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?

TBH, I'm surprised it's not frozen, but it is what it is, thanks.

Why?
If it was frozen then lower earners would be penalised.

why Would it be frozen - all the child benefit issues are because a decision was made on a threshold 12 years ago and not looked at since.

the starting salary when I started as a graduation 22 years ago is 10k less than it would be now.

looking at it the threshold seems to be in line with the average graduate salary which is what it should be

You didn't learn very much in the uni if that's what you think.

I have a doctorate in philosophy and I've never been unemployed. I've worked internationally for different governments and departments for 15 years because guess what, the whole point of philosophy or arts in general is to teach: a) creative thinking skills, b) understanding of unexpected or underlying connections, c) context and correlation of historical and social developments, and d) policy analysis.

University degrees are not like vocational training where you study to became a carpenter or nurse and that's the only slot you'll fit (although also a carpenter and a nurse could have very varied career paths). The point of a uni degree is to teach solid research & analysis skills and wider understanding of the society.

Sorry but your opinion about BS degrees is utter BS. Just shows how narrow your own experience on this is.

Why?
Why has the government frozen tax thresholds, IHT and the retial price threshold of cars where people buying cars lnew and up to 5 years old are paying loads more road tax

Does that answer the the question. Its not an offence to ask a question

Why?
Why has the government frozen tax thresholds, IHT and the retial price threshold of cars where people buying cars lnew and up to 5 years old are paying loads more road tax

Does that answer the the question. Its not an offence to ask a question

You're very defensive.... I was only asking 🤷🏼‍♀️

Jeez.... you're very difficult!

Really, you were "asking" and I told you the reason I asked.
Anyways, have a good weekend, whats left of it.

Really, you were "asking" and I told you the reason I asked.
Anyways, have a good weekend, whats left of it.

I was just asking .... no need for the speech marks. There's no ulterior motive.

Let me guess @DistinguishedSocialCommentator you don't come from a family that values education, you come from a family where it doesn't matter how deeply unhappy and anxious you are, as long as you're a lawyer/doctor/accountant?

Friend of mine is a tattoo artist... makes 3x what I do, and I've just dropped 70k cash on a car without breaking a sweat having got bored of the one I bought a year ago... so I'd guess she could quite easily be paying back student finance!

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator "The choice is yours."

The only sensible comment you have made all thread. Yes, the choice is entirely up to the individual and it includes those degrees that you are so scathing of!

I always say, do a first degree in something you're interested in (as you're doing it for 3 years) and then a masters in something for a career (as it's just another year).

Why has the government not frozen child benefit or the national minimum wage?

The answer is that the government considers how raising or not raising various thresholds will influence and affect the behaviour of its citizens (a degree where you have studied economic sociology will be perfect for carrying out this kind of study btw), and whether the revenue gained or lost will be worth the change in citizens' behaviour and it then introduces policies accordingly. The current government clearly thinks that freezing the threshold for student loan repayments will have more negatives than positives.

It's like many other degrees, some are more useful than others. However I think that it matters more where you go, if you go to a crap institution you get a crap degree - and employers know which universities are not worth attending.

My personal view is that there are too many useless universities making money out of poor quality degrees, whatever the subject.
It's easy enough to look up which insitutions have the best employment results, but not so easy to tell if the jobs are in the field for which you studies - think Drama and waitressing.

My personal view is that there are too many useless universities making money out of poor quality degrees, whatever the subject.

Your personal view is incorrect in afraid. Universities are not making money at the moment - we're skint. All of us.
Mass redundancies, courses closing .... it's not a pretty picture.

It's easy enough to look up which insitutions have the best employment results, but not so easy to tell if the jobs are in the field for which you studies - think Drama and waitressing.

Again, not true. This data exists and is publicly available.

HRTFT but what's ironic is that you've complained about people not believing the Royal Family. Do you know what field of study helps people to not fall for conspiracy theories about people being dead? What field of study helps educate people so that they can identify sources of propaganda or fake news? Media studies.

I genuinely believe that a bit more 'media studies' would have helped avoid the 2016 Brexit and Trump votes.

I also used to work in a university and I stick by my view. Too many universities of dubious quality offering degrees of dubious qualitiy, it would be better to have fewer universities offering better degrees for students of a high standard. If unsuccessful courses are closing that may not be a bad thing.
However I think there should be alternative qualifications that are vocational and need not be studied for three years.
Many universities do have information that their students are employed, but since so many students come from overseas now they don't have realistic data about where they are working. Also many graduates simply don't provide any information about their employment.

@angela1952 how long ago did you work at a university?
The current situation is dire.
Excellent academics are losing their jobs in not insignificant numbers.
when you say 'too many universities of dubious quality' what exactly do you mean?

Many universities do have information that their students are employed, but since so many students come from overseas now they don't have realistic data about where they are working. Also many graduates simply don't provide any information about their employment.

ALL universities have data on the Graduate Outcomes of students and this is detailed information. Universities report on the overall employment figure and those employed in professional (graduate) level jobs and prospects luminate provide extensive data and reports which are broken down into subject area.
University careers services also collect their own data on courses/subject areas in order to tailor their service.
while Graduate Outcomes doesn't report on international students (yet) universities do still have a pretty good idea as to what their graduates are doing....international or not.

My friend did a politics degree and just retired in her early 50s having been a director of education for many years.

A lot of degree courses at certain universities really are not worth going into tens of thousands of debt for. In all likelihood they're not going to lead to genuine graduate jobs earning decent money with good career prospects. These students might be slightly richer by the experience of university, but it comes as far too higher a financial price.

I think it only a good thing that some universities are having to cancel courses because they're really just lost leaders with little worth. Far better for universities to offer fewer quality degrees than are universally respected and valued. But universities should instead offer a much wider range of one and two year apprenticeship style courses to encourage the non academic into industry.

I think it only a good thing that some universities are having to cancel courses because they're really just lost leaders with little worth.

Why don't you head over to the Academic Common Room board and say this. I'm sure all the academics who are losing their livelihoods will be really comforted by this comment.

Which subjects do you think have 'little worth'?

Far better for universities to offer fewer quality degrees than are universally respected and valued.
The UK HE system is universally respected and valued.

But universities should instead offer a much wider range of one and two year apprenticeship style courses to encourage the non academic into industry.

Should they? Universities are by their very nature are 'academic'. That is important. I agree that he UK needs a much stronger vocational offering but I don't think it is a university's job to be all things to all people.
Many universities do offer apprenticeships but they often have very high entry requirements and are at degree or postgraduate degree level.

This is demonstrably untrue as, as already been pointed out, there are many companies, for example IT companies, that require people to have 'a university degree at 2.1' for graduate jobs or just 'a university degree with work experience' for non graduate roles. They don't care what it's in or where it's from, outside of technical roles where you do need (any old) Computer Science/Engineering degree.

Oh and don't assume that is only 'low' quality courses that are being cancelled. It is not as simple as that.
It is often the courses that are most expensive to run. Courses that involve placements and high levels of practical assessments are most at risk at my institution becuase they require more staff and often more equipment.

More institutions used to offer courses with a year's work placement. I've not worked for eight years but have the impression that there are fewer now. I'm also not sure what the situation is with student loans as courses might be four years rather than three.
Our undergraduate and masters degrees did not include a year working so I had no direct experience at work, but sadly the experiences of friends and relatives children were not universally good, some were enriching but others involved only mundane office work.
Appreticeships would not normally involve universities (though some more vocational courses do) but I agree with you that it would be great if more employers got involved with apprenticeships in general.
Many FE colleges have scrapped their courses for students on building apprenticeships of various kinds so in some areas young people can no longer do a day release type course.

It's unethical to keep open unpopular, or inadequate degree courses just to keep academics in a job. Large sections of the UK HE system are universally respected, but it's disingenuous to believe that a degree obtained from the ex polytechnic of Huddersfield carries the same kudos as a degree from LSE.