What do you think of ppl with multiple degrees/qualifications etc?

[lapitup]

What do you think of a person when you hear they have a more than average amount of degrees/postgrads/masters etc and qualifications?

Do you think...good for them,they must be smart,have ambition, drive etc!

Or.

Do you think...god could they not make their mind up and/or stick to something??

@CurlyhairedAssassin

It's all done around working full time plus 4DC.

See, in that type of situation then I start wondering how demanding the course actually is if you can fit it round that. I’m not sure all degrees are equal these days.

Also I might wonder if you have a cleaner or if your house is just a bit messy or if you’re actually superhuman and don’t need much sleep and can just do it all perfectly.

And as much as I hate to say it, I’m going to - a small part of me wonders if your children are getting all the attention they need, or if you fit all your study in after they’ve all gone to bed. And if it’s the latter, HOW are you not exhausted?

Bloody hell. According to you (and other posters like you), if you're determined, tenacious and driven and want to further your knowledge in a subject, you must be either rich, feckless and work shy, or a domestic slattern who neglects her children?

I just completed my degree. I worked bloody hard, often late into the night. I was exhausted often, but I engaged my children and taught them all that as four of us live in a house together, it's not just mum's job to clean up. They need to pull their weight too. And no, I don't live in a show home but it's tidy enough for our needs and if nasty judgy people think it's not up to their exacting standards, they can fuck right off actually. My children are adored. They're also learning that age and mental health issue doesn't have to be a barrier yo learning and that they all need to participate in the business of looking after our shared environment because it's not just my job.

Sexist much? The 1950s is calling. They're worried about you!

I think 'how do you afford that?' And 'where do you find the time to fit in that amount of study!'

I'm not lazy by any means, but I have no academic passion. I'm impressed by people's dedication.

@Camomila

I bet nobody asks men these questions.

I'm glad someone said it! Right now I'm studying (5m mumsnet break! I like the pomodoro technique) and neither DC is being neglected - DS1 is playing lego with DH, DS2 is asleep.

Well done! I love the pomodoro technique too!

@seayork2020

There are people who enjoy and getting qualifications but there are some very high achievers who would benefit from a qualification in every day living or as i have been told by some 'they missed the department of commonsense'

This hilarious myth is still doing the rounds on Mn, that anyone with multiple degrees can't tie their own shoe laces or change a lightbulb. Do you refer to people having attended 'the University of Life', too, @seayork2020?

It makes as little sense as the also-prevalent Mn notion that as soon as a bunch of perfectly ordinary women, whose only common trait is that they have children of a similar age, congregate at a school gate, they turn into clinque-ish, backstabbing adult Mean Girls.

Thank you I'm submitting Tuesday, I'm going to reward myself with a wagamamas takeaway and a some chocolate to eat while watching netflix after. Can't wait! (ok, time to get off mn again)

@sashh I was actually querying your comment to the post in bold:

I’ve got 3, a bachelors, masters and a postgrad certificate

You:
I wouldn't say that was three degrees

Why do you not think that was 3 degrees?

I have 2 undergraduate degrees, and am currently studying for my masters. I also work part time (NHS clinical role)and have primary aged children.

I study hard on my days off and weekends, because it is important to me to complete my studies.

I don't not have a cleaner! My children are not neglected! As a pp says it's not 1950 and my husband cleans and looks after the kids too.

I think good for them and I admire their work ethic.

I’ve never actually considered degrees as a “quantity”, I suppose I see them more as a series of years I spent studying. I got a BA and BSc (at the same time, which made it quicker) then direct to PhD (which in the US, you can exit after your taught classes to get a Masters) and a JD. My DH has a BSc and an MBA.

Our eldest sometimes plays “professor” and his bears are grad students who he frequently declares “idiots.” He is in disbelief that neither of us can give him medical check ups. Children are essential to control ego.

That's such a silly comment re pension contributions. Most people work alongside studying if they have multiple degrees, so yes, they do pay their pension contributions - and because they advance their careers then they pay a lot more towards their pension later on.

I never had a cleaner either when I was studying and working, don't have one now either. It's hard to combine everything but it is about being organised, not superhuman. I find some comments here come from the place of envy or bitterness.

@gwenneh I’d honestly find it strange that any mature, non startup employer didn’t offer it.

What sector are you talking about? And are you taking very recent as in last 2-3 years?

I work in a school and funding generally is dire as everyone knows.

My sister works for the NHS and her work funded her degree years ago, day release. Not now, they expect new entrants to have funded themselves through uni first.

I work for a big corporate, and they have a tuition assistance programme. There are restrictions about what qualifications you can do, and you have to pay for each module then claim it back when you pass. It needs to be work-related, but in a big multinational, that still gives a wide range of options. I don't think it's that unusual, even in these straitened times.

perpetual students

Undergraduate Economics/Language, immediate employment prospects not great, I was then lucky to get a part time role in the department while doing an MSc.

In the 80's that was quite rare, so gave me the pick of jobs.

Ten years later, I was working for a corporate who decided to start an MBA programme. While their ambition was to include anyone interested, for the first years intake they decided to play safe, and invite people who already had masters degrees.

Never put them on business cards, they helped me get the job in the first place.

[waves to bear]

@ZolaGrey You wonder how someone fits it in and then when they say they do you wonder if their house is a mess and their kids are neglected.

But that’s because people tend to wonder if THEY could manage to do it too. I often do, if someone tells me they’re retraining and what it involves, but when I think about how my life situation is currently, then for ME, it WOULD mean that my house would be messy (messier!) and i’d barely spend any time with my kids and probably have a nervous breakdown.

I have no insight into the minutiae of someone else’s life. Maybe they have a cleaner, or a nanny, or great childcare from grandparents. Maybe their other half works part time or in a less demanding job. Or the opposite, maybe their other half earns a high salary so can take on the financial burden for a few years. Maybe their mortgage payments are low. Maybe they don’t have ageing parents who need help. Maybe they don’t need much sleep to feel fit and well.

I don’t know know. Maybe they’re just superwoman or superman and I am just a lazy cow.

I wasn’t suggesting that anyone WAS neglecting their kids etc, what i was that for me and my situation it would mean that my kids would be. So it’s Probably more of a “how are you doing all that AND managing not to neglect your kids or have a house that Kim and AGgie would love to get their hands on?”

I didn’t put it well the first time so sorry for any offence caused.

It's what you choose to do with your own free time. Nothing to do with neglecting family time.

Parents may choose to study once DC are in bed instead of binge-watching Netflix or scrolling endlessly through social media, or even readjng/posting being on MN?

Each to their own.

So you find studying relaxing, GlottalStrop? I do the Netflix/social media stuff precisely because it doesn't take any brain power. Not sure my brain could cope with more stimulation after a certain time these days after stressful days at work.

I think it's clear that there are a LOT of very different family setups when it comes to people studying and what works for one wouldn't work for another. The only person I know who did a masters, it was for her profession that she was already highly successful in, her children were grown up and her husband was more or less a house husband at the time so taking all the slack at home. She's a very organised person and likes to keep busy in the evening with something so I think personalities also come into play too.

I've never really stopped studying so it's just part of my routine. My family certainly isn't neglected in any shape or form.

And both me and DH work full time and only have a cleaner once a fortnight.

[quote CurlyhairedAssassin]**@gwenneh* I’d honestly find it strange that any mature, non startup employer didn’t offer it.*

What sector are you talking about? And are you taking very recent as in last 2-3 years?

I work in a school and funding generally is dire as everyone knows.

My sister works for the NHS and her work funded her degree years ago, day release. Not now, they expect new entrants to have funded themselves through uni first.[/quote]
Currently I work for a small environmental consultancy, fewer than 30 employees, and it’s a benefit we offer. My last assistant earned her MA in Communications through the company, so that’s absolutely current.

Prior to this I worked for a global food company, and prior to that a major automotive brand. Those were very large employers and they both currently continue to offer to pay for education, as some of my old colleagues at each are currently working on an MA and a PhD.

I had no idea that when people said they had multiple degrees they meant an undergraduate degree then a masters/pgce/mba it just isn’t classified like that in my profession. If someone had a relevant masters I’d just expect them to say they have it.

I’d actually probably wonder why they are telling me when I didn’t ask to be fair. A bit like when people randomly tell me they got a first or went to a certain university when I could care less about either.

@gwenneh I’m a contractor who has worked for multinationals and very tiny consultancies and over the past ten years I’d say barley any offered any funding or the entire training budget had been used to fund one persons degree. It’s amazing how similar sectors do things so differently. I do think more employers should promote further study.

Barely not barley lol

@CurlyhairedAssassin

It's all done around working full time plus 4DC.

See, in that type of situation then I start wondering how demanding the course actually is if you can fit it round that. I’m not sure all degrees are equal these days.

Also I might wonder if you have a cleaner or if your house is just a bit messy or if you’re actually superhuman and don’t need much sleep and can just do it all perfectly.

And as much as I hate to say it, I’m going to - a small part of me wonders if your children are getting all the attention they need, or if you fit all your study in after they’ve all gone to bed. And if it’s the latter, HOW are you not exhausted?

@CurlyhairedAssassin I am exhausted! But I don't sleep much and my brain needs to be active. My house is not perfect (far from it). My kids get all the attention they need. Family day is Saturday. I study on a Sunday and evenings when everyone is in bed. DH loves Daddy day on a Sunday is an equal partner in household duties. One degree in International relations. Masters is in Education. Current studies is education field. Next masters I am eyeing up is in a specific pedagogy.

They are all solid degrees.

And it is doable, if you want to achieve it. I don't understand how people do things like go to the gym.

@CurlyhairedAssassin

Who are all these employers funding uni qualifications, out of interest?

My current employer is funding my current studies.

Can I ask, what is your experience with education? Your questions all seem to indicate that it might not have been entirely positive.

The ones I know are work shy