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Original poster

Which degrees do you think will disappear with the fee increase?

59 replies

stillenacht · 29/01/2011 17:37

or even which unis...part of me thinks there are too many pointless degrees being taken at the moment and maybe this will prioritise those that are truly 'valuable' (but what quanitifies 'vaulable' anyway?)

OP posts:
KatyMac · 29/01/2011 17:39

Well childcare will be in trouble

By 2015 all Early Years settings need a degree qualified member of staff

Round here they get between £15 & £20K

I wouldn't take on that much debt for that wage

PigTail · 29/01/2011 17:43

So no more meida studdies degrees.....back to the old days of not what you know but who you know.

KatyMac...with foundation degrees count as a "qualified member of staff"?

If not, I can't see that happening TBH.

noddyholder · 29/01/2011 17:44

I don't think the only point of a degree is the academic qualification tbh .Apart from medicine and engineering etc many don't have a set 'career' at the end but I think a lot of it is about producing individuals who are educated to that level.So although some are seen as 'pointless' they often produce an individual who can plan,gather info,produce reports/presentations etc at a good standard.

PigTail · 29/01/2011 17:51

Yes, at a good standard, and know the difference between am and pm. Hmm

moondog · 29/01/2011 17:52

OOh, most of them.
Hopefully.

purepurple · 29/01/2011 17:52

Surely a degree is still valuable to the people studying for it?
I am about to do a degree in Early Childhood. Is that pointless?
It might not be a traditional subject but it is still relevant to me and what I do. I will still have to work bloody hard for it, including a 10,000 word dissertation.
The government has said it is committed to continuing to have a better qualified early years workforce, although they don't intend to go ahead with the plan to have an EYP in every setting by 2015.

mrz · 29/01/2011 17:54

PigTail a Foundation degree doesn't count unless topped up to full Honours Degree but the government have announced they will still be investing in EYP training

KatyMac · 29/01/2011 17:54

It's not pointless however at £27K minimum cost it's probably to be considered a luxury in the future

moondog · 29/01/2011 17:58

Pure
In a word-yes.

purepurple · 29/01/2011 17:59

moondog, why?

Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 17:59

Early Childhood degree - well, if you want to go into that area of work thats fine but how flexible is it if you want to branch out into older years... Is the skill set not a little inflexible/limited (realise I may get flammed for this - i don't mean to be rude). However, I can't really comment and think I may be being a little presuming as I don't know much about Early Years Education (only the developmental psychology unit I did in the second year of my degree).

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Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 18:00

moondog- you are a braver woman than I!

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purepurple · 29/01/2011 18:04

I am already in that line of work. I am doing the degree for me, because I enjoy studying, not so that I can branch out into another line of work.

senua · 29/01/2011 18:07

"Round here they get between £15 & £20K. I wouldn't take on that much debt for that wage"

Yes you would, because at that wage you would not get to the 'pay it back' threshold.

So degrees might encourage wages at either end of the spectrum - either so low that you never pay back or so high that you will manage to pay back before you have to start worrying about your pension.

PenguinArmy · 29/01/2011 18:07

all degrees are inflexible/limited

It's about the transferable skills not the inherent knowledge

(and I have a physics degree and PhD so am not just defending my 'worthless degree')

Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 18:10

I am in education and have my degree but the thought of doing an MA in education would bore the pants off me (an MA in my subject , music, wouldn't though!) and not really enhance my job prospects either (unless I wanted to be a deputy - noooo thank you!) so you Pure are a braver woman than me too!

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Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 18:11

I disagree that all degrees are inflexible - some have great transferable skills - others, less so, surely?

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coastgirl · 29/01/2011 18:14

stillenacht, I did 1/3 of an education MA and it's the most mind-numbing thing I've ever done. The seminars and reading were good and pretty interesting but the academic work was of a low standard, IMO, and we waited months for marked work to be returned. Luckily it was free for me (subsidised by school and the TDA - now abolished, of course) as if I'd have paid full whack for it I would have been feeling quite ripped off.

Now a literature MA I would happily pay full price for; but I would regard it as purely a luxury hobby, not vocational.

Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 18:15

Coastgirl - I quite agree- wouldn't it all be educational theory and one psychologists ideas being pitted against anothers???zzzzzz

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southeastastra · 29/01/2011 18:16

i'm doing a foundation degree, couldn't really give a stuff what people on here who don't know me think of it.

mrz · 29/01/2011 18:17

I did my MA in Education because I enjoy study and research it won't further my career but I still think it's important.

Miggsie · 29/01/2011 18:17

My degree is in medieval literature, not a very useful thing for life, other than it left me with a lifelong love of manuscripts and I've spent many many hours reading these fabulous texts BUT in job terms what the degree gave me was the ability to read a lot of stuff, examine the material, analyse it, reach conclusions, then write it down concisely in a logical way. This is why I now run a department that involves writing and planning large and complex projects, because my degree taught me those skills. OK, it also taught me medieval French which is less in demand in the office, so I really hope those sorts of "looks useless but actually massively transferable skills included" degrees survive.

I want the ones that produce someone who can't string 4 words together in a grammatically correct sentence abolished, I really do. It wastes my time interviewing people with a degree but turn out to be inarticulate and have no analytical skills.

purepurple · 29/01/2011 18:18

I would love to do an MA Grin I am such a geek, I even got a bookcase and reading chair for Christmas for my very own -space- -under- -the- -stairs- library from DH

Original poster
stillenacht · 29/01/2011 18:20

Wow - medieval literature - now that I have respect for - history and literature - both things I am clueless about Smile IMO that is a fab degree choice for the very reasons you have pointed out.

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Scaredofmycomputertoday · 29/01/2011 18:23

Of course it isn't pointless! What a ridiculous thing to say, it's all relative. It is not pointless to purepurple because of her personal circumstances. Any degree chosen to enhance YOUR personal occupation cannot possibly pointless. Even if you choose to do something like "Bar Studies" (this may or may not be possible but have heard it is), if you are working in a bar then it is NOT going to be pointless is it?