governments have stitched up working class families who are well meaning but clueless, and proudly wave off the first child in the family go off to uni, only for it to be some useless, waste of time and money is disgusting.

Funnily enough I know someone with a crime-related degree from somewhere you would dismiss as 'a third-rate establishment'. They have a graduate role they could not have got without that degree. Their earnings will be good if they continue in their field.

I have zero expectations all I want is for my daughter to be happy and healthy. Worst thing ever to put any expectations on your child.

That's great for them - what about the rest of their cohort? I used Criminology as an example, because I know a graduate who has worked in retail ever since graduation and they are certainly not alone.

I think it’s funny people think the answer is to go at 18 or never. I have 3 degrees and did an apprenticeship! You never stop learning and changing so why should your career be fixed forever?

DH and I both have post-graduate degrees so we've always considered university as an option for our children, but we didn't think that they've definitely go until they were in their teens and it was clear that they were both academically inclined. DD is now in her final year and DS is applying for next year.

As they've chosen this route, the one proviso we've had is that they choose degrees with good career prospectives in today's world, students have to think ahead nowadays, they can't afford to do courses that are less likely to lead to employment. I think/hope DD will be OK as her slightly older cousin did the same degree and immediately found employment in that industry.

Your anecdata doesn't trump my anecdata.

If you want fewer doors open for your children that's up to you but graduates have more opportunities in this country and overseas and are more likely to earn higher wages.

I have worked at a higher education adjacent role for the last few years and had a lot of dealings with both students and senior leaders within universities. I truly believe it’s only worth going to university if you have a genuine desire to study and commit to the course you are signing up to. If you want a year (or even two) of meeting people your own age, partying, having fun and occasionally studying I genuinely think you should just have a gap year. It’s cheaper to just have a year off, do a part time job and/or travel than it is to go university and all of the associated costs.

If my DC want to go to university because they are motivated by the subject matter I will support them, but I would never push them into it because I actually think the alternatives are often more suitable and far less of financial burden for both parents and children alike.

No, I am not assuming. DC1 has SEN so will not be able to go, and DC2 probably could, but in many ways, I think an apprenticeship would suit them better.
My parents were at pains not to prejudice or influence our career choices from a place of inverse snobbery, offering neither support nor incentive, while being weirdly hierarchical about our perceived intellectual aptitude: I was assigned some kind of 'bumbling fool' label while my siblings were deemed cleverer and more academic. In the end, I was the only one who went to university and obtained a professional qualification. We've probably all done equally well at this point.

I'm always surprised at how most students don't use the university. We have amazing careers services, links to interships, networking events with employers. The students who engage with this tend to go into great jobs. And then there is a large contingent who are sat at the end of third year having done none of that have nothing to go onto. The fees don't just cover turning up to lectures.

When mine were younger I talked about uni like it was a normal thing they would probably do. Because I grew up in a poor northern town where few people went to uni and it was seen as out of reach and I never wanted my kids to feel that way. But a couple years before my eldest went the fees increased and degrees had become ten a penny so by the time they came to it I was more your choice but maybe look at apprenticeships too.
Both went to uni and acquired 60k of debt. They both have careers now that didn’t require a degree but probably helped them get the job.

Completely agree with you. Students have to be proactive to fully benefit from the resources on offer.

Unless they are doing science maths or medicine its a waste of money and time
All these worthless humanities courses have no kudos in the workplace and AI is hoovering up jobs that are not specialised

Only if they take the right courses

I’d rather they become tradies tbh.

My oldest has no interest in uni. My middle wants to go for an apprenticeship in engineering. Youngest is too young to know.

All graduates have more job options than non-graduates.
Obviously not all graduates earn more, but most do.