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?

Hey don't dump on us oldies, I did a degree (in engineering) in the 1970's. My mum couldn't go to grammar school ( although she got offers) because the family wanted/needed her income at 14, so she had to leave school. and her slightly younger brother was preferred for more schooling, because he was a boy. My mum worked all her life mainly as a nurse, night shifts when we were young. My father worked in the day, so we could be looked after (mostly). They still had very little but my brother and I (as oldies now) went to university and did pretty well.

People can say anything they want on here - or be anything they want to be. Doesn't mean its true in real life though!

The average ft salary is 41k , and I think 100k is either top 5 or top 7% so nowhere near as common in RL as MN.

The degree level education thing is definitely linked to socioeconomic status and age. Younger people are more likely to continue to university, as are those in higher socioeconomic groups. Obviously there are exceptions to the stats but it’s a rule of thumb that stands at a population level. It’s one of the reasons that universities are encouraged to incentivise university entry for care leavers and ‘first in family’ students, to level the playing field. This report by the Higher Education Policy Institute discusses the issues

https://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/First-in-Family-Students.pdf

I never noticed this until others pointed it out!

I am M.A level educated but I've had to google words others use. Knowledge of words comes from all over-usually just from reading? There was a time that poster didn't know that word either.

I earn next to nowt at the moment having been made redundant in March-couple of bits and bats of freelance teaching work-so you're doing a dam sight better than me OP, education or not!

I tend to think that there are lots of people on MN who feel it's a matter of pride to fail as epically as possible, and shout about it.

In real life, quiet competence is highly valued. Even if you don't earn gazillions (most don't). I sometimes think that everyone has a disabled or severely SN child and depends on social services support, but most don't -- even though the help would be very welcome and make life easier. At what level of income do you start to tax those people with not much to improve life for people with even less?

Me too, got this …

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/1875847-Do-you-dunk-your-penis

I tend to think that there are lots of people on MN who feel it's a matter of pride to fail as epically as possible, and shout about it.

What do you mean?

On another point, if you come across a word or concept that you don't understand, surely Googling it is the intelligent thing to do.

YABU. I was a teenage mum, am not educated past GCSE level, live in social housing and work a low paid job. I've as much right to be here as anyone, and so have you. Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.

I’ve been on MN for 10+ years and sometimes share too much, which is why I now post under different usernames depending on the discussion topic. I don’t see the need to lie to impress as I genuinely don’t care what other people think of my lifestyle choices, plus everybody is anonymous on here so I can share without completing outing myself. I like to use my own experiences, knowledge/education to help others, so I tend to use share examples I what I’ve gone through and/how I do things. I’ve learnt a lot on MN and have always Googled everything I’ve never heard of or don’t understand.

Remember - Apparently, only 7% of the UK population attend private/independent school. Pinch of salt and all that.

You can often tell how or educated intelligent posters are or not by their posts (spelling, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, how broad and/or subjective their ideas are, their wit/dry humour/sense of humour, travel experiences, etc).

*completely

I think it's a real mix but I have no hang ups about my education or carer.

But people's ability to mark spelling and grammar pisses me off as a dyslexic. I bet they pull up other shoppers on their shopping lists

It's not leviosa it's leviosa.

then i think it's mostly teachers.

As I'm sure someone's pointed out by now, MN started off very London-high-earner-early-internet-adopter-centric. Some of those people have stayed, others have joined them. The demographic has shifted but that bias remains, I think.

I also think (and this may be related) it attracts quite a lot of people who are very anxious about their place in society. I'm astounded time and again by the classism I see on here, and the sneering at others' use of language in the guise of 'pedantry'. Some posters on here could give Betjeman a run for his money.

When I lived in Canada many years ago, I found that Canadians were like you, taking the use of an unusual word as aggression against them, so we all ended up speaking in words of one syllables.

I am seventy and still take delight in finding a new word.

No child of mine has ever gone to private school and I don't have a car or much really

My father in law once told me that the most brilliant man he'd ever met had so little common sense that his wife dealt with all finances etc because otherwise he'd be the creek without a paddle. We all have different gifts and abilities. Good thing, as the bible says, that we are not all hands or all eyes or all legs (or something like that!). Enjoy and use your particular gifts and don't worry about comparing yourself to others. As we should tell our kids 'You are special!'

*up the creek
Sorry. Low blood sugar!

Some posters on here could give Betjeman a run for his money.

This post was a little ironic, I'd need to google this to understand its meaning

Apparently, only 7% of the UK population attend private/independent school

Which is more than 3x as many as the proportion of school aged kids with ASD, for context.

@allmyliesaretrue we could be twins! 🤣😊

This. I dont believe an awful lot of what I read on here. Plus, recently it seems many threads have just vanished with a message saying "MN has removed this post as its from a previously banned troll" so, clearly there is a lot of lying on here and those are only the posts we know are trolls! There must be lots more that fly under the radar.

Lots of people with 100k plus family incomes and mortgage free. Ok sure 🙄

*how educated and/or intelligent

(Correcting more of my typos as sure enough another pp will take great pride in pointing them out!)

I live in social housing as a single mum of 3. I'm about to start doing a masters. My job wont be high earning even after completing it, in fact, ill be living in poverty by some mumsnetters standards. I dont fit anywhere on the mumsnet scale, my life is polar opposites of what you are lead to believe. Having to live in a council flat with a degree, and soon to be masters. But its my reality.

But. Theres a lot of people very good at painting an idyllic life style on forums like these, some are just outright fabricating their entire lives. Take every post with a pinch of salt.

Same. Next on my list after leviosa.

Oh you are in for such a treat!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/1875847-Do-you-dunk-your-penis