why not abolish 'weak' degrees?

why do universities waste their funding on subjects such as media or film which hold very few job prospects?

surely it's better to put their money into something which would benefit the country more such as medicine or even in a completely different sector other than education?

Anyway, aren't some of these so called 'degrees' pretty worthless and furthermore, the money could be used in a much more beneficial way

tbh, to study a degree such as media (which isn't even needed to achieve a job in media) is such a waste, why would you be willing to literally throw away 50 grand on a degree which would get you no where?

thoughts?

when i say 'weak' it's not just media but others too

think about the thousands of pounds the government puts into these degrees....what i'm saying is that surely they would benefit more in the long run by putting the money into OTHER sectors such as NHS or even training for those who are not suitable for degrees.

i am in no way insinuating that people who do weak degrees are just stupid, i just think it is a waste of the tax payers money

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1

jumpingjesusholycow

There's already been a very recent thread on the perception of 'weak degrees', so I'm not going to comment on your apparent dislike of media studies.

I will say however that a big problem lies in political circles. The idea that we need to be shipping off 50% of our youth into universities rather than prepping our youth for a balanced job market is the problem. So long as politicians continue using a percentage of university attendance as a bragging point, this problem will always persist.

Reply 2

memomemootoo

weak degrees are created for people who supposedly arent capable of doing anything more productive.. so in a way they fill a niche

...people waste their money on them because they think they'll enjoy the degree.. and tbh they probably aare more enjoyable than strong degrees.. in the sense that they're easier

Spoiler

EDIT: i'm not saying that all people who do weak degrees are stupid, it's more the fact that the degrees are given importance and encouraged. Ads like this just make me want to vomit:

..if they can't find a better argument for people to study their degree than an outdated statement of some kid being passionate, why the hell are they allowed to shove it down the throats of young people who potentially have the brains to study something more productive.

EDIT2: I'm also not denying that product design is necessary.. but the lack of originality in that ad shows that the course providers themselves lack the originality and teaching skills needed to produce good product designers...

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 3

IlexBlue

Because the government wants to fork out thousands of pounds of wasted money so that people like the morons at my school who couldn't pronounce "hinge" in a book at the age of 15 and thought "precisely" was a long word can pretend that they don't have the IQ of a damaged kumquat by studying something, no matter how useless it is,

Reply 4

yothi5

If universities took out 'weak' degrees, half of the UK's universities would close. The likes of London Met, LMJU etc.

Reply 5

TheHansa

It is for political reasons but givng them loans which they have to pay back to spend three years wasting money on booze etc means aggregate demand goes up so it's all pretty harmless stuff. Also I guess a lot of the so called weak degree probably could get you good jobs if you have the right attitude like the golf staudies graduates everyone laughs at, getting head hunted for excellent grad jobs.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

Wookie42

Its alllll about money.

Reply 7

madders94

When the state of employment is so bad and it's nigh on impossible to get a job, the cheapest option is to go to uni - especially if your parents are like mine. When I leave full time education, child benefit for me stops, so my parents can't afford for me to stay with them. I can't get a job because there are none, so I can't pay. I want to become a midwife, but at the moment I'm not well enough, so I'm going to university to study something I enjoy (Creative Studies is a mix of journalism, media communications, drama and writing) which could potentially help me in the future, because there really is no other alternative. I was never going to be a doctor, never enjoyed maths or physics or chemistry enough to pursue them, I have an interest in biology but I don't think I'm clever enough to do a degree in it and ones like English, History etc don't interest me because I'd rather do one with a more vocational side than one that is purely academic.

Reply 8

Tackla

Some people like going to uni and enjoying the party's and uni life. At the end also come out with a degree.

Reply 9

Helloworld_95

my guess would be that they help fund 'stronger' degrees

Reply 10

madders94

This is an incredibly prejudiced thread - the assumption that everyone who does "weak" degrees are stupid? :facepalm2:

Reply 11

memomemootoo

Original post by Tackla

Some people like going to uni and enjoying the party's and uni life. At the end also come out with a degree.

Reply 12

AspiringGenius

Original post by madders94

This is an incredibly prejudiced thread - the assumption that everyone who does "weak" degrees are stupid? :facepalm2:

The assumption that "weak" degrees are easy :facepalm:

Reply 13

ddrrzzeerr

They shouldnt abolish weak degrees the government shouldnt fund them. If people want to spend their money on weak degrees then that is fine.

Reply 14

foodnom

Ultimately a degree (in theory) should separate those who are academic and those who are not, so even though people have their 'niche' perhaps their 'niche' should be in something else.

University is not for everyone and people have to accept that.

Reply 15

madders94

Original post by AspiringGenius

The assumption that "weak" degrees are easy :facepalm:

That seems to be insinuating that people who do "weak" degrees are stupid.

Reply 16

puddledancer

People don't just chose degrees for job prospects.

I chose my English degree to study because I like literature, and although it could help me get into the field I would like to work in I'm doing English because I like it.

(yes it may not class as a weak degree but my point stands with others that you class as "weak")

Reply 17

bownessie

Universities are not just there for teaching 'useful' subject. Remember that universities were originally seats of learning and academic study, not just institutions created for the pure sake of creating graduates who are employable because they've graduated with a specifically 'strong' subject. There are plently of people who study degrees because they are interested in it and not just because they want to graduate being the 'most employable graduate'.

Reply 18

AspiringGenius

Original post by madders94

That seems to be insinuating that people who do "weak" degrees are stupid.

read my post and what I was responding to. You will find I was writing quite the contrary.

Reply 19

EssexDan86

Original post by foodnom

The market will always dictate how many people do certain degrees and how many jobs there are - if a third of all students went and studied law or medicine, for example, it just means you'd get a lot of unemployed lawyers and doctors - they are not all going to automatically walk into jobs, just because those degrees have always been considered 'worthwhile'.

What needs to be done is for industry to regularly sit down with unis and dictate the actual criteria they have in graduates. Media (advertising, marketing, web design, digital content etc) is actually a huge growth sector in the UK, but many firms say that the average media studies graduate lacks the correct skills for entry level jobs in these industries. More vocational degrees are needed as opposed to woolly ones that sound 'fun', I guess.