Is a university degree necessary to get a good job?

[Monica]

Is a university degree necessary to get a good job?

Discuss the range of roles and salaries available, as well as what defines a 'good job'.

 

[Nebulous]

Is a university degree necessary to get a good job?

Discuss the range of roles and salaries available, as well as what defines a 'good job'.

It certainly helps but no it isn't necessary. Someone in my family was a construction worker, eventually owned his own company was very well off. Never went to college.

 

[Sariki]

Is a university degree necessary to get a good job?

Discuss the range of roles and salaries available, as well as what defines a 'good job'.

I don’t think it is.

In the world of programming and cyber security it certainly isn’t as long as you can prove relatable experience and do well on the interview it truthfully doesn’t matter imo.

I do think it matters for obvious ones though: Doctor Nurse etc.

 

[Ravenfreak]

It's not necessary, I work in a factory and make pretty decent money. Though of course factory work isn't for everyone. It does matter if you're wanting to do specific things like working in the medical field of course.

 

[Nebulous]

I never went to college and I own a house, car, etc... Living the american dream. Lol

 

[Malevolent]

Absolutely not.
I know plenty of successful folks working in a trade.
Similarly, I know many people with no degree running successful businesses.
Furthermore, lots of people happen to meet a strong connection or two and get an amazing job opportunity anyways.

Having a successful career is all a matter of perspective, circumstance, and motivation.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

It shouldn't be necessary. And in some fields it isn't necessary. Unfortunately in an increasing portion of our societies we are finding that it is being used as a gatekeeping measure. The attainment of a degree is being used to maintain social hierarchy which is why we are seeing things like degree inflation.

 

[Smiley]

Unfortunately in an increasing portion of our societies we are finding that it is being used as a gatekeeping measure. The attainment of a degree is being used to maintain social hierarchy which is why we are seeing things like degree inflation.

This is 100% correct. Basically, a person with a university degree can be a total idiot with no working knowledge of their job and / or the world around them, and still make more money than their peers who are "only" high school graduates, but are smarter and more capable than the university graduate.

This is how government agencies in my country function. You can be a genius and unmatched in your work, but that doesn't matter, it's completely irrelevant when it comes to salary. A complete idiot with a college / university degree who can barely, say, staple two papers together, will always have higher income than a genius with a high school degree. And when such people get promoted, get more responsibilities, the disaster is guaranteed. No wonder the society is in the state of decay.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

This is 100% correct. Basically, a person with a university degree can be a total idiot with no working knowledge of their job and / or the world around them, and still make more money than their peers who are "only" high school graduates, but are smarter and more capable than the university graduate.

This is how government agencies in my country function. You can be a genius and unmatched in your work, but that doesn't matter, it's completely irrelevant when it comes to salary. A complete idiot with a college / university degree who can barely, say, staple two papers together, will always have higher income than a genius with a high school degree. And when such people get promoted, get more responsibilities, the disaster is guaranteed. No wonder the society is in the state of decay.

To be honest, I hadn't realized that your stance was the complementary strand to the view that I presented in my post. After I read your post I ended up reading a BBC article on it and I totally agree with what you are saying. I had initially been focusing more on how it plays a limiting role for members of certain social groups advancing their lot in life.

This focus on degrees creates exclusionary conditions, the “worst-case scenario” of which, says Ray Bachan, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton’s Business School, “is a lack of intergenerational mobility. It all has social connotations”. Less affluent parents are less likely to have children who go to college, he explains. And when those children struggle to find jobs, the result is a generation failing to be more successful than the one before it.

The element you honed in on, is definitely an essential part of the process. The same article highlighted how

In other words, the people currently doing the work don’t have degrees, but as they retire or leave their positions, their replacements will be expected to. This creates a system where companies struggle to fill jobs and incur unnecessary costs, all the while leaving experienced, willing workers out in the cold.

Which is a shame, as I do genuinely believe the higher education can be a real source for good in the world. But it depends on what is driving its decisions. A profit motive is definitely not the way to go.

'Degree inflation': How the four-year degree became required

How did a four-year degree become compulsory for nearly every job – and could the need to reboot the economy help tackle this problem?

www.bbc.com

 

[Smiley]

Well, I don't know about other countries, but here, universities don't teach you anything useful, anything practical.

Take IT field, for example. Universities just cram your head with tons of theoretical knowledge about computers and computer accessories. I won't go into details now, since there's no point, but suffice to say, a technician with only a high school degree tends to know more about computers than a college gradute. A technician will take a computer apart, put it back together, install all necessary software, create and fill your Excel spreadsheet, while the college graduate will only fill the spreadsheet someone else prepared for them.

Of course, when it comes to income, the lower ranking technician will always have an equally lower salary, despite doing everything the college graduate does and a lot more, things that require plenty of knowledge and experience way beyond the position that requires college degree.

The whole system is set up upside down. It rewards idiots and punishes brainiacs, just because they don't have a piece of paper that says they've spent a portion of their lives filling their heads with useless informations.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

I think there was a misunderstanding with my last reply. As I am not advocating for university qualifications being used as a gatekeeping measure.

 

[Smiley]

I know. I'm just saying that what you said is true, at least in my country. I suspect elsewhere is no different.

 

[Webster]

No shame in forgoing college and learning a trade....

A Time for Trade Schools

Of the 55 million job openings created by 2020, about 30 percent will require some college or a two-year associate degree.

www.dailysignal.com

 

[Reddington]

Unfortunately yes, but it shouldn't be. Plenty of people, myself included, have skills that a degree could never provide.

 

[Mini Maul]

If you really know what you want to do when your around 16 then I guess it helps.
For me personally I wont really use my degree now.
I think its very hard to funnel your schooling into an area at 16 years old (This is for the UK as you choose A Levels at this point which is quite a big factor on if you go to Uni. You could say you have to have an idea of what you want to do before that when you take the GCSE's before that. More doors seen to shut through schooling then open in my opinion. Yes do something that your good at and enjoy but that is quite a broad and naive way to look at what you want you can do with your qualifications.

 

[passenger]

More doors seen to shut through schooling then open in my opinion.

Seems silly, but:
Yes, there are times when the "over-qualified" reason for not hiring gets in the way.

 

[DrLeftover]

Having the paper that says you did the 'classwork' to get a BA or BS or whatever may open a door and get you an interview, and maybe even the position.

But if you're basically an idiot, you won't have the job long.

Conversely, if you come in the 'back door' to a place and prove you're competent, even without the paper, there are places where you can work your way up and end up with a 'good job', it just may take a bit longer.

I have seen both in play, and watched an MBA 'walked out' of a place from a manager's position because she was basically a nincompoop with a degree and a push-up bra.

And a guy that started on the service desk answering calls is now one of the 'bosses' in the same place, and he only earned his degree after working there awhile and the job paid for him to go to school to get the formal training, AFTER he'd been doing the job for about ten years.

 

[Vaeve]

All you need is a crazy brain and suicidal tendencies to start gambling. PM me if you want to get into this absolutely beautiful way of life