Is university overrated? Does having a degree guarantee you a career or not?

[Helena D'Orville 33237]

Do you (still) believe that having a degree will guarantee you a fulfilling career and a better salary? Or maybe you never believed in this, and you are one of these Richard Branson out there, who grew up in the most unusual and wild way that made you the adventurous and successful business person you are?

 

Here is an interesting article about this topic:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/12125399/My-family-is-proof-that-you-dont-need-a-degree-to-succeed.html?fb_ref=Default

 

As the economy is changing, so is the workplace, and the job market. What would be your strategies to keep your career going? What would be your resources if you wished to start a new career? Would you better be/stay an employee, or stay/become self-employed, or be the boss? What do/would you tell your children and grandchildren to make sure that they would do the right choices to become "successful"?

 

To sum up: when it is about getting an education and a career, is university overrated... or not?

 

[Ares25 120]

What a great topic!

 

I would say definitely yes, University education is overrated. Too many people in my life have gone through the typical program, for example Commerce, Economics, Psychology, Political Science, etc. Not only are they deeply in debt, but they're unable to find the high-paying jobs they were expecting when they completed their program. At the moment, they're actually worse off than those who didn't go into debt through expensive education.

[Tsukiyo_Chevalier 3242]

I think and having a university degree is not what it used to be. back 50 or so years it almost guaranteed a job but now it is all about the luck of finding and getting lucky with getting employment, and having a diploma can help but not like in the past.

Thank being said i do think that a university degree still has its place, when i went for my degree it was less about work and more for the sense of accomplishment even thou It might have been a burden money wise and not used for my job. it is still something i can look back on.

 

so to answer your question no I think a degree does not guarantee a career with the way the job market is, so i think it should be used for your own pursuit of knowledge, and as a accessory for you life's goals and not as a sure thing.

 

Have a great day all

 

TC

[Ice4fun 78407]

I don't think a University Degree ever guaranteed anyone a job... if you are an untrustworthy lazy bum then the degree would not change that.

 

I think what a formal education always did and still does today is get you in the door for the interview it reduced the chance that you would be screened out in the application process. What has changed over the years is that the number of people with formal education has increased dramatically due to the fact that access to education has greatly increased.

 

Forty years ago you generally only got a university education if you came from a financially advantaged family now with student loans and grants and generally much lower tuition rates (ie tuition rates as a % of family income) and the increased availability of scholarships a formal education is possible for many more people.

 

Overall I would still recommend a formal education to anyone regardless of their age.

[Guest st*****ens**ors]

Whether university is overrated and whether it guarantees a good job and salary are different questions. There is a lot of statistical evidence to suggest that university graduates enjoy, on average, a higher wage than non-graduates, but a degree isn't a guarantee, especially today.

 

However, that is assuming that the end goal of education is a wage bump. I work in a field entirely unrelated to my education, but I don't regret a moment of it. I learned lifelong habits of curiosity, engagement, research, critical evaluation of concepts and systematic reasoning that I'd like to think are still relevant to my life today.

 

That said, I know some very wise and clever people who never finished high school, and some utter clowns with PhD's

[roamingguy 300292]

It likely depends on the degree...a liberal arts degree probably now, (and just my opinion) means as much as a high school diploma did back when I went to university. (BTW I got liberal arts degree)

For those graduating with for lack of a better word, professional degrees, such as B.Eng, B.Comm, LL.B even M.D. etc the career options likely much brighter

But is a university degree the end all

I'm no expert, but some trades seem to have a career future. And there is no university. But education takes on different forms...and who is to say that a trades training education is lessor than a university education.

Anyhow a rambling from someone streamed into university and had no say from grade 9 on way back in the 1970's, and actually wished I could have had a career in a trades field

 

RG

[stand on guard 1186]

There is a great scene in the HBO show Silicon Valley where one of the character's rages against Universities and how they are a waste of money, leave students mired in debt, unprepared for real world etc. Many graduates today end up returning to school to attend a college in order to get practical or real world skills in order to compete in what has to be the most competitive job market ever. A specialized degree like medicine, computer sciences should almost always guarantee some form of employment, but a general or Liberal Arts degree will likely have little value. Universities that offer co-op degrees at least give students in such programs a leg up as they gain experience in their field and may get hired on by the firms they co-op with.

That said, if you do not have any degree, you are certainly setting yourself up for a difficult road ahead in seeking employment.

[cinelli 22184]

University now is very very different from university in the seventies.

 

They are run in a more business-oriented manner. Hence the useless but revenue generating degree courses in liberal arts. Anything to attract students and tuition. Tuition is more expensive than ever and textbooks, well, the textbook situation is highway robbery. Can't use last semester's text so you have to buy this new edition at $300, because it has a different picture on page 143. Yes stuff like that happens, just look at imgur to see universities ripping off students.

 

For employment? Depends on your program. Warm and fuzzy courses may not help much. Even STMP is no guarantee. I have two neices who are teachers, they do well but it is a lot of work. And both have continued their schooling and have Master's.

 

Nuclear medicine is where I would go. Probably extremely difficult, and impossible unless you have STMP skills par excellence. Good job prospects though and worth the effort.

[NotchJohnson 214123]

You do need a degree of university to become a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, and many more trades but do you need have a degree to become a secretary, a plumber an electrician, a house contractor, or a welder? The answer is no but it does help to obtain a higher paying job in those fields.

 

I know of some people that have obtained there diploma in some of those fields and are making less then the one who did not but learned the trade by following one who knew what he was doing.

 

Being your own boss and having employees working for you is very stressful and does have some perks but is it worth it. Having a good paying job with benefits is the way to go, work from 9-5 and have weekends off would be awesome but would I be happier, probably not.

[Guest *Ste***cque**]

Is university overrated? Nowadays, yes, unless you are entering a specialized field. If you take a generalized degree in philosophy, arts, political science and the like you will come out of that experience approx $50 000 to $80 000 in debt and a piece of paper of no real use to an employer. Most take jobs as waiters, bar servers, retail, sales, none of which require a university degree.

 

I would much rather hire an ambitious, hard worker without a degree than a university grad (likely with a sense of entitlement and inflated self worth). I can train a skill in someone (degree or no) but it's next to impossible to change a mindset that feels you owe them.

 

Universities used to be places where you were tested intellectually and learned to debate a range of topics and ideas, to test them though your own and shared analysis and critique. Now it's more about safe spaces, avoiding offence or uncomfortable topics or ideas and coddling.

 

In some cases you can learn critical thinking skills and build a network of friends but universities no longer are the breeding ground for uncomfortable debate and radical ideas they once were, sadly. I learned more starting and running a business than I would have getting a degree.

 

Universities need to be careful they don't become irrelevant.

[redskin44 3588]

Universities will never become irrelevant . There will always be careers that will demand higher forms of education . In a lot of these courses there are exercises in critical thinking , a skill people like to think they have but , not many do not .

 

Of my friends and family that gone the university route , very few have ended up working in a field that they had chosen to get an education in . The bulk of them made contacts throughout their years of university and have used those connections to find careers .

 

I , as a tradesman , we are allowed to go on employment insurance for our time at college . Rules have changed a little since my time , now you must pay and to collect ei you must have earned the appropiate amount of hours worked . I never think of the debt of school because as a native family fortunately my siblings were accepted by our home band to have thier educations paid for by Indian status .

 

Insurance ! You wanna study , take courses that will help you get into the insurance field . You need insurance for everything and more these days . If you are great at math ( and I mean GREAT at math ) become an actuary , these are the people that handle the money , make sure there enough to payout the claims , that they don't like to do .

[VedaSloan 119179]

Universities used to be places where you were tested intellectually and learned to debate a range of topics and ideas, to test them though your own and shared analysis and critique. Now it's more about safe spaces, avoiding offence or uncomfortable topics or ideas and coddling.

 

This is not even a remotely accurate statement.

[waterat 20911]

There are a myriad of things to learn, experience and enjoy at University and lots of unanticipated learning too.

 

The only loss I suffered in going to University was my virginity! Of course I'm not interested in getting it back.

[Redline 953]

I do not think universities are overrated or will be going away but think that they need to adapt more from the current focus of theoretical and research related activities into a blend of theory and practical with research as a secondary focus.

 

Knowing (as I work in admin at a university) that research is really what drives and in some cases funds university activities and allows for students that may be a hard change but in the long run would have more benefit for students.

 

Most employers now want people who are ready and able to work in their fields when hired and only want to train in the how our company does things not the full thing as was the case when I graduated when it was understood that the first 1-4 months would really be training on how to do the job period, with the how our company does it a secondary part of that.

 

Now I find college more beneficial as a starting point as it provides the practical primarily with a bit of theoretical and allows people to be work ready to a greater degree. In many cases many colleges are twinned with a university so if after you get the college diploma you can transfer to the university with a strong advanced standing to continue the education if desired and can be working at the same time.

[CasinoMing 1967]

What a great topic.

 

Mark Twain once wrote, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Indeed, education and schooling are two different things, but they do paths cross on occasion.

 

An engineer by trade, university was a requirement for me. But learning the four laws of thermodynamics did nothing for me when it came to changing a soiled diaper, or putting my daughter's hair in a bun for her ballet classes, or making homemade soup.

 

My daughter just started on her post-secondary education adventure. We had long discussions on whether university or college or a vocational institution was "best" for her. Academically strong, my daughter also has a passion for the arts (ballet, piano, drawing). In the end, she decided on college - which I supported wholeheartedly. She's following a passion in a field that requires strong math and science, while encourages imagination and artistic values. I on the other hand, stuck with something I was good at, not necessarily what I had a passion for.

 

Our society is made up of many individuals with different tastes, different strengths, different comfort zones. Risk takers often do best running their own business, whereas those who need structure tend to do better in a "9 to 5" type of job. In the end, most of us find our comfort zone... and formal schooling and "school of life" are pieces of the puzzle to finding that happy place.

 

A university education may not guarantee you a job/career at the end. But the continuous education from the "school of life" will help prepare you for most situations as we continue our journeys on this planet...

 

CM

[TashaTush 766]

Most employers now want people who are ready and able to work in their fields when hired and only want to train in the how our company does things not the full thing as was the case when I graduated when it was understood that the first 1-4 months would really be training on how to do the job period, with the how our company does it a secondary part of that.

 

I feel like this is the real "problem". University is overrated in the sense that there are so many people applying for jobs that they are not qualified for, because it is easy on the internet. Employers adapt by asking for unnecessary qualifications like a University degree and experience in x y and z as a way cut down on the number of applicants regardless of whether or not those are actual requirements for the job. It is gross that students are expected to bear the debt of unspecific training via education when the grunt of that expense used to be carried by the employer.

 

When I first went to school, I thought it was to get a job and have a career, so I went to a college. But then I realized that is gross, I love school, I want to learn for the sake of learning, not to profit a big corporate employer like I was being trained to do, so I went to a university to study in the same field. I came out the other end much more skilled and with more of a narrow focus than when I started, but not in a way that is meant to be appealing to employers. I also came out a lot more socially conscious, open minded and politically engaged.

 

Universities do provide great networking opportunities and support for starting out in a career, but it's up to the student to take them. Too many students start their education believing the piece of paper is the outcome, and forget to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them outside the curriculum. University also isn't for everyone, I am all for pushing people to take on a trade if that's more suited to their personality and desired lifestyle. I have family members who are tradesmen and make more money than I ever will, though I do worry about the toll it will take on their bodies and the physical danger they are exposed to in their work.

 

In all, I think universities are "overrated" in the sense that people have unrealistic expectations in terms of what the result of that kind of education should be, and I think many high school graduates are being guided in the wrong direction in the name of profit for institutions, and there are many alternatives that are far more suitable for different individuals. But a university education definitely still has a great deal of value.

[Guest *Ste***cque**]

This is not even a remotely accurate statement.

 

I disagree! In fact, there was a time universities were places you could be tested intellectually and learn to debate on a wide range of uncomfortable topics and ideas. :) I'm trying to be humorous.

[1963Kennedy 10698]

Algonquin College in Ottawa gets a large number of university graduates every year who come to learn something useful that gets them a job.

[Ice4fun 78407]

Algonquin College in Ottawa gets a large number of university graduates every year who come to learn something useful that gets them a job.

 

Or I guess it would be true to say that Canadian Universities get huge numbers of people College graduates who come to learn something that get them a career...

 

I don't think this is or or be about one form OT education or training being better than another there are individuals in no formal education that succeed in amazing ways and different education and training are best for different careers. Learning either through form education at a University or college or trade apprenticeship programs or other more unique individual learning strategies is what allows you to develop and succeed. Is a for education right or needed by everyone no.... can a formal university education be instrumental in moving your career along yes...... lol but so could being at the right place at the right time.

 

Just my Opinion

[fortunateone 156618]

Algonquin College in Ottawa gets a large number of university graduates every year who come to learn something useful that gets them a job.

 

 

I don't think this is unusual. We have 2 yr program colleges that are far more intensive study and practicum in for example music, that UBC music grads would come to after their 4 years at university.

 

i don't think one is better than another or better than not doing any formal education at all. It usually depends on what someone wants to get out of it and to do later. Sometimes it is about gaining some maturity, and being self directed to finish projects, papers, write exams. It can be about teaching self discipline. Expanding exposure to things (required reading is required for a reason lol)

 

Technical or business college degrees might end up being more useful or transfer into work faster, due to some have closer ties with the local businesses. I have had some jobs where i would not ever have been hired without my diploma because it is a requirement in the job hiring description, along with other professional accreditations which i had to pursue on my own time.

 

If i had wanted to be a poet, or writer of literature, or classical musician, i would have attended universtity, i do not think that higher education would be wasted for those who pursue those arts. i think those are the things that help train artists, & give them the skills to enable them to express themselves. You can have talent, but you rarely communicate it without technique, and technique is learned.