I've known people who have done some of those degrees I was mentioning. "To think that everybody must do a job that is directly related to their degree shows a misunderstanding of what they are really for." Wow... tell me, why do doctors do medicine degrees? Why do structural engineers take mech eng? If what you say is true why not pick the crappiest/shortest degree your institution offers and take that. After all aslong as you show the mindset your more than qualified right? "And in any case, what happened to learning because you're passionate about something?" Passion doesnt put food on the table, it doesnt pay the bills! People who take these degree's think a degree is a degree and future employers dont care, and it's a mockery of the system. Mother-Gooser: When I say computer game design, I mean the real basic design a computer game i.e. a plot, characters kinda like writing a book and there certainly no maths involved. Bolton uni do a course in it, must be their joke degree god knows why my mate chose it. Another lad i know is at salford he's doing applied physics but you can take a course there on gambling?! Nexxo: Whoa let me clear this up, I didnt say psychology isnt a profession. I just said the psychology degree isnt a "professional" one, thats just how it is! Short sighted? Not really. Ignorant? Yeah your probably right! But you know what? A few years after graduating i'll be in a job that pays me well and rewards me for the work i've put in over the years! I'll be able to support my family and not have to worry about things like money. It doesnt have to be a scientific job but sciencey jobs, by large, tend to pay more than art or whatever. The whole point of degree's is a better job right? Better job = better pay which in turn you could say equals a better quality of life. But there are some jobs which you'd be better off without incuring the debt of a uni education. For example i'll chose art again because my friend and my sister are doing it. My mate is at bolton doing some sort of art degree and he wants to go into illustrations he's in his final year and has a job lined up, my sister worked for a small firm over summer and now has a job with them, decent money, she went to college and didnt bother with uni she's younger than him, hasnt incured £10k worth of debt, will be paid more and whats more shes not even as good a drawer as him! You say "Just because it's not scientific or lands you in a job straight away does not mean that it's a waste of time for everyone." well it sure wasn't for him!
no your right it isnt a 'professional one' but people taht do art do it for the love of it not to be bored stuck in some office just because they can earn alot!!!!!! they take it to progress in their artwork and learn new techniques soooo that they can then go on and become a great artist!!!
If only that was true! You'd be suprised just how much written work is done with art degree's. There are different specialties within every degree, you cant say that because your doing art then that automatically makes you a painter. Most artist go into graphic design where believe it or not, you'll be stuck in an office probably bored because your not doing as much art as you thought.
Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that when you do an art degree, someone comes to your house, puts a gun to your head and says "You will be a graphic designer, OR ELSE!", it's down to personal choices, and granted, graphic design sounds interesting, and if it bores the pants off you, then get out tbh. No-one does it to the engineers or the mathematicians. When I finish my degree, no-one will be there forcing me to do theoretical physics once I've finished, so why make the judgemental assumption?
i wasnt neccesarilly talking about painters!!! and just for the record in your post previously yes it is both short sighted and ignorant!!!!!
Exactly - or do work experience beforehand... I worked in the materials and physics depts at Oxford for 9 weeks, and I loved every moment of it. I also went and worked in an office in London for three days and hated every minute of it. I now know EXACTLY where I want to go in life and I'm extremely happy I'm doing engineering at uni and with where that's going to take me. So yes, I think my MEng will be very nice when I get it.
Those people take those "professional" degrees because they are directly related to the jobs that they want. I didn't dispute that. What I said was that degrees such as art, history, the classics etc. have an abstract dimension that transcends the actual subject. Obviously you're not going to get a job designing PCBs for Sony with a history degree, but you'll have a set of skills that could potentially make you an adept administrator or manager. The assumption you're making is that anybody is capable of any degree - this is clearly false. The whole idea of the degree is to dedicate several years of your life to something that you enjoy learning about. When you decided to study electronic engineering, I doubt that you based this solely on earning potential. Why didn't you study medicine or dentistry? Both very highly paid professions. Are you serious? I wasn't aware that you represented the opinion of every student studying for an arts degree... Of course - you actually called it "wishy washy".
Well ok, fair enough on your first point. Im just firmly routed in that "why bother doing a history degree if not to do something with history after uni" way of thinking. Someone said above that people go to uni because they're passionate about a subject right? Well they cant be that passionate if they end up doing something totally unrelated. If your spending that much money on tuition and time whilst studying, doesn't it make sense to do something directly associated with it? Believe it or not I dont represent the views of every art student. But my point stands, passion doesnt matter. Its a good thing to have about your job, sure. But if the money isnt there your gonna starve! Its as simple as that! btw I dont see how me calling psychology "wishy washy" has anything to do with the FACT that psychology isnt a professional degree, would you mind explaining that?
We all seem to have lost the point that some of the most employable aspects of getting a degree are: It show's you have the ability to learn alot in a short period of time (this is why there are graduate specific roles). You're team working and communication skills are developed to a much higher level, (possibly the single biggest "employable" feature). Everyone at uni develops basic project and time management skills. The fact that you have a degree proves that you have the potential to continually expand your knowledge base. It makes you more confident in yourself. That is pretty much all I can think of, but the actually subject matter of a degree certainly is not the most important thing you learn, and it certainly isn't the aspect that makes you more employable.
The first degree ("Psychology") is not a professional one in that it is not specific to a particular profession, but it is a science degree like for instance Physics is. The second degree ("Clinical Psychology") is most certainly a professional one. It is three years of professional training, involving academic work, performing research and a wide variety of actual clinical practice. Without it, you cannot practise as a Clinical Psychologist. Psychology is not wishy-washy, by the way. It is the science of behaviour: what makes people (or animals) think and feel and do the things they think and feel and do. It has theoretical models and constructs, predictive hypotheses, valid and reliable test methodology and statistics to test these, and strategies/techniques to alter thought, feeling and behaviour in a systematic and predictable way. You'd be surprised how much psychological science you'd find in your daily life. You'd be surprised how much I could tell you (and predict) about your own behaviour if I followed you around for a day. This would not have to be based on some mystical, deep insight, but just on straightforward scientific theory. Clinical psychology is the science of psychology applied to when how people think and feel and behave results in a serious disruption in their daily life functioning. But all this is poorly understood by people who imagine it is all about lying on a couch talking about your dreams or your rejecting mother (that is psycho-analysis, not psychology). Basically, the only fact that is obvious to me is that you don't understand what psychology is. Don't knock it until you know what it is about.
A degree isn't about a job to most people. It's about learning something you enjoy, sure, opportunities will come but they're just a bonus. If it were all about money I'd be training as a doctor or lawyer now rather than planning to enter the sciences. Why are you worrying about other people getting a job or not, that is completely irrelevant to you.
You and the author of the article may agree on this, but not all of us do. I think that there needs to be a balance in degree programs between learning to prepare yourself for industry and learning for the sake of it. Unfortunately, society seems to be leaning towards the former more and more.
