To be too uneducated for Mumsnet

[est1999]

When I'm on Mumsnet I feel so uneducated.

MN seems to be known for being a bit middle class or maybe that is now a dated assumption

I've made a few threads in the past under a different username and some of the words other Mumsnetters have used I admit I've had to Google the meaning of!

Everyone seems to have a degree or their children are in the process of getting one (if they're old enough)

Most women on here also seem to be very high earners. 50k+

And private schools are a norm for sure.

Maybe that's just my Mumsnet algorithm so to speak lol.

I used to earn between 26-28k per year in a basic admin job. No degree. No A-levels. Now I earn even less after having DC and going part time.

Anyone else feel the same as me at times?

I think there are a lot of posh wannabes on here!

No I've never felt like this because to be honest, I've never read as much bullshit on the internet as I have on Mumsnet.

I do think it's down to the ease of name changing, so people can say whatever they want and then not get caught out (unless they forget to name change again).

I've been around for years under various names but have never felt like that. It's a huge mix of different types of people.
Yes there are educated people on here which is great for when you need advice like medical or legal but I'm a working class carer living in a housing association property. I never got more than a level 2 in college.

I think you will find a huge amount of that kind of thing is just them making shit up.

THIS!

So many people pretending to be someone they're not on the internet.

I see right through a lot of the bullshit.

I think it's easy to exaggerate in your own mind the proportion of posters who seem opposite to you, when it's about something you think you're bad/inferior at. Also, the posters who are most likely to mention their salary or level of education are probably the ones who are confident about those things!

Private schools are not the norm. The vast majority of people, on MN or anywhere, do not send their kids to private school and do not earn £50k+. There are lots of very normal people on here!

Take it with a pinch if salt, most of it is bullshit.

An element will be age and location based

A higher proportion of younger women are more highly educated than older. I am 37 and most of the women i was at a bog standard comprehensive school with, went to university, or did some sort of post school training (higher level NVQs etc). I don't know anyone who doesn't have at least the equivalent to a-levels. Most women my age have not stopped work on having kids, so they've move on to higher earning roles eventually. I live in the south.

My mum however is from the north, and knows tons of women her age with little/no higher education. Many women her age stopped work entirely to have kids having only worked a few years in their twenties and never budged off the bottom of the pay scale

I think it’s dumbed down compared to years ago.
I would have agreed that the majority were as you described pre penis beaker. Now I find that it’s a wide mix of people from different backgrounds.

I don't think it comes across as private schools being the norm. Often they are widely criticised on threads about them.

I think you also notice the people who are different to you. Im on of the v high earners everyone thinks is lying and to me it seems like everyone on mnet a) has a child with asd b) thinks 40k is a very high salary and c) lives in scotland

I agree. It's 80 % utter nonsense on here !

The fact you Google the meaning of words you don't understand shows you are an intelligent person who is happy to learn.

Education is different to intelligence and whether we have access to it or not is mainly an accident of birth. I went to a very middle class secondary school where the expectation was you would get a degree. Most of my classmates have at least one degree.

I went to a very working class primary school. Most of my classmates from there haven't a degree. My dh went to a working class secondary school. Most of his classmates don't have a degree.

Been on here on and off for 10+ years.

I think it's always been a huge mix. Sometimes people who have different lives from our own stand out more.

plus depends on which thread, so threads about education will probably attract more mums who are really invested education.

Same with some of the property DIY threads, more about buying/doing up houses, not so many like "I rent this place and not allowed to paint the walls but want to make it look more homely"

Then you get the obvious threads which ask how much is your household income? what do you earn? Which attract bullshitters and people proud of being a high earner, most average and below average don't post so much on those threads.(some do)

So this is a mirror of YOUR worries and concerns. Do you want to get qualifications, increase your earnings etc.

Just like when you're TTC and it seems like pregnant women are everywhere. They're not. But because it's on your mind, you see it everywhere.

26-28k is actually a good wage. Mumsnet seem to have abnormally high wages (not sure how much is true). The average graduate wage is about 22k. So not having a degree is not as big an issue as you think.

I find almost the opposite, particularly in regarding income. Anyone on a high income is assumed to be lying (although I don’t know why anyone would bother) and any post where someone shops anywhere other than Aldi’s reduced section is accused of being tone-deaf.

I take most of those posts with a massive pinch of salt

Funny, I seem to read more along the lines of 'all inclusive family of 4 paying £2000 for 2 weeks', holiday parks, only buy second hand, moaning about siblings who can afford to pay for their dc to go private when the poster can't and so many posters who type like English is a second language when it's not. Grammar is appalling. Loose instead of lose, should of instead of have etc. I often wonder how MN got the middle class reputation.

I think you worry too much. Read threads you enjoy, answer when you feel like it. Ignore anyone who states what they earn, where they live etc. What actual difference does any of that make in the scheme of things. Well done for looking up words, I do that too, education is life-long

Judging by mumsnet, everyone either lives in zone 2-3 in London or they live 'very rurally'. Nothing in between.

I thinking googling stuff is good . As means you,are not in comfort zone .
It interesting stepping in other people lives .
Yeah somepeople live in expensive houses well,have big mortgages.

Well education doesn't equate to intelligence.

I have a degree and if I saw a word I didn't understand , I'd Google it. No shame in that.

Also private schools are regularly bashed on here.

I don't have a nanny, or a range rover or own a horse, but I still browse Mumsnet. If you enjoy it OP, that's all that matters.

Possibly, because every man and his dog didn't used to go to uni!!! There are however lots of highly educated older women out there - I'm one of them! I'm 60 and educated to Masters level. (I won't put my certs on or anything lol - I'm not bullshitting!!)

Also, we didn't all en masse stop work when we had children - I have always worked full-time!