To do a degree I’ll probably never use

[Thescaredlittletoaster]

I’m 32 and have never gotten a degree but I’d really like to. I’m dyslexic and this really held me back confidence wise at school although I did okay in my GCSEs I felt I wouldn’t be good enough for college/uni.
Now I’ve finally found my confidence would I be unreasonable to do a degree in theology even though I doubt I’ll ever use it?

Absolutely, many jobs want you to have a degree anyways these days, and you'll struggle to progress without it. Even if you don't use it the sense of achievement you get is amazing.

It's a lot of effort and expense doing a degree, plus you need a lot of motivation. I think you should choose one you expect to use. You are young with plenty of working years ahead so it makes sense to try to use it in your career.

I'm not going to lie

My first thought was 'why not, every other fucker does'

I know so many mums with degrees (and first class honours!) Who are now teaching assistants or other type roles

I'm not being rude about tags, but how does a degree in graphic design, or photography, etc make you more suited to this role

What will you do with it?

Why wouldn’t you be able to use the degree? And why don’t you want to get a degree that can help further your career?

I've just recently had this quandary. My work will pay for a degree. It's accelerated so 2 years hard graft whilst also working full time. I realised the main reason I was considering it was just to have done it obviously I could use it to progress but I don't really want to. I'm at an age where I want to wind down not up - but still the pull is there.

I don't think it's unreasonable to do things just because you want to. My only question would be do you want to enough to pull through the tough bits because there will definitely be some of those.

if you can afford to, do it.
I don't have a first degree, did an MSc in my late 40's. I don't think that it's particularly helped my career, even though in a directly related subject, but I feel pleased with myself for proving I could do it.

I was awarded another one last year that I'll probably never use so yes, if you want to.

Go for it! I'd love to be able to do a degree just for the sake of learning about the subject. I was too immature to really appreciate it was when I did mine.

You only get one undergrad student loan. Choose something that you enjoy, definitely, but also don't leave yourself open to the worry that you've made a terrible mistake that you've got to compensate for for the rest of your working life.

I am the only person in my family who ever went to uni (before or since) so I didn't know this... The people I know who did well out of non-work-specific degrees seem to be the ones who had connections/family cultural capital. Or at least parents who could financially support them doing unpaid work experience/internships/volunteering/whatever else they called it so they could actually do something after uni. And those graduate schemes are rarely genuinely open to anyone from any discipline. I applied for a couple and there were all these complex financial tests I couldn't complete because I had a BA in archaeology and had no clue about that stuff. The absolute worst careers advice I got when applying for uni was, "do whatever you want. Go for it."

I wish, wish, wish I'd known all that before doing my degree, I would have scrapped my UCAS application entirely and done something that led to a stable and reliable career like nursing or primary education. Having said that, if RE teacher appeals to you, that's the right degree for it isn't it?

I can’t do a degree to do with my career because I don’t really have one, I do part time work
looking after animals on a small holding. I would be doing a degree for fun and to fill my afternoons, that’s why I’d pick theology it’s something I’ve always enjoyed and been interested in.

You gain so many transferable skills from a degree. My undergrad has nothing to do with my career, but I learnt to research, critically analyse, marshal and present thoughts, debate and discuss. The subject matter is largely irrelevant and might as well be one you enjoy!

If you can afford it, go for it! Theology is a wonderful subject.

Starting a degree with the Open University feels less drastic for your situation as you can combine it with working and study as fast or as slow as you want. You may however want the experience of full time education at a conventional university but just putting another option to you.

Then I’d go for it! If you are already happy job wise it sounds like a great idea.

Gosh, do it!

Loads you can do with it.
Most secondary schools offer Religious Education, you could get into a host of graduate programmes, use it as a stepping stone to primary ed.... Tons you could do.
But- education is to prepare AND enlight. It's ok if you don't 'use' it

Yes ... assuming you can afford it. I have never 'used' my degree and for the career path I followed it was honestly never needed or relevant but I am glad I did it, had a great four years at Uni (fortunately in the days before student fees and I was lucky enough to get a full grant ... )

Of course you will use a theology degree. Every day for the rest of your life. Whatever your degree subject is, studying for it will teach you critical thinking, vastly improve spoken and written expression, give you project and time management skills, increase your confidence.... etc, etc, etc. And plenty of employers will know that, so you will be more employable.

Sounds like such a waste of money if you won't use it

Yes go for it if you have the time and means! Education doesn’t just have to be about furthering a career, you can do it for lots of reasons, including the very good one you state in your OP.

Soinds like an interesting degree which could enrich your life and give you more confidence as you say - great stuff!

In my opinion, many, many degrees are not worth getting into debt for, especially degrees that people don’t use. I know lots of jobs require education to degree level but you have specifically said you won’t use this degree so I assume you won’t use it to get a graduate job.

with the current cost of living crisis I would avoid any unnecessary spending right now.

Of course you will use a theology degree. Every day for the rest of your life. Whatever your degree subject is, studying for it will teach you critical thinking, vastly improve spoken and written expression, give you project and time management skills, increase your confidence.... etc, etc, etc. And plenty of employers will know that, so you will be more employable

This.

I know a handful of people who have done graphic design degrees including people I work and have worked with. They are useful in technology.

The only people I know with photography degrees don't do any job related to them.

Theology is actually a hard subject to study as I looked into it. 99% of the people I met with degrees in it are vicars. One guy I use to work with a Theology degree was going to be a vicar but decided against it. He went from a technology role to end up in HR. (Yes you go to talk to a vicar about their church and they reveal they have a degree in Theology. Some of the ministers from other denominations have degrees in things like Social Work.)

How much would it cost in time and money and is it worth it from the perspective that this is essentially a hobby

A relative is doing Theology, they have no plans to be a priest but I agree it is full on. They are learning a classic language so they can study original sources. There is a lot of history and some classic literature involved. But they do love it.

I did a second degree just for fun (and now a masters) it's in law so it's"useful" in real life. I had to pay the fees, no loan.

You'd probably need to do an access course to prepare to do a degree. Unless you have recent education experience.

My dc rs/philosophy teacher has a degree in theology....really inspired dc especially in philosophy...
Unfortunately he's now left teaching to work in finance in the city for mammon !

I didn't go to uni but did get a masters later but if could afford it would love to get a degree..
Once finished funding the dc will be my turn!