AIBU to even contemplate this at 38?

[fourandahalfkids]

I am in a job that I love but it pays peanuts I mean literally peanuts. I work 40 hours a week for around 12 grand a year. I have 4 children and chose to put my life on hold to raise them. I don't regret this in any way. But they are now almost 17, 16, 13 and 10. I never went to uni but got a job straight out of college to start building a home with my then fiance (now dh for 18 years), and then was at home with my children for 12 years (from when the oldest was born to when the youngest started school).
As much as I love my job (been doing it for 6 years), the progression is pretty dead end unless I undertake a degree anyway. Too be honest i have seen too much from the inside, mine is a supporting role in a profession where people are leaving in there droves because of the stress and work load involved. So it is not something that i myself would like to go into.
I am thinking of embarking on a degree to enable me to gain better prospects. I love English and was very good at it way back when and had desires to have a career in a writing capacity.
But dh doesn't have an amazingly well paid job, better than me but we couldn't survive on his salary alone. I have done some research and found out that I can study part time (around 16 hours per week) and I could work at the same time. I should get student loan assistance. Alongside my work hours I currently do a few hours voluntary work a week connected to a group I am part of. Is this too much? I can do this right?

What about a degree in child or educational psychology with a view to potential free lance or self employment? I could see that having quite a lot of demand!

Definitely go for something! But the degree might not be the right thing. I enjoyed my English degree but it wasn't really what led to me working in Marketing.

If you want to write, then write. Write blogs, write on Medium and start from there - you can do other courses to build up your skills rather than investing loads of time & money in something which is essentially what you think you should have done when you left school. Have a look at courses on FutureLearn, Coursera, Udemy - do a few and start to build up an idea of what you want to do at the end of it. It might be still an English degree, but you'll have more of an idea if there is something actually more specialised.

If you want say a job in which you will be able to directly use your degree, I think might be worth considering that those who make an English degree work for them a) are very single-minded and do great internships, enter competitions and/or work for free (e.g. writing for student newspapers, creating content for online publications), b) have great connections (which lead to the amazing internships at the BBC etc) and c) go to a 'brand name' university. Obviously it's not the case that your degree would be useless without any of these, it's just what I've noticed, a lot of young people will be prepared (and subsidised by their parents) to work long and ludicrously underpaid hours to pad out their hum degrees and build up a CV that says 'I'm the keenest, pick me'.

Perhaps you can succeed in a subject-specific industry without even one of these if you have an amazing drive, are very charismatic and persuasive and some sort of other quirk that makes you stand out, I don't know. Otherwise there are non-English related jobs which don't involve so much competition, but you mentioned a writing job. Like pp have said, strategy is key here. Never mind just getting a 1st, many people I think put huge amounts of energy into writing for free, to build up a name and portfolio, and then ultimately just miss out, partly because unpaid internship culture creates acceptance of this kind of exploitation amongst both employers and students and means that all your hard work doesn't really make you stand out that much in the end, and partly because if you have to take up a day job to pay rent, it's so hard to keep the creative stuff going at the same time.

Child psychology training is a long hard slog. You need a PhD and getting on a postgrad course is very competitive.

If it's about job satisfaction, pushing yourself and earning more money then I don't think an English degree is the right choice. And I say that as an English graduate whose career is in writing.
There are lots of blog, citizen journalism opportunities but tbh they don't pay well and there are lots of experienced journalists also competing for those slots.
If I were you, I'd look at which degrees have funding and decide which ones are likely to have transferable skills into writing eg business, environment. A specialised writer is more likely to pick up contracts plus if a degree is funded then it's likely a growth employment area.

Have you looked into how much student loan you might get if you did a full time course? Depending on your husbands income you might be better off taking the loan and doing a part time job than studying part time. This would leave you free for summer holidays and some time to look into future careers.

Thank you for all of your advice you have given me a lot to think about. You are right in that I can't afford to take on a degree that doesn't get me anywhere. I will have another look at it and see what I come up with. As a side point, I run a library club in the mornings that has been hugely successful in getting boys particularly (I have more boys than girls in my group) to love reading. We take well known stories and act them out in front of other children and I encourage them to find the voice and emotion of the character. It is something that the head thinks works really well and he did talk last year of extending that within the academy trust and possibly further afield but nothing has come of that yet. Maybe I could remind him and see if there is an avenue there.

I’m in my first year of OU, part time law degree. With x2 part times jobs and a single parent. Definitely doable

You sound great, OP. Have you thought about social work, drama therapy, occupational therapy or speech therapy, etc, (though I'm not too knowledgeable on the jobs market in these areas)?

Daisypond- I do like the idea of drama therapy actually. Will look up and see what the options are out there along those lines. Thank you x

Hi
Saw your post in passing and had to join to reply. You see I did an English degree in my late forties,full time 3 year course and it certainly opened quite a few doors for me. You can use it, as I expect your know, to do a teaching course - or,i If you want to, apply for well paid admin jobs,
or teach it as a second language. I have done all these things . I am now a lecturer and still work when it suits me. Like you I had supportive children which was a blessing.
Your call, but I would suggest you do a three year course rather than Open University, although I understand why that might seem attractive when you have a family.
The main thing is that you should do it, and if you love English, as I did, then that should be your choice. Too many fail due to studying for a degree they are not really interested in.
Believe me, it will change your life. It will be a great day when you go up to receive your degree with your dear ones cheering you on. Great example to the kids.
Wishing you the very best for a great future.

What about Speech and Language Therapy?

I finished my 4yr degree at 42, best thing I ever did :), it was hard work but sooooooo worth it!

Having said that it trained me for a specific role so I could walk straight into a job whihc I love and is very rewarding. So as others have said be careful which degree you choose. I think English is probably okay if you want to go into teaching.....

Hi. As an employer in children’s social care, your skills and experience would be fantastic. Have you considered the social work route ?

Another English grad here! I chose English as I excelled in the subject and quite enjoyed it.

In all honesty I don’t use my degree at all in my career. In retrospect I would have chosen a far more “useful” subject like business/accountancy/engineering etc. I now work in finance.

How about approaching a (friendly) recruitment consultant and asking what roles companies have that they struggle to fill and pay well? There’s a lot of skills gaps in for example construction that I hear about, ie quantity surveyors, contracts managers, that kind of thing. As annoying as they can be, recruitment consultants have loads of insight into job markets and what employers are looking for.

OTOH if you want to study purely for the joy of it then choose an English degree.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I have an English degree from a highly regarded university and gave never earned more than minimum wage. By all means do a degree, but I wouldn't recommend English unless you'd be doing it just for personal enjoyment.

I did my first degree age 18 then my masters 20 years later... so it's never too late in my opinion!
Whilst doing my masters I was also working part time and had 2 young children. It was hard but I loved it!
I guess you have to be realistic in terms of finances, time, sanity... but I don't regret what I've done

Good luck!

I am in a job that I love but it pays peanuts I mean literally peanuts.

That is beyond outrageous. I've heard people say they get paid peanuts, but of course they don't literally earn peanuts, it's just a figure of speech. But you are literally earning peanuts. It's shocking that you are being treated like this, and it's illegal. Demand that they start paying you with money immediately, or you will report them.

What about an apprenticeship OP? A lot of employers do great ones and not just in manual/science areas, I've seen ones in project management, business administration, software and all sorts. The wage would be similar to what you are on now and they would pay for your study and it's a golden ticket to getting a job with that company. Some even will fund a degree apprenticeship too so you don't get any of the Uni debt.

Unless money not an issue I would do a degree which led to actual employable prospects. My friends husband decided at age 40 to do an open uni. History degree their kids were toddlers they had no spare income. He spent all his free time on it got a first. But 5 yrs later still in same job no further on that he doesn't particularly like.

Absolutely. I had a full time job as a teacher so I went to work from 8am-4pm then had class from 6pm-10pm every night.(I was working on my masters) I was tired for a few months yes but to be honest I'm so glad I did it. Yes yes yes! Go for it so you can start making the money you deserve! As well as the respect you deserve! Minimum wage workers don't get half the respect that someone with a career/professional career gets. I say that from experience. I went from working at a restaurant and getting treating like crap. To being a teacher and being respected tremendously.

My sister is doing her 2nd degree at nearly 50 yrs old, did her 1st degree a couple of years ago, broke her leg seriously during her 1st degree, still managed to complete it, 2 kids, single parent, go for it! Fyi she was a TA also

@fourandahalfkids if it helps you make your mind up at all, I'm doing a journalism apprenticeship now after completing a BA and an MA at a top 10 uni. I was unemployed for 6 months after I graduated.

But, I'd still do it over again - it was worth it for the learning in itself. But, it doesn't make you crazy employable. You could certainly be a teacher afterwards though if that appealed.

Oh and as an apprentice I get £17k a year for 40 hours... your employer is fucking you.

I graduate at 34 with my English degree. As a disabled, single mum I was somewhat limited career wise (I was in a serious car accident just after course ended) but it still meant I got a "promotion" as my previous experience in retail and admin meant I was able to get a good senior admin role with hours that suited on way better pay than I got pre-degree

All those saying its a "generic" course are right - but that's part of its benefit!

An English degree basically teaches the skills to study/read pretty much anything at that level.

Of the people I did my course with, youngsters and older people including in 50's at start of course have variously gone into very successful careers in

Publishing
Copywriting
Advertising
Marketing
Journalism (award winning no less and she was in her 40's at start of degree)
Web content writing and editing
Social media management for well known companies
Broadcasting (one you'd likely know their voice, though perhaps not name, the other you'll very likely have watched an episode they've written)
HR management for international company
Tefl course designer and manager (tri-lingual and had worked as a tutor before but the degree enabled her to progress much higher)
Stem recruitment
Teaching and lecturing
SALT
Diversity training with a focus on language use

And 5 are now published authors, 4 fiction 1 poetry.

But no, doesn't "open doors" at all 🤔

And I didn't even go to a particularly well regarded uni.

Plus I had an absolute AMAZING time, got to read some fantastic books that I would never have read otherwise, got to participate in some writing comes and made some fantastic friends not just other students but also lecturers and support staff I'm still in touch with even though I've moved away, and had some fabulous nights out and in.

If you can do it financially go for it.

BUT I am not some evangelist either. There were also students who dropped out before the end of the 1st year hell the first term because there is a LOT of reading and the primary texts really are the least of it. I did overhear one saying "I don't even like reading that much" and I thought "wtf did you think a degree in English would involve??"

Lit theory is NOT light, it covers areas as deep and wide as

Semiotics (obviously)
Language development (you may have a bit of a head start there though with your experience, at least in language acquisition)
Linguistics
Philosophy
Psychology
Political theory - not just British ones
Theology
Feminism - all branches
Anthropology (particularly cultural anthropology)

And if your course includes a study of drama/plays too there's a wealth of theory around that in addition to the above too.

So it is hard work but I found it absolutely fascinating and very enjoyable.

Working at that level in a subject you don't love would be even harder I think. I've 2 degrees, my other is nursing, which was hard in a very different way but both degrees the earliest drop outs were the ones who didn't genuinely enjoy the subject/area in the first place.

I'm not keen on ou (disclaimer not done it myself but know people who have) and my personal opinion is you miss out on the exposure to other ideas and to discuss yours not only with lecturers but students too you learn from each other, the ou offers meet ups etc but it's not the same, doing a degree at brick uni means you're somewhat immersed and you also mix with students studying other disciplines (eg psychology, journalism, even geography) that crossover and that can spark ideas and other ways of thinking and even introduce you to theorists in their field that are useful for particular essays. Plus less formal conversation with lecturers can be interesting too, plus of course there's the social side. I participated in a meditation group and the leader had an interest in eastern philosophy, I got chatting with him once about an essay I was doing and he mentioned an eastern philosophy with a particular idea on language use and I ended up quoting them in an essay. You end up getting ideas in the most unexpected ways.

"Daisypond- I do like the idea of drama therapy actually"

Check but you could maybe do a joint English and drama degree and then a postgrad therapy qualification?

I'm not currently working because of my health but I haven't given up on the idea of working in the future and using my degree and some of my friends from uni have given me a few ideas and contacts for jobs I can do which would work with my disability. My mh is the issue at the moment if I can get that sorted I'll be good to go.