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?

Yes to living in Scotland 😂 Why are there so many?!

I think theres a mix on here noting that in 'real life' there's a great pressure on women to dumb down. On a site predominately aimed at women, posters don't dumb down and can boast more freely (as men do). I think it's refreshing/liberating. There are actually rich intelligent women in the world!

What on earth? Half those jobs only earn 25-30k. 🤣

What’s wrong with looking up word definitions? I do it all the time when I run across one I’m not familiar with. I’ll also do it when I’m about to use one that I’m pretty sure of the meaning to but I want to make sure.

To your other question I think it’s fairly evenly split on here as far as background and current situation. For every “I’m buying a house with my £1M” there is a “Help I can’t find an affordable flat” thread.

Because apparently it counts I’ve got a degree and make a very good salary.

In fairness I’m an appalling speller, have dyslexia and also type very badly on iPad. 1 fingered .
I don’t post anything probably without errors.
tbh, I can’t be bothered to check as MN doesn’t make it easy and I’m crap at proof reading.
until MN put a spell checker you’ll just have to either ignore posts or become more realistic that not everyone cares as much as you about spelling, as long as the meaning is correct
and my mum was an English teacher 🤷🏼‍♀️

I must confess to be cynical about the high earners, in my experience these are people who work their asses off and I cant see someone with that level of responsibility having to time read lengthy posts and post replies.

I get £120k for 30 hours a week. I don't work at all in the evenings or on weekends.

Oh and i earn loads but yep i regularly look up words and you won't get perfect grammar from me, went to a bog standard comp in the 90s, they didn't do grammar!

I have a degree, PhD probably what you'd describe as middle class and earn over that... but I have to look things up too, and am always having people pull me up on things, sometimes I read things too and think eh ... how do you KNOW all this ... I just think some people have too much time on their hands lol 😆

This! I also think people tend to exaggerate things online where they can’t be challenged properly.

I find the cross section of opinion and contribution absolutely invaluable.
I don’t think it’s about education or vocabulary but life experience and useful advice. I think most people post in good faith. (Not all obviously!)

Honestly even if you do have pretty good spelling and grammar I swear devices conspire to make everyone look equally stupid. I can’t get min e to stop autocorrecting “well” to “we’ll”

min e

case in point 🤣

I can’t be bothered to check as MN doesn’t make it easy and I’m crap at proof reading.

I'm crap at proof reading, too, but can spot my errors almost immediately when I've posted.

It's because I'm mildly dyslexic - I find black on white difficult, black on grey lightly better (preview function) but because my own posts have a coloured background, it's much clearer.

(Not that I use the preview function much because I'm usually typing in such a wild frenzy of wrath that I just hit "post" after cursory glance over my text.)

I think some posters just catch your eye because they come out with some ‘middle class’ Bs that instigates arguments. People who say ‘well I wouldn’t have even considered children unless I/my husband were earning £££ salary, bought our own house in London, could afford to send them to private schools/employ help, could holiday at least once a year abroad etc.’. Then insinuate that anyone not doing the same is somewhat neglectful and dim. Yes some people do live like this and there’s no issue with that, it’s when they become insufferable snobs that you start thinking ‘goodness am I doing everything wrong?’. Which of course, you’re not.

I have a degree, I never used it. I was in a relationship when I had my children but never married. I’m on benefits now but better off than when in a relationship. Obviously this new life comes with a lot of judgement but it is what it is, my circumstances dictate my life for the moment. I’m probably in a hell of a lot less debt than the minority who think they’ve done everything ‘right’ - but they have a longterm plan and I do not. Very much swings and roundabouts - as long as you’re comfortable with where you’re at, it’s all that matters.

My computer insists on changing "causal" to "casual" - interfering little techno-bar-stard that it is.

It's confirmation bias.

There are plenty of people just like you here.

Op, people respond to things they know about- of course they come across as educated. Or experienced. They’d not really reply to stuff they know nowt about 🤷🏼‍♀️
I’ve been on here long enough to know that every thread where high earnings comes out, is countered with low earners, sometimes there’s relentless pile ons for people discussing IHT, inheritances, private school and god forbid you post about renting out a property 😱🙄🤣
yep, some people use complex words or terminology- it’s just what they know
some of us have simply been around a long time and acquired random knowledge and vocabulary as we’ve lived our lives . I’m 70,;retired now, long career, mum of two, divorced, cared for a husband with severe and enduring mental illness, now caring for my elderly dad, degree etc etc - I’ve just lived a bit longer and know a lot of different shit about different things. Just cos you have a degree it doesn’t make you clever.
what makes you clever is curiosity . And confidence in your ability to figure stuff out . And capability to learn new skills and knowledge. The three Cs

I’m not sure about the ‘middle class wannabe’ stuff but I do read a lot of very intellectual stuff in here and I enjoy it. Makes me feel like I am expanding my mind 😂

Don't worry about it. I feel out my depth aswell. Some of the technical stuff, the law stuff on the Maya Forstater threads, they are just too much for me to grasp sometimes.

On what world is £22k an average graduate wage?!

Which ones? Starting salaries for most of those jobs, if not all, are £25k+, and they all earn more than that after a number of years experience. Band 5 nurses and main pay scale teachers will earn more than £30k, and the rest more.

Starting malarias for nurses and teachers are £28k+ now.

I do the same, Google the meanings of words. In fact I'm the least educated in my friendship group but I'm never made to feel dumb luckily. 😅

I also have a rubbish job and didn't do anything beyond college, in terms of education. I do feel like a failure but I cant help that I'm not academic. Its just the way I'm wired. I'm more of a practical person.

Mumsnet doesn't make me feel inadequate though.

I have a Masters degree plus a conversion law degree (4 degrees in total) and I STILL often have to google things that come up on MN!

As a multi billionaire graduate of the University of Fibchester even I have to Google the odd word here and there.
Don't let internet strangers make you feel less than.