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Original poster

What proof is a degree when you have life experience and other skills ?

78 replies

mummydear · 29/09/2006 11:32

Just a thought, I do not have a degree but sat a few exams in my last career, got promoted and did some fantstic courses that gave me other skills within my workplace.

Now that I am 40 and have worked since I was 18 and have 'life experince' and a good school education , if I want to go on and change my career , for example teacher training , I have to have a degree before I could start the teacher training. But the degree could bear no reemblence to primary school teaching .

Why is a degree so important when you may have done it 20 years ago ,and have many other skills.
Different if it is directly related to your job .

OP posts:
anniediv · 29/09/2006 11:35

My degree is a 'vocational' one (not teaching). But teaching would also be classed as a vocational degree. And not all degrees allow you to go into teaching via a post grad course (for example, mine!)

That all sounds clear as mud doesn't it??

Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 11:39

I used teaching as an example , what I am trying to say is why later on in life when you want to change direction do you need a degree when you may have nay other skills.

But on the point of teacher training what differnce would a 'vocational ' degree make to teacher training ?

OP posts:
anniediv · 29/09/2006 11:56

Primary age kids don't get taught many nursing skills, hence my degree is not applicable to doing a post grad teaching course!

Also there are many jobs where experience is more important than a degree. It just depends how you present them to prospective employers

SenoraPostrophe · 29/09/2006 11:59

the problem with life experience is that some people don't learn from it. degrees are assessed and therefore employers can assume with some certainty that the person has learned from their degree. It may be unfair, but it's true.

Pruni · 29/09/2006 12:00

Message withdrawn

jabberwocky · 29/09/2006 12:04

I've always been told that the main reason employers value a degree is because it shows you have had the commitment to stick to something for 4 years and stay with a program even though being in school can be a financial hardship of sorts for many people. There is, I guess, more of a sacrifice made, at least on the front end, by staying in school vs. going straight into the work force.

That said, you can always use experience in the field to your advantage in obtaining a position. I think where the lack of degree can hurt you most is in areas of promotion.

CarolinaMoon · 29/09/2006 12:04

I'd be a bit fecked off if my kids' teachers didn't have degrees.

A bit snobbish perhaps, but at least there's independent evidence of something between the ears.

otoh, there are lots of jobs that don't actually need that level of intellectual capability, they just ask for a degree to cut down the number of applicants, esp if the applicants are all too young to have much experience.

I'd hope it would be different if you're applying as a 40yo with plenty of work experience behind you.

cocopopshater · 29/09/2006 12:11

degree teaches you to take in a lot of information, sort out the relevant stuff from the chaff and present it to other people in an understandable form.

very relevant to most, well, graduate type jobs.

Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 18:57

I'm not sure about the graduate/degree thing.

I joined the Police Service 20 years ago and at that time they were encoraging graduates to join . Some of the graduates that joined didn't have an ounce of common sense between them not many of them have lasted 20 years .

Surely you don't have to have a degree to prove to someone you can take in information and sort relevant stuff out.I did internal promotion exams and worked under very stressful situations where I had to make decsions , sometimes life threatening on the spot . Surely if you can evidence your work history and other skills this is more relevant.

Although I have used teaching as an example, I,m not sure whether I would prefer a forty year old with life experinec and other skills and children of her own teaching my kids or a 22 yr old fresh out of University.

The only thing I regret about not doing a degree now is that I can't just do a teacher training course and change career path.

OP posts:
Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 19:07

Also why can't a vocational degree count towards teacher training , eg nursing as Anniediv is doing. There obvouisly nust be an elemnet of organisation of information into some relevant form there and still the exams at the end.

Surely a committment to stick to a creer for 20 years and acheieving promotion shows you have a committment rather than just 4 years at University.

I remeber seeing that medical programme too Pruni .

OP posts:
beckybrastraps · 29/09/2006 19:09

I believe a substantial part of your degree has to be in a National Curriculum subject.

tamum · 29/09/2006 19:12

Pruni, it's still going- it's here but I feel you've got enough on your plate at the moment

Smurfgirl · 29/09/2006 19:15

Its because a degree shows a minimum level of education. Anyone who wants to be a nurse, even if they have been a HCA for 20 years has to do the same 3 year course because it means everyone is educated to the same level and has learned the same stuff.

TBH I am sick of people assuming that if you are young and have a degree you are actually completely dense and have no common sense. Doing a degree does not suddenly sap all of your common sense out. I am sick of people assuming that 22+degree = airy fairy.

southeastastra · 29/09/2006 19:16

blimey i agree with the op! i can see why teachers etc need a degree, but the government doesn't help mature students at all or make anyone want to persue one.

CalifornifamousFanjo · 29/09/2006 19:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 19:26

Hang on there Smurfgirl , I am not assuming that 22yr old + Degree = airy fairy. Some of the ones I have met are and have no common sense and their degree was totally irrelevant to help them in the job we were doing.

The teachers in my sons school are all very young but are not airy fairy and do a bloody good job.

On the other side of the coin if we are to make assumptions why do people think that if you do not have a degree you do not have.

If a did have a degree then it would have been done 20 yrs ago plus, what does it prove 20 yrs later !

OP posts:
Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 19:28

Should say-

On the other side of the coin if we are to make assumptions why do people think that if you do not have a degree then you are not intelligent !

You see I do not have a degree and therefore can not string a sentence together

OP posts:
noonar · 29/09/2006 19:29

I did a pgce- postgrad teacher training, 10 years ago. we had to prove that a sustantial part of our degree was in a curriculum subject, before being given a place. seems fair enough to me! anyone not able to meet these criteria can alwys do a B ed, preceded by an access course, if necessary. surely no one would advocate that a one year course would be sufficient for a non graduate applicant??

Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 19:34

I used teaching as an example for this debate.

If I had a degree then it would have been done 20 yrs ago and no doubt I wouldn't remember much about it, so why would it be relevant 20 yrs later to enable me to change career when I fell that I have work experince etc etc.

Not out for a degree v non degree argument just interested in peoples thoughts.

OP posts:
Smurfgirl · 29/09/2006 19:35

But I don't think that MD I think life experience is good and I am sure you would sail ahead at uni! Having a degree does not make you intelligent, its just a level of education and at the end of it there has to be some minimum level for teachers.

Sorry I just hear a lot about how young grads are thick and have no idea or how we don';t care about uni blah blah blah its my problem, not something you said.

Although I have to say that my english degree did give me some really good skills that I absolutely did not have before. Even though my detailed knowledge of australian lit is not helpful my litracy skills etc are.

Both my parents graduated 30+ years ago and both still use their degrees. My mum less directly, but she is a teacher and would not have her job without it - but she does do a lot of science teaching where she works (in a primary school).

beckybrastraps · 29/09/2006 19:37

A degree isn't just about the stuff you learn. It's about the process of learning. I find that I learn stuff much more quickly now (doing another degree)than I did first time round. That's not to say that you can't learn those skills any other way.

noonar · 29/09/2006 19:38

i guess it is just a quick way to asses someone's ability to learn/ study/ commit/ apply themselves... you could also say that about o levels, gcses, a levels etc etc. prospective employers have to distinguish between apllicants some how. a degree is one example of such criteria, imo.

Original poster
mummydear · 29/09/2006 19:39

Yes a degree is a level of education but what about internal examinations in a chosen career.

To get promoted I had to study various aspects of law in a wriiten examination aswell as a prcatical examination.

Doesn't that show a level of education and committment ?

OP posts:
CarolinaMoon · 29/09/2006 19:40

I agree with Smurfgirl - you don't just do a degree for the facts you learn; it teaches you to think in a different, more rigorous way.

I'm not saying no-one can do that without a degree - some people pick that type of thing up from other people and general experience of life, but a lot don't.

CarolinaMoon · 29/09/2006 19:41

x-posted with beckybrastraps.