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Original poster

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

445 replies

lapitup · 25/09/2020 18:15

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??

OP posts:
Imworthit · 27/09/2020 02:44

I have undergrad, post grad and professional qualifications. Worked throughout whole process and had no family money. I am changing career and will no doubt get another degree/masters.....I think the days of poncing about studying forever for no reason are long gone or for an increadibly small rich minority. Most students still in education are breaking their backs to get by.

PennyCrayon85 · 27/09/2020 02:55

Meh. My 28 year old cousin has multiple (Mickey mouse) degrees. Perpetual student. I sort of feel like maybe she should stop replying on her dad to find her life and actually, you know, get a job?

hownowbrowncow123 · 27/09/2020 05:39

@PennyCrayon85

Meh. My 28 year old cousin has multiple (Mickey mouse) degrees. Perpetual student. I sort of feel like maybe she should stop replying on her dad to find her life and actually, you know, get a job?
What exactly is a Mickey Mouse degree? That is such an awful thing to say.

If a marathon runner ran a flat route, would a mountain runner say 'that's a Mickey Mouse marathon!'? I don't believe that they would.

I am Hmmat some of the comments here which seem to have no purpose other than to tear someone apart for setting themselves a goal and achieving it.
I am enjoying reading the posts about how people have achieved this, and showing that people do gain these qualifications without the assumed privilege. Which is a ridiculous assumption, by the way.

I fully agree with PP who said she judges people about how they treat her, not how they choose to fill their day.

allofthetings · 27/09/2020 06:16

I would assume (without knowing anything else about them) that they were quite privileged and a bit flakey.

BA/BSc
MA/MSc
PhD

That's enough I think, why would you need more unless you were actually achieving something with this knowledge, not just collecting letters after your name.

allofthetings · 27/09/2020 06:17

Masters is the new degree IMO, almost expected now.

Tunnocks34 · 27/09/2020 06:20

I think ‘wow that’s impressive’

I admire anyone with a dedication to learning.

Mariola321 · 27/09/2020 07:04

Would think very clever but maybe more academic than business person.

SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 08:07

@PennyCrayon85

Meh. My 28 year old cousin has multiple (Mickey mouse) degrees. Perpetual student. I sort of feel like maybe she should stop replying on her dad to find her life and actually, you know, get a job?
There is no such thing as a Mickey Mouse degree.....

Horrible, judgemental comment.

SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 08:12

@allofthetings

I would assume (without knowing anything else about them) that they were quite privileged and a bit flakey.

BA/BSc
MA/MSc
PhD

That's enough I think, why would you need more unless you were actually achieving something with this knowledge, not just collecting letters after your name.

I have the qualifications you've listed and more.... I'm neither privileged or flakey. I grew up in one of the most deprived areas of the UK and I'm the only person in my family to have been to university.

I chose my BSc and MSc ( funded the BSc via student loans and won a scholarship for the MSc)

My PhD, PGCert ( teaching in HE) and my professional diploma were all contractual requirements - refusing to do them would result in disciplinary action and eventually being sacked.

Bluesheep8 · 27/09/2020 08:34

I think they are likely to be very interesting people.

I don't think anything really. And the abive would never even cross my mind. It's about as interesting and important as what colour hair they have, ie not very.

Bluesheep8 · 27/09/2020 08:36

What is a Mickey Mouse degree?

Malachite234 · 27/09/2020 08:46

@Bluesheep8

What is a Mickey Mouse degree?
Jam making....or perhaps drama. These kind of degrees that are fun, but don’t really lead to a professional career.

( sorry if I offend anyone)

SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 08:48

What is a Mickey Mouse degree?

It's a term used by people with no understanding of the HE sector or Graduate Labour Market. They believe that anything that isn't a traditional academic subject or has a job they recognise in the title is a ' Mickey Mouse' subject.

Ironically, the degrees that are often held up as being 'Mickey Mouse' subjects typically have excellent employability outcomes - there was a thread on here once which was slagging of Theme Park Management yet that course had 100% graduate employability 🤷🏼‍♀️
Not to mention over 70% of graduation recruiters don't ask for a specific degree subject they just want you to have studied at degree level.

People who talk about Mickey Mouse degrees also tend to use the term 'ex-poly' and look down on those that studied at one.

FourPlasticRings · 27/09/2020 08:48

@Bluesheep8

What is a Mickey Mouse degree?
Degrees that are easy to get, in theory at least, so you can doss around a bit and live the ultimate student life without actual academics getting in the way too much. Generally not too helpful in terms of getting an actual job.
SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 08:50

Jam making....or perhaps drama. These kind of degrees that are fun, but don’t really lead to a professional career.

Can you tell me which university offers 'jam making'???

And Drama is an established academic HE programme which allows students to develop a wide range of skills that are sought after by graduate employers.

Pipandmum · 27/09/2020 08:50

I have two degrees. Unless they are something like a medical degree I don't think anything of it as it doesn't require any particular intelligence. If the degrees are to advance their career then obviously it shows commitment, but so does other types of experience.

SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 08:52

Degrees that are easy to get, in theory at least, so you can doss around a bit and live the ultimate student life without actual academics getting in the way too much. Generally not too helpful in terms of getting an actual job.

Wrong and ignorant

Bluesheep8 · 27/09/2020 09:01

People who talk about Mickey Mouse degrees also tend to use the term 'ex-poly' and look down on those that studied at one.

Well you learn something new every day. I suspect my ex-poly degree is somewhat Mickey Mouse-esque. I'm not sure how I managed to get a job! Grin

SueEllenMishke · 27/09/2020 09:05

Well you learn something new every day. I suspect my ex-poly degree is somewhat Mickey Mouse-esque. I'm not sure how I managed to get a job!

Mine too..... according to many people on MN we're unemployable!

Meanwhile in the real world..........

GlottalStrop · 27/09/2020 09:12

My degree wasn't considered a MM one but I can't stand the sense of superiority some people have when it comes to where and what you studied.

I worked in the city (London) for quite a while and met so many absolute idiots that had coasted through exams with excessive tutoring and mummy and daddy's money, not to mention the old boys' network.

So many were clueless when it came to working, I was embarrassed for them.

D4rwin · 27/09/2020 09:14

It's fairly normal to collect a few in some careers.

FizzyGreenWater · 27/09/2020 09:18

From reading many similar threads on here, it seems that having an opinion on it tends to say more about the folk on the thread than the people with the degrees 😁

Malachite234 · 27/09/2020 09:34

@SueEllenMishke

Jam making was somewhere in Scotland.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with drama, but why go to university? Why not go to a performing arts school ?

In Scotland you don’t pay fees, so a lot of people don’t give much thought to further education, they just want the piece of paper. This devalues degrees in general and saturates the job market.

School careers advisors are awful and we are conditioned to think the academic do degrees and the technical courses/apprenticeships are for people who drop out of school at 16. This simply isn’t true and many people who have done a degree would have been better with the latter.

JamieLeeCurtains · 27/09/2020 09:41

I don’t think there is anything wrong with drama, but why go to university? Why not go to a performing arts school ?

They're kind of the same thing now since DADAs were scrapped and student loans brought in. Massively simplifying it, if you study acting at, say, East 15 Acting School (entrance via audition), you would do a degree such as Acting and Community Theatre and graduate from the University of Essex. RADA is Kings College London. Etc.

SabrinaThwaite · 27/09/2020 09:49

In Scotland you don’t pay fees, so a lot of people don’t give much thought to further education, they just want the piece of paper. This devalues degrees in general and saturates the job market

What an unpleasant load of tosh.

Scottish student numbers are capped, there’s a lot of competition for those places. No Scottish students I know “just wanted a piece of paper” and no it doesn’t “devalue their degrees”.

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