AIBU to think DD shouldn't plan on doing 2 degrees?

[PoppyHills]

DD has always wanted to be a social worker. It's been her life goal for years. She started looking into it and it often requires some kind of experience, etc. she says she doesn't think she's old enough to do it she is doing Psychology, Sociology, Maths and Biology A-Levels.

She has changed to wanting to do biology and is planning to go off in September to do it. She then says that later on she can do social work when she has life experience, but is that really a good idea? To plan to do 2 degrees? I have said why doesn't she get a job now and get some experience and go off and do social work later. Surely I'm right?

Nobody is "right" in this situation. She should go ahead and do what she wants to do.

Don't push her into doing what you think is "right".

How is she planning to afford a 2nd degree and living costs later on?

It's what we used to encourage students to do. Do a degree in a subject so you have options and save teaching/social work/law for conversion courses.

However that was before it all got so expensive.

Work experience is good but biology is a really good degree to have if you want to do anything in healthcare. I'm actually doing that right now, as a mature student. she will get a huge amount of knowledge from it.
I do agree with her social work is probably going to be easier with more life experience.
I don't think either of you are wrong but I personally would say do the biology degree, she'll have the knowledge for so many careers then and she can still get work experience with summer jobs.
Then when she does the social work degree she's already going to have a brilliant base to work from and will be able to get alot more from it.

Isn't social work m level anyway?

You can do a post grad diploma or a MA in social work and I think you are expected to have life experience for them . The 4 people I know who did them got bursaries but it wasn't very much

Why doesn't she want to get experience rather than a degree?

I took a year out to work with offenders, also volunteered at a shelter and worked for a housing charity. You really do need to know you want to do it.

SW has a very quick burnout rate 8 years average I think. Very worth having other options imo

Social work you can do as an MA - it's what I did.

I'm bias but I think it's better than going straight in to a BA. It's also pretty hard to get on to a BA course - you need a lot of experience.

If she wants to do Biology, let her do Biology. She is quite right, she can return to social work later on in life if she still wants to.

If she gets a first then there are schemes where she can be paid (really quite well) to train as a social worker after graduating.

Even setting that aside, there are loads of great reasons why it is a good idea to do an academic degree before a professional one (if you want to). It gives you a completely different kind of education and perspective to bring to the professional practice, and can equip you with the academic skills that will allow you to get more from your classes in the professional degree and devote more of you headspace to developing effective practice (rather than spending your time learning basic academic skills like how to structure an essay or critically analyse material). And, being a more mature student can be a real advantage when considering a person centred profession like social work. Life experience is not the same as work experience.

There's also the simple fact that studying biology will open up a while host of other careers to her that she may not currently be aware of or realise that she would like to develop. A professional degree may not prove quite as transferable as a more traditional academic degree if she decides it's not for her (especially if she never decides to go into practice).

If she wants to do a degree in Biology, I really wouldn't discourage her. She could change her mind many more times throughout her life and career. A degree in such a solid subject will open lots of doors.

You do not have to do a social work degree to be a social worker, just as you don't need an accountancy degree to train as an accountant. I'd say the broader experience/knowledge of the biology degree far outweighs what you propose. Sounds like she has her head screwed on 😀!

I think a degree in biology now and an MA in social work in a few years is a good idea tbh

I think she has the right idea. She'll be a much more effective social worker with more life experience, and a degree in biology will always be useful if she decides to stay in that field.

I have 4 degrees. It's not uncommon to do more than one.

I also have 4 degrees. She is on the right track if she can afford it.n

if she wants to do this it migt be her leaving her options open too. this way she has more options than if she did it the pther way round.
my friend did this and got herself on the bank staff as a hca which doesn't require qaulifications and you get training on the job.she then picked up shifts as she liked and got great experience in working with the people she would/might be helping aswell as her achademic work on the other side of things with biology degree

It sounds quite normal for Social Work.

I did an unrelated degree and then a masters in social work after working in a relevant field. I think she has the right idea.

I have done a sw degree and I personally feel you need some life experience before undertaking the degree! The people on my course who were 18 - 22 struggled and mainly dropped out! Perhaps do another first then the sw! If I could afford to return to uni and do another degree I would but i am so glad I have the life experience I do as it has made me better able to relate and empathise with others!

You do not have to do a social work degree to be a social worker
yes you do. BA or masters.
There are lots of people who do BAs in social work but to be honest the 21 year old graduates are not always employable. If it's possible it's far better to do a social work degree a bit later on. However financially that may not be possible for everyone these days.

Another one who also thinks this is a good idea - leaves her options open then as well.

I second other PPs an academic degree will leave all her career doors open. As a student she can look at getting all sorts of volunteering experience. After that she may or may not decide to go on into social work.

Seems fair enough as a plan. The only social workers I know went into it aged 28+. As others have said though, that was before it got so expensive. How will she afford it?

As others have said, a BSC followed by the MA in social work is a good bet. She won't be able to do a BA in social work if she expects student loans for the fees.