To think academic success truly does not matter

[Hotstuff18]

Firstly, this isn’t sour grapes. I went to a very prestigious RG university and was always the annoying girl with my hand up at school (ah misspent youth 😂). However, in almost all the adults I know now their academic outcomes have had literally no bearing on their lives now in their late 30’s and early 40’s. In my own life, my A’s at A level count for absolutely nothing when my part time teacher salary is absolutely dwarfed by my non academic DH’s who spent most of his time at school messing around and smoking behind the bike sheds. At work, a lot of my colleagues didn’t do that well in their own exams and now do the exact same job as me. Many friends who work in trade jobs having left school at 16 earn very impressive salaries meanwhile others with top grades in their exams earn low money. One particular example that always sticks out to me is a lady who lives down the street, who’s also a teacher, absolutely bombed her exams as she spent the whole time partying (whilst I spent most of year 13 diligently writing up notes and doing practice essays) and yet we ended up living on the same street doing the exact same job. I’m not bitter about this at all, I absolutely love my life however, I do regret not just having more fun at school and not worrying about my grades because it really hasn’t paid off. Obviously, for certain jobs such as medicine too grades are needed but for the vast majority it truly doesn’t matter at all. I have definitely learned my lesson on it with my own DC and have never excessively pushed them and my main priority has always been their social progress/happiness at school rather than grades, which I think will honestly stand them in far better stead than getting all 9’s in their GCSE’s. Aibu?

I think it matters for certain jobs but it’s not the be all and end all.

For the job I wanted I needed a degree and masters so I followed through with it all. My dh didn’t enjoy studying so went straight into working. He’s worked his way up to a manager and now earns more money than me and doesn’t have any qualifications other than his school set.

I think it all depends on what you want in life as some jobs and careers require further study and some don’t. I think it’s also down to who you are as a person, not meaning it in any nasty way but I know my dh worked really hard to get where he is and was committed to doing so.

I think it can matter for a brief moment in time sometimes - but as soon as that moment has passed it means nothing.

For instance if you want to be a lawyer, the top firms might preselect by results so it makes it easier/gives more choice if you did well at university.

For my first job, which was nothing special/civil service, I had to have a 2:1 degree or higher because they used that purely to keep the numbers down as they were always over run with applications.

But beyond getting the job - having a top education and degree won't get you anywhere unless you want to actually work. Some of the best people I've worked with on the civil service have had no qualifications and a brilliant work ethic. Conversely, I've worked with a few graduates who thought they were it just because they went to x uni or had a first class degree etc. They were a nightmare to work with because they thought that was enough.

My husband is a nuclear chemist. I can't imagine he'd be much good at his job if he only had a woodwork GCSE.

It matters often but not always. Just because you can't reliably predict who will end up having needed their academic success, that doesn't mean that nobody does. You surely can't claim that the opportunities people are given or the jobs that people get are never related to their leveo or type of academic qualifications they have?

Love this!

However, in almost all the adults I know now their academic outcomes have had literally no bearing on their lives now in their late 30’s and early 40’s.

Your narrow anecdotal evidence doesn't account for the actual data though, there is absolutely a correlation between higher educational attainment and higher earnings so it does have a bearing on the lives of most adults.

my main priority has always been their social progress/happiness at school rather than grades, which I think will honestly stand them in far better stead than getting all 9’s in their GCSE’s. Aibu?

Why the assumption that high grades are at the expense of happiness and social progress?

Think it's very dependent on what job you want to do. I'm a law graduate and then also have a masters in a different subject, which was required for my job. However, I work in the public sector at an officer level, so am not on mega money by. My best mate, who left school at 18 earns about 5 times what I earn, but she's in fin tech sales!

It's about choices isn't it. Of course you can succeed without academic success but some routes will be closed off to you, or will require retraining later. Fine if you have a supportive family but not much good if you need to pay rent at the same time. One of mine is likely to be not showered with qualifications and yes I will strike a balance in terms of making him work but I won't be telling him it doesn't matter

As others have said, academic qualifications matter for some jobs, but only a very small number. Other corporate companies ask for a degree for entry level positions, but that's changing. For most, your degree will be utterly meaningless after three to five years of leaving university. Higher education doesn't hold the same value as it used to imo. It's just a business now.

But then maybe I'm biased. I left school at 16 without much idea of what I wanted to do. I work in IT consultancy now and I make six figures. Not having a university degree has never been an issue for me.

The answer, of course, is that it depends, and is also pretty generational. As more and more people do degrees, dynamics change.

Grandparents were a mixture of land owners, no qualifications, wealthy, and dirt poor, no qualifications, worked up to be CEO of a public company.

Next generation some qualifications, worked way up.

DH and I no university, HND's, but both ended up in good well paid professional roles.

My kids, top grades, university first, masters, they and their friends all in highly paid professional jobs.

I don’t think lack of academic achievements automatically consigns a person to a minimum wage role for ever, nor do I think all academics get to 6 figures.

but I do think, generally, academic success does matter. In my experience, most of my highly academic friends are very successful, as nuclear physicists, barristers, medics, architects and an engineer in gas and oil.

Academic success maximises the number of options available to people.

The lack of academic success is not necessarily a constraint, for many people.

Well if you had really had academic success then you would know that all the evidence tells us that yes in general academic success leads to higher salaries. We all know people who have squandered academic success or who have achieved great things without it, but that neither here nor there. Whether or not you think higher salaries matter is up to you, but again evidence tells us that up to a point, higher salaries mean happier people.

It's more complex than that, though. A friend grew up as one of 4 with no money, and worked her arse off to go to the RG uni I went to as she wanted financial success to change her life. She now works in banking for RBS.
Another friend grew up quite "hothoused" and was expected to do well at school and go into something like banking, so she now works for Barclays. It was just a given. Same career, different motivations.
I agree it doesn't matter so much for those like me whose parents enjoyed decent but not massive salaries and a good work life balance. I work PT in financial services; never have used my 2:1 in languages.

I could have written this word for word. Fully agree with you.

Grades often reflect work ethic, determination as well as natural ability. Thus, grades mean something but if one does their best at subjects that are useful to them, then the end result is not the most important thing. You can't do better than your best.
I would like the doctor who treats me in Emergency to have good marks in exams. (knowing stuff under pressure of time)

Most jobs don't require only people who obtained great grades but also those who passed okay but have other skills to offer - like communication, resilience, problem solving, adaptability, punctuality, social likability, kindness, polite manners, listening skills, etc..

Depends on your plans. I work in higher education. None of my team would be where we are with a couple of low GCSE grades. Obviously we hope our students do well. I absolutely agree that worth as a person and the ability to have a good life are not dependent on exam results but in the right context they do matter.

It obviously depends on the job you want to do. If you have your heart set on a professional/academic career (medicine, law, astrophysics), grades will matter more than anything else. If you are artistic/entrepreneurial/good at sales or have practical or professional sports skills, academic success doesn't matter much at all.

I know lots of academically very successful people who have ended up in relatively low paying jobs, working part time or not at all.

The common denominator is that they are all women with children and a high earning (and therefore often absent) DH.

I’m sure their career paths would have looked very different if they’d not had children or if they’d been the higher earner.

So true minipie.

Divided on this .... But generally, the people I've known who had great academic success are also some of the most rigorous thinkers. They are analytical and insightful in ways that the bunkers-off can't accomplish. Which has served them well in their careers, and in life.

So there are more benefits to achieving good grades than simply the grades themselves.

I honestly believe that the value of a good education, can never be overstated. Think about women who are subjugated in some countries and the girls growing up are denied an education.

Ha, yes, my old uni had the highest marriage rate in the UK (I'm in those stats). There was a whole cohort of women who went there just to find their future wealthly DH!

That is not my life experience. Also an academic high performer and so were my friends. They are now doctors, professors, and tech executives.

It depends on what you study. Nearly all my friends did arts and humanities. We are all largely in relationships with those who did trades from 15 who earn vastly more than us.