Are sports related degrees considered mickey mouse degrees?

Like Sports Science or Exercise and Fitness Management, those kind of degrees? I know someone studying their Master's degree and it just made me wonder what kind of jobs you can get, do people consider them Mickey Mouse degrees?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

KindofGood

Me personally: Any traditionally non-academic subject like sports, catering, photography are mickey mouse degrees. People with these desires would be better in apprenticeships.

Reply 2

Paralove

Original post by KindofGood

Me personally: Any traditionally non-academic subject like sports, catering, photography are mickey mouse degrees. People with these desires would be better in apprenticeships.

Agree to an extent. They'd get more out of working and gaining experience than doing a degree. I don't see how there could actually be a degree in some subjects, I mean, what could there possibly be worth having a degree in vs experience for some things?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

SpicyStrawberry

I've seen some of the work Sport Science students have been given and there is a fair bit of Biology in there, it's not all playing football like some people seem to think. There are quite a few idiots on the course though, but that goes for all uni courses! There's always going to be people who you question whether they're competent enough to be at university.

However, degrees in Photography I've always been dubious of because you don't need to do a 3-year course to know how to take a good photograph, that comes with experience and building a decent portfolio so people hire you. I understand people build portfolios while at uni, but I would much rather employ a photographer who has lots of experience as opposed to a recent graduate with very little experience and a degree. I don't care that you're able to go into the academics of taking the perfect photo, all I care about is that you do it how I want it.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

LukeM90

I wouldnt consider anything worthy of having its own degree a "mickey mouse degree" any subject has its easy parts and hard parts, just as any area has low and high level jobs.

specifcally though I'd done a low level sports qualification to aid my own understanding and just as somthing I wanted to learn, and tbh atleast half of it was anatomy with a very small part on nutrition as well.

So id believe that a sports science course could have alot of complex topics at a high enough level, I found the low level course tricky enough at times xD (im not great at biology tbh)

plus isnt there alot of stuf on Biomechanics, Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology? on top of all the sporty stuf? I'd say that could be fairly demanding in tis own right.

I'd love to study sports at a higher level so I understand it all better tbh, I dont really know of the jobs that can lead to but im just unaware lol.

I semi-agree on the photography thing but I'd say theres alot more too it than that, I think I can make good photos, but most photographers can make GREAT photos, and thats worth learning/paying for imo lol but I see what you mean.

Reply 5

TheNacho63

It depends on type of sport course.

Sport and Exercise is basically applied human physiology with psychology thrown in, same with Sports Rehab/Therapy includes mostly biology and you would need Uni for.

Courses like Sport Management etc seem a bit silly to me

Reply 6

techno-thriller

Most people would think so

Reply 7

llamasareright

I've just started studying Sports Therapy and it is NOT a mickey mouse degree at all. I spend most of my time studying anatomy, physiology and biomechanics (maths, anatomy, physiology and physics all in one). The only actual exercise that's been done so far has been done so that we can run labs. I've already learnt how to run an ECG and run blood labs. We're studying at the same level as physiotherapy, but with a specific focus into how the body works during exercise and peak performance. I'm also now good enough at massage to work as a technician in a clinical setting with members of the public.

Anyone who says it's a mickey mouse degree is perfectly welcome to come and have a crack at my homework.

Reply 8

username944192

Original post by llamasareright

Just because you find it challenging does not mean it's not a mickey mouse degree.

OP - unless you want to be a PE teacher, yes.

Reply 9

llamasareright

Original post by infairverona

Just because you find it challenging does not mean it's not a mickey mouse degree.

OP - unless you want to be a PE teacher, yes.

It's okay, I can clearly see you have done zero research of your own. Let me guess, you're one of those uptight *******s who thinks that anyone who goes to a modern university is doomed to fail? Newsflash, asshat, the world is changing. Sports therapy and physiotherapy overlap and interlink - once qualified I work with physiotherapists as part of a multidisciplinary team. Physiotherapists help with the rehab process and getting people back to a functional level; sports therapists go beyond this and look at why the dysfunction is there in the first place. THEN we rehab back to the optimum level and work continuously after that to improve an athlete up to their optimum standard. I have never seen a sports therapist as a teacher, only pitch side with the physios as part of the professional team for a group of professional athletes, or in a clinical setting ie a hospital or clinic.

Which "worthy" degree are you studying then, at which "worthy" university?

Reply 10

username944192

Original post by llamasareright

Law at Southampton :wink:

my ex boyfriend did Sport at Bournemouth and by his own admission it was a complete doss. Physiotherapy does not fall under the 'sport' paradigm by any means so I don't know why you've jumped to that conclusion.

Reply 11

dg2009

Depends what you want out of the degree, do you want to go onto a postgrad subject - sports injury, sports therapy etc something specialised then yes the degree is worthwhile, to just be a fitness instructor etc then no.

Reply 12

llamasareright

Original post by infairverona

Law at Southampton :wink:

There is your issue, you're assuming that sport and sport science are the same thing. You're assuming that anything with the word "sport" in it is a total doss because you're an uptight prat who doesn't understand anything about the human body. Don't know why you're assuming you know a thing about physio/sport therapy, I can assure you that if you don't think they overlap you are grossly mistaken and I've got that not only from my own extensive research but also from professionals and students in both fields in many different settings. We're a new profession and we're creating our own boundaries; we will set them as high as we please. Who gives a damn if someone wants to be a PE teacher? We've got an obese population, so someone's got to do it. I want to help people perform at their best, and that's my personal choice. It's not about doing a prestigious degree at a prestigious university and it's not about pleasing mummy and daddy, it's about doing what you love and doing what makes you happy. If that's flipping burgers in McDonald's then fine, but live and let live and don't judge people for it. I don't pretend to know about your degree or the profession you want to go into, so please stop assuming you know anything at all about mine. The offer still stands, you want to take a crack at this week's biomechanics? Or physiology? Or maybe you'd like to tell me all about your anatomical wisdom, since you seem to think you know everything there is to know about my degree. There is a reason why my qualification will be BSc Hons, because my field of study is a SCIENTIFIC one.

FYI, a degree "in sport" (which doesn't exist, you can't do Sport BSc) doesn't fall anywhere NEAR the Biomolecular Science department (which Sports Therapy/Sport and Exercise Science fall under, which is run in every university by the Health and Life Sciences Faculty, where every other health professional under the sun trains) because, newsflash, it's a COMPLETELY different degree. If you don't understand that then god knows how you got into university.

Reply 13

username944192

Original post by llamasareright

If you don't understand that then god knows how you got into university.

Tl;DR. You get a Sports degree, people are going to think it's a crap one. You should be prepared for that when you leave. OP asked if people view it as a Mickey Mouse degree, I answered - yes, the vast majority of people do. As a student of it, obviously YOU are not going to think it's a MM degree. People studying them never do...

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

EPIC Guy

How is Sport a mickey mouse degree you fuking retard? Sport Science, Sport amd Exercise Science and Sport Medicine is CERTAINLY not a MM degree. Art, photo, gaming, philosophy, managment, english and fashion are MM degree, sport isnt. Dumn people are dumb

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 15

Blazinq

Original post by infairverona

Just because you find it challenging does not mean it's not a mickey mouse degree.

OP - unless you want to be a PE teacher, yes.

How ignorant.

Reply 16

llys

Well, I personally don't think so. Like others have said you could go on to research in Human Physiology, or into Physiotherapy, or into Performance Analysis, or into Sports Technology (which would require a good understanding of Biomechanics). In that sense it is as good as any other Allied Health Professions degree, and probably more versatile than some. (Although you could also study other undergraduate degrees to make a career in the above professions.)

I think Performance Analysis is understudied or studied at a too low level in most Sports Science degrees though. I was recently looking at jobs for Football Analysts (looking just out of curiosity, no personal aptitude for football analysis), and they were asking for Maths / Statistics / Physics degrees. So there is potential to make Sports Science degrees tougher in that respect I guess.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 17

FlavaFavourFruit

Yes. I mean, exercise and fitness degree?? :K:

Reply 18

gr8wizard10

Look at Loughborough for instance.

Reply 19

llamasareright

Original post by infairverona

Dude, you can't do a degree in Sport. That's like saying you're doing a degree in Science; it doesn't exist. Comprende? I'm assuming you haven't actually, you know, looked at the facts before simply stating your opinion (you're going to make a great lawyer!) but FYI, because it's a new profession, job prospects in the field are freakin' awesome right now. And that's coming from practicing clinicians. And you know the other thing? I don't care if it's hard getting a job. I'm willing to make that sacrifice so that I can do what I love. I'm going into a job that saves lives every single day. I'm going into a job so that I can make the world a slightly better place. You seem dead set on law, and if that's your thing then that's awesome, but I hope you believe in what you're doing as much as I do.

You also seem to be ignoring the part where it's a Bachelor of Science (with Honours at my university, because I am also at a top university). Do you see? Because we study actual science, like how the body metabolises different sources of chemical energy into kinetic energy, and why some molecules react in a certain way when the body is undergoing exercise, and how the blood and lymphatic systems work - not football. It's a wonder you can even see where you're going with your head so far up your arse.

You also seem to be labouring under the delusion that I give a flying **** what you think you know about my degree. I'd get it if you actually understood what you were talking about, but you don't. Are you going to be employing me one day? No. Then it doesn't matter what you think about my degree. Will I treat you one day? Unlikely, but maybe. I hope not, because that would mean that there was something wrong, and that's no fun at all. And I won't care what you studied and where, or even if you went to school at all, because that's not what I'm being trained to do.