Worth of a University Degree? (1 Viewer)

[lolcakes52]

Employers don't keep employing until they run out of new graduates to employ, they employ as many as they need. Once they hit this mark, and the ratio of people in X job to the total population is stable the worth of employees wont be "lost" but will return to a value which more accurately reflects their importance. There will still be an equilibrium of workers being displaced even once this level of so called saturation (I don't like the term in this respect) is reached as people will be leaving and entering an industry all the time. I don't think University degrees while become useless or worthless, they will just reach a more exact value representing there wealth.

 

[FreeLearner]

Key evidence i'd say to this argument, is the global trend of youth unemployment, which is affecting mostly Universitygraduates, since labourers/tradesman can actually find jobs better when they are young. So it is quite true degrees have lost value, but at the same time, they are like the norm, you pretty much need one if you are to compete with the massive market of job seekers.

 

[Graney]

In saying that though, I think that too many people are going to uni and the standards for entry are way too lax. Most degrees are extremely difficult and the standards of entry are disproportional to this. Take a business degree for example, you can get in with an ATAR of around 50 or 60 - in the vast majority of cases, people with an ATAR this low arent cut out for such a degree.

Why do the standards of entry matter, as long as academic standards within the course are maintained?

Lower entry standards = More opportunity for upward mobility for people who fucked up their HSC, not screwed by a single test
= More funding, even if they drop out, failing students subsidise the places of successful students in the degree, make the course better with more money

Raising the standards of entry simply blocks that 1 in 20 student who got a bad ATAR, but has the capability to succeed, if only they could get a chance. Why not give that student a chance?

 

[Graney]

Key evidence i'd say to this argument, is the global trend of youth unemployment, which is affecting mostly Universitygraduates, since labourers/tradesman can actually find jobs better when they are young. So it is quite true degrees have lost value, but at the same time, they are like the norm, you pretty much need one if you are to compete with the massive market of job seekers.

unemployment is about the same for bachelors holders/ tradesmen, both still much, much lower than for those with no degree (there are obviously other factors in this correlation).

Finding an apprenticeship is exceptionally difficult, and young tradesmen typically earn less than minimum wage.

 

[Spiritual Being]

unemployment is about the same for bachelors holders/ tradesmen, both still much, much lower than for those with no degree (there are obviously other factors in this correlation).

Finding an apprenticeship is exceptionally difficult, and young tradesmen typically earn less than minimum wage.

There's this guy I know that makes $300 a week working full time (5am-5pm) mon-fri It took him a year to get that apprenticeship.

 

[Azure]

This - yes a uni degree is losing its worth, but that doesnt make it worthless. The vast majority of high paying careers requiry some sort of uni qualification. So really, whilst it isnt as valuable as it was say 20 or 30 years ago, a uni degree is still for the most part a necessity for entry into many fields.

ATAR doesn't necessarily correlate to ability in the course. You could excel in a degree, because it's what your interested in; while your HSC subjects just don't fit your skillset. I know people going from 50 UAI to HDs at uni, and 99ers to Passers.

In the USA you pretty much need a bachelors degree to be a receptionist - it's not necessary for the role, but if most of your applicants have bachelors degrees (they have very little chance of getting a decent job in their field), it drives out unskilled workers and bachelor becomes the standard.

Entry level graduate jobs are asking for 'years of relevant experience'. You'll need postgrad qualifications as a minimum to get a basic grad role in the future.

All on the money, especially the comment by Graney regarding postgraduate qualifications.

 

[cha737may]

Yeah Australia is the best for a good and worthy degree farther i want to go for my bar at law, Is not it good??

 

[Chronost]

Yeah Australia is the best for a good and worthy degree farther i want to go for my bar at law, Is not it good??

Before law, I suggest you improve your English skills....It'll help, trust me.

 

[Trebla]

For white collar jobs, most of the material you learn at uni is almost irrelevant to whatever job you get (with a few exceptions). The key things you're supposed to gain from studying at uni which employers target are highly refined soft skills. Employers at careers fairs often say that the main reason they target uni students (even when the type of degree a student has is completely irrelevant) is because someone who has done well at uni has adapted to a challenging environment which requires fast learning and well developed skills in communication, teamwork and leadership.

The fast learning bit is probably where most of the value is, because picking up complex concepts from a lecture and then being able to confidently answer questions based on these concepts in such a short space of time is quite a mentally demanding thing for the average person. I mean, the pace at which you are expected to pick up things at uni is much faster than the pace at which you learn the HSC.

 

[Newbie]

the worth of the degree is dropping but hey what can you do, thats life.
What will impact people now is how the job market reacts - employers are getting more candidates to choose from so naturally they will just pick the ones out of the best uni's (Sorry UWS people, badluck)

an example of where this is happening/happened is south korea where a sht load of high school kids go to university (with big hopes and dreams of landing that sweet grad job), only to come out and realise the job market is not able to provide enough jobs for everyone. Employers for the major companies in korea only hire out of the top 3 universities (out of like 50 other ones). Factor in the psychology of those grads who think they are too good to do shtty jobs like 7/11 or being a waiter and you are left with the highest youth employment rate in the OECD.

 

[OzKo]

the worth of the degree is dropping but hey what can you do, thats life.
What will impact people now is how the job market reacts - employers are getting more candidates to choose from so naturally they will just pick the ones out of the best uni's (Sorry UWS people, badluck)

an example of where this is happening/happened is south korea where a sht load of high school kids go to university (with big hopes and dreams of landing that sweet grad job), only to come out and realise the job market is not able to provide enough jobs for everyone. Employers for the major companies in korea only hire out of the top 3 universities (out of like 50 other ones). Factor in the psychology of those grads who think they are too good to do shtty jobs like 7/11 or being a waiter and you are left with the highest youth employment rate in the OECD.

Employment in South Korea is quite something. With students pining to work at one of the chaebols (e.g. Samsung, Hyundai etc.) and such corporations obviously being limited by capacity, you're right to point out that the dynamics are really slanted. For example, women tend to be locked out of the labour market after they have their first child and as a result, Western firms are taking advantage of the inherent cultural characteristics of Korean society.

I suppose my point is that at face value, it's getting more challenging for graduates but opportunities will pop up, in time.

 

[cha737may]

The worth of degree is not actually dropping. It's just how you take care of your studies and how you will deal with it when you graduate. The competition (locally and globally) these days is so difficult but it is more difficult for people who didn't have the opportunity to take up any degrees at all.

 

[Newbie]

The worth of degree is not actually dropping. It's just how you take care of your studies and how you will deal with it when you graduate. The competition (locally and globally) these days is so difficult but it is more difficult for people who didn't have the opportunity to take up any degrees at all.

i disagree - obviously any degree is better than no degree. (thats a lotta degrees in a sentence)

however the worth of that degree in the workplace is clearly dropping, as candidates continue to try an one-up each other through undertaking further steps in tertiary education for basically the same job.

I interviewed a phd guy for an investment banking job. clearly overqualified for it but in their own words, they believe it was necessary to have that extra line on the resume to get them the edge.

 

[Spiritual Being]

the worth of the degree is dropping but hey what can you do, thats life.
What will impact people now is how the job market reacts - employers are getting more candidates to choose from so naturally they will just pick the ones out of the best uni's (Sorry UWS people, badluck)

an example of where this is happening/happened is south korea where a sht load of high school kids go to university (with big hopes and dreams of landing that sweet grad job), only to come out and realise the job market is not able to provide enough jobs for everyone. Employers for the major companies in korea only hire out of the top 3 universities (out of like 50 other ones). Factor in the psychology of those grads who think they are too good to do shtty jobs like 7/11 or being a waiter and you are left with the highest youth employment rate in the OECD.

lol hahaha