would you like fries with that degree?

[vetran]

Graduates fill 20% of low-skilled jobs as university boom leaves huge numbers over-qualified | Mail Online

Graduates fill 20% of low-skilled jobs as university boom leaves huge numbers over-qualified
Report says high-skilled jobs have not kept pace with qualified workers
School leavers would be better prepared through vocational study, it says
By 2022, just over a third of jobs will require candidates with uni degrees

[original PM]

that is because a degree in Intepretive Peruvian Dance is actual worth less than the paper it is written on.

in addition to that why is spending 3 years copying someone else's work of any value?

[vwdan]

They say over qualified - I say delusions of grandeur. I'm not anti degrees or graduates, but I find their approach to the workplace somewhat lacking at times.

[doodab]

Historically, university was never preparation for work anyway, it was a way for the idle rich to fill their time before inheriting. The increase in people with degrees is simply due to the increased wealth of the less well off segments of society due to capitalism. This is why you don't see people with media studies degrees in North Korea.

[Gittins Gal]

Hmmm... interesting.

When I went to uni in the late 80s I was under the impression that my 3 years study would be a passport to a world of opportunity.

My hopes were dashed when I graduated just in time for the early 90s recession.

My question is, do young people still go to uni under this naive misapprehension? I'm guessing yes, otherwise why would one go and get in hock up to the eyeballs for a career flipping burgers.

[doodab]

My question is, do young people still go to uni under this naive misapprehension?

Education is now an industry. Like any other industry it's allowed to shift product based on false promises and unrealistic claims, and as we all know we live in a land of opportunity where anyone can be the next Alan Sugar so if you don't make it to the top it must be your own fault.

[d000hg]

that is because a degree in Intepretive Peruvian Dance is actual worth less than the paper it is written on.

What about English, History and other traditional but "useless" degrees? Relatively few degrees directly feed into specific careers - Engineering, CompSci and some science degrees are obvious exceptions but even then, a degree in Chemistry is not really enough to get a good Chemistry career, you need at least a masters if not a PhD.

[MicrosoftBob]

Dman I was just considering a degree in hang gliding

[doodab]

What about English, History and other traditional but "useless" degrees? Relatively few degrees directly feed into specific careers - Engineering, CompSci and some science degrees are obvious exceptions but even then, a degree in Chemistry is not really enough to get a good Chemistry career, you need at least a masters if not a PhD.

It's necessary to embark on one though, and it's much the same with Mathematics, Physics or any other hard science. The problem is with the expectation that degree courses turn out fully formed worker bees IMO. They never did that.

[vetran]

one of the first things some agents ask having read my CV. Do you have a degree, this employer wants one?

Obviously they haven't got one because there clearly isn't one on the CV.


Its a ticket into the better jobs nowadays, we have plenty of interns and graduate recruits on board. Even most of the infrastructure support guys have a degree.

My kids will be pushed to have a relevant and sensible degree with suitable achievements to recommend them to employers.