AIBU to feel that some parents just want their children at Uni even if its a BS degree

[DistinguishedSocialCommentator]

Hello
I come from a background/culture where education is seen as very important and going to a university is a must (My parents came to England in 1962)

Yes, more and more jobs are seeking degrees and often even when not necessary. There are many professions where you must have a degree to join the course training

However, what I and my family call BS degrees, to name but a few

Arts
Studio Fine arts
Arth History
Business studies
Exercise Science
Fashion

I cant see what jobs they will get as there must be other routes, less intensive and extensive to get the job they want

When I've talked about mickey-mouse degrees at parties etc and not be aware that some parents children or they may have studied them, they start to defend the indefensible.
The biggest bS degree is 'Politics' - WTH!! Sadly, we know a few people whose children have done that and ended up running the family shop/business - total waste of a degree

There are other degrees just as crappy - they should be banned IMO

AIBU to think these degrees are a waste of time and often do not aid the person into a job in that field?

I'm always saying "as useful as a degree in basket weaving" until my sewing teacher reminded me that we need to retain heritage craft skills.

As long as there aren't thousands of degrees in basket weaving, she has a valid point.

I don't use my Biology degree as a programmer.

My cousin did a degree in sports science and was director of a IT start up at 23. He's laughing at me. Unless your in medicine or law who uses their degree anyway? I just proves your of adverage intelligence and can stick at something for 3 years.

In your ill-informed, uneducated opinion!!

A colleague of mine, early 30s, earning circa £50k (which is great money where I live!), literally stood up in front of the entire department, and acknowledged that she had done a Mickey Mouse degree... I think it was sociology or something like that.

All of us pretty much cringed. Especially as the individual has been promoted way beyond their level of capacity...

Why do you care?

You really need to revisit your understanding of 'diplomatic'

And tbh, your posts are so utterly misinformed and entirely ignorant, it's pretty infuriating. Formal education or not. Take a look at yourself. Anyone who judges people by letters after their name is a dick.

It’s probably covered in a Politics degree

😂😂😂

If I had a free pass, I'd love to do a politics degree. It'd be fascinating.

I can't help but think @DistinguishedSocialCommentator that you might benefit from reading beyond the Daily Mail, especially when it comes to Higher Education.

Another pp has already linked this Prospects Luminate report but here it is again. Worth a read through,lots of graphics. Media Studies covered on page 29.

https://graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io/graduatemarkettrends/bb6dc6da-0786-4c17-aa74-af4607d20bb0_what-do-graduates-do-2324.pdf

It is of course just a breakdown of the mass of data in the Graduates Outcomes Survey. This is WonkHE's take on it https://wonkhe.com/blogs/hesa-spring-2023-graduate-outcomes/

The IFS have a number of pertinent recent reports:

The impact of undergraduate degrees on lifetime earnings : https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/output_url_files/R167-The-impact-of-undergraduate-degrees-on-lifetime-earnings.pdf

How much does it pay to get good grades at university?
https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/output_url_files/How-much-does-it-pay-to-get-good-grades-at-university.pdf

London calling? Higher education, geographical mobility and early-career earnings
https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/output_url_files/Higher-education-geographical-mobility-and-early-career-earnings.pdf

Moving on from the IFS the High Fliers Graduate Market report https://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2023/graduate_market/GMReport23.pdf

The workings of Student Finance are covered quite well by a range of House of Commons Library Reports. For example
Student finance in England: How much do graduates pay back? https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/student-finance-in-england-how-much-do-graduates-pay-back/
and more general ones such as this on Higher education student numbers https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7857/

HEPI - the Higher Education Policy Institute - has a range of reports and blogs https://www.hepi.ac.uk/

Whilst not specific to students as you enjoy referencing London and largely denigrating anywhere else a more balanced summary picture is provided by Centre for Cities : Cities Outlook 2024 https://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Cities-Outlook-2024.pdf

To a certain extent a degree is only as good as the student and sometimes the institution.

Art degrees are more about the university you end up in as it’s the social value, alumni and contacts that can make a difference.

Same with other degrees.

I don’t think you need a degree today, but if you choose not to have one then you better either build a portfolio, so relevant work experience or go into an apprentice or training.

Personally I would love a refund from my degree - I did business studies - it got me on the career ladder way back when as I did well.

My little brother never ended up with a degree but has a great job with a multinational. But that would be uncommon. Most jobs require a degree to get in the door rightly or wrongly. And I totally agree with PPS that spoke about the learning experience that college allows. I went abroad for a year as part of my degree and it really was the making of me. It meant I was able to leave home after my degree with some degree of confidence.

She could have done that without a degree. What a load of bollocks, bet she's not paying her degree loan back, or has no intentions of doing so!

She didn't set out to do it, end of.

You seem to view education merely as a tool for getting a job. What about about a fundamental love of learning?

I think it's safe to say that ship has sailed (and was never there in the first place!)

What an unpleasant and snobbish post.
Higher education is about so much more than future earnings and social standing.
I highly valued the experience of studying for one of your 'BS' degrees. It taught me how to learn, critique source materials, develop independence in a safe environment, organise my thoughts and so much more. It has stood me in good stead in a range of job unrelated to my degree.
And I had a lovely three years socialising with wonderful people, some of whom are still friends!

When they were 30, the two in IT and guess what, by then they had their own property, no uni debts and when they went to the next level

I did humanities and language A levels, and had a flat at 27 and no university debts. Admittedly I studied at a time when tuition fees were free and student loans were about £500 a year, but it's totally ridiculous to say that you have to study a STEM subject to be a functioning member of society. Any degree is useful, and any work experience is useful. The onus is on employers to recognise transferable skills (and give people training, rather than expecting schools, universities and other employers to have done it for them). Clearly if you want to study medicine you need a science background, but I suspect most people could do a data science role with the right training.

Good morning

Many thanks for sharing your none-uni success story. This is what I am getting at is that 😀not all degrees are all they are cut out to be. As another FM stated ad I acknowledged, a degree at one uni vs another can also be a big difference re what you learn, or the respect that goes with it.

Great to hear your son's are "millionaires." As you know its not just about earning, and making decent money but how to be prudent with it and live the whole life in a balanced manner and never having to go to, hand to mouth

I get what you say you missed re pic

Have a nice Friday and a great weekend

If she’s making hundreds on one tattoo I imagine she’s also paying quite a bit of tax and student loan repayments (if she had a student loan and it hasn’t already been repaid)

You need to comprehend what is being posted before making irrelevant comments.

I've never stated school is not good for "learning". I never stated that all degrees are not good for "learning"
Therefore, that is "learning," ok!

Many thanks for saying what I wanted to say but did not as many around that know people with degrees that hardly carry any weight in the real world

Many jobs around where you can just be highly knowledgeable and intelligent without having to go to uni and start building ones life as soon as one leaves school/college and then there are apprenticeships and many companies that will pay to advance employees they see potential in whilst those employees are earning good money and not building up student debts of around 30k.

I'm sorry you're not getting the attention you want at home and that the only way you can feel things is to put others down. Maybe you should talk to someone about that.

What jobs hire these magically ‘highly knowledgeable and intelligent’ 16-year-olds?

But would a counselling and psychotherapy degree, even BACP-accredited, fall under the OP’s approved list of degrees?

Plus she would almost certainly interrupt the first session to ask how much her therapist earned, and to compare him/her unfavourably with her own magic 16 year olds.