Mickey mouse degrees

[drumbeats]

I was pondering as one does and it occurred to me that what was once considered a solid degree might now actually be pretty useless. Abreast we're considered MM degrees actually have some merit.

Classics. Useless. Not as useful for politics or economics or anything much short of perhaps museum work as history or even archeology

English. Creative writing might be valuable if that is a chosen route. Pretty much everything else gained from an English degree is either purely fuelling an interest or can be gained doing a subject with more technical merit like economics or a science.

Geography. Weirdly thought of as a duffers subject. With climate change and population migration incredibly important subject.

Sociology. Incredibly useful. We live in a world with such changing social dynamics, conflicts, sensitivities. Disparity in wealth and the consequences. Political positions, social work, education, Human Resources.

Media studies. The power and influence of the media, social media and online information and misinformation is shaping minds. The manipulation of people's thinking and understanding through media is profound and potentially very dangerous.

You have a weirdly reductive view of education.

Mickey Mouse made love to every man and woman in America.

It may well be reductive, but my DD has done what has now turned out to be a MM degree- not one mentioned here- and is now facing the harsh job market. She is wishing she had done law or something more vocational. Hopefully, she can pivot.

PIVOT

I don’t think it’s that straight forward.

For example I wouldn’t be surprised if someone with an English degree went to law school or became a journalist as the skills learned ( like analysis of written text) would be useful.

I think for any degree your ability to study and understand information at a high level is a useful, transferable skill. I did geography and I teach, so the broad skills and understanding I use, but the world is a very different place now to how it was the end of the last century, I was never really going to need to know about trade patterns in East Central Europe or industrial relations across the EU.

Absolutely changed my life going though, I’m in a professional job earning reasonable money which none of the women in my family who went before me were able to do while raising children.

Eh? I'm confused. Are you saying you think Classics, English and Geography are Mickey Mouse degrees?

Not IME. It was History of Art and Land Economy.

I kind of agree with you OP! Classics is a really interesting subject and I confess that I did if at A level as a 'cruisy' option along with 2 sciences! I did enjoy it (along with a trip to Greece!!) but it was EASY and I got an A without revising much (as was more worried about my sciences). It's always useful in pub quizzes 😆!!

Years ago those more 'pure' traditional subjects were definitely deemed better than more vocational, more modern ones, although the more traditional subjects tended to require a masters or further training to lead to an actual vocation I found!

I think any degree from a good university is never useless in the job market.

If you studied classics at Oxford I’m pretty sure you would be seen as a great candidate in most grad schemes.

I don't think many people apply the subject they studied at university to their working life.

But doing a degree, in an academically rigorous subject shows employers that you have a good level of intelligence and intellectual ability. Also that you can probably write well, consider arguments, solve problems etc

A proper classics degree involves two languages, as well as history, archaeology, art, elements of anthropology and sociology, philosophy, linguistics, hardly Mickey mouse. Sure, classical civilisation is easier, but still gives useful analytical skills.

I think you’ve misunderstood the OP (understandably, because there are typos) — she’s not saying the degrees she lists are ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees, she’s saying she thinks they’re ‘useless’ and degrees traditionally considered ‘Mickey Mouse’ might be more useful than than previously thought.

I'm still confused. But working for a very large multi national which recruits a LOT of grads each year, we really don't mind. It's as @Hedgerow2 says, the skills you learn rather than the subject matter. Also time management, prioritising, leading clubs and societies and so on.

you know what, I absolutely have. I am a bit scattered today and skim read.

It's not entirely useless, as you say, but maybe the right question to ask is, how useful it is? (Given vast majority of classics student this year won't do it in Oxford)

There is an opportunity cost. If one is spending about 50k and three years to study classics, is there something else one could have done with the money and time, that is perhaps more useful?

I get it (and really feel it too) that higher education is not all about usefulness and money.

Yet, given how expensive higher education has become in U.K. and the dismal average job market outcome of many of the degrees OP mentioned (including classics), maybe usefulness of a degree is an important factor DC and parents should consider.

That said, calling them Mickey Mouse degrees doesn't make sense to me. They are hard academic degrees, challenging and interesting. Just not as useful anymore than maybe 40/50 years ago.

As @wonderstuff has said, a degree shows your commitment to three years of study; to unravel and understand concepts. For lots of youngsters they are also experiencing managing away from home for the first time which builds character.
Imagine if nobody bothered with Classics or Literature because they were on a race to the top of a profession (not that studying either is likely to harm job prospects) what a soulless world we’d live in. To have a degree is better than not having one. It used to be A levels that were the gold standard. Now employers expect you to be educated to degree level

Exactly x

I think calling them 'Mickey Mouse" degrees is a bit harsh, I see them more as hobby degrees. As PP's have stated, they do show an ability to study, investigate and work in a structured way, but it would make more sense to study a subject directly relevant to the modern workplace (unless you are aiming to teach the subject)

... get yours here 😃

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_University

What's become wrong with studying for intellectual stimulation and enjoyment? It's a sad state of affairs if everyone has to study business management. Having a classics degree has never held me back, sure, I imagine the institution helped, but I wouldn't have got in there with any other subject as I wasn't passionate about anything else.

I think a degree can open a lot of doors that probably would have remained shut. I know lots of people, friends etc that managed to get really decent and well paid jobs not in the field of their degree, but because they had a degree.
I think It shows that people are committed, disciplined & well educated, all of which are fantastic transferable skills which would look great to any potential employer.

Absolutely nothing wrong. It's just that now a days a degree costs lot more and the earning premium for a degree has steadily fallen with the rise in people going to university. For some degrees, there is barely any difference in job market outcome in the short to medium term. Many DC seems to be walking into these degrees without thinking through the costs and benefits.

Classics and English are not Mickey Mouse degrees. What planet are you on OP? 😳

My DD chose a degree for passion and intellectual stimulation despite my advice. She didn't predict a pandemic and recession. My DS, 4 years younger, learnt from her experience and has chosen a voctional degree with high earning potential. He says he will pursue his passion in his spare time.

The world would be a far poorer place if there were no classicists in it, but perhaps it, and a few other subjects (art history?) are really worth doing only by very good students on very good courses?