Why are uni dropouts looked down on?

Why are people who don't go to uni or drop out looked down on?

Surely if someone doesn't want a degree then it's better to get a job than waste 3 years getting into debt.

Uni is over-rated anyway given how many people go just to 'follow the crowd'.

Well dropping out/quitting is a failure, who's impressed by failure? You might have good reason, but it's the opposite of a success.

Not going in the first place is not comparable.

Why are people who don't go to uni or drop out looked down on?

Surely if someone doesn't want a degree then it's better to get a job than waste 3 years getting into debt.

Uni is over-rated anyway given how many people go just to 'follow the crowd'.

I dropped out of uni just last month- I had only done a year. Most people have been supportive of me- I realised the course I was doing wasn’t right for me. I’m taking a year out and need to decide what I want to do instead soon. So although I might seem like a total bum right now- uni wasn’t worth the depression it caused me. Mentally I’m doing a lot better. I just need to find a degree/ apprenticeship that would actually be useful. I had friends at uni who were pursuing a degree they weren’t even sure they wanted to do anymore, so I figured, why waste more time and money on a degree I realise I don’t even like. There’s no point pursuing something you don’t feel passionate about. And I wish a lot more students would be brave enough to leave too- so many people get degrees and then end up working in somewhere totally unrelated. So yes- I guess my life will be crappy for a year but I feel lucky to have had the realisation that some things are worth giving up on because life’s too short to waste on stuff like useless degrees (to answer some of the other snobby replies)

Education should be tailored to vocational training for specific jobs.

Why are people who don't go to uni or drop out looked down on?

Surely if someone doesn't want a degree then it's better to get a job than waste 3 years getting into debt.

Uni is over-rated anyway given how many people go just to 'follow the crowd'.

So someone is a failure because they tried university and discovered it wasn't for them? That's very judgemental. Didn't Mark Zuckerberg drop out of university? Would you describe him as a so-called failure?

To me, there is a difference between a person who did not go to university and one who drops out.

Dropping out could be viewed as the person lacked the resilience to finish what they started. As a potential employer, my questions would be:

1. Why did they drop out?
2. What did they do next?
3. Is there a pattern with this person’s quitting when they cant be bothered?
4. Do they have resilience to finish what they started?
5. Are there deeper issues that I should be aware of?

Those are questions that I would ask myself whilst assessing such an individual. I would rather the person chose a different path than uni.

Employers shouldn't be allowed to ask personal questions, I'd tell them it's none of their business.

If you want your education tailored to a specific job then that avenue is largely open to you. But to condemn everyone else to it is myopic in the extreme.

They would not ask you, they will see it on your profile.

Let me give you an example:

Boris applied for a 2-year graduate scheme. In his CV, he has been to 3 unis with no degree because he dropped out of them. He subsequently did a job role at a Company that lasted for 7 months where he resigned and then moved to another role that lasted for 11 months before he was made redundant. He has no references from his unis or former employers.

As a potential employer, my first question to myself would be “WTF?”. The second one would be “do we have other candidates?”.

The sad part would be that Boris would never know. He would receive the generic email.

“Dear Mr Boris,

Thank you for your application. Due to intense competition, I regret to inform you that we wont be taking your application further.

We wish you the best in your career.

Yours sincerely,
Abi Quagmire,
Head of Human Resources - Company X”

That's a very odd example to use. Almost every human being has at least one reference and besides, having a degree doesn't make you employable.

Read this thread again. I never said that university makes you to be more employable.

I read your thread very clearly. I'm just pointing it out because you seem to be of the mindset that people who either drop out or can't keep settled in a job have something wrong with them.

That’s the perception. Put yourself in the other position, would you hire someone who had a profile that was unsettled?

Some people have the perception that they are doing employers a favour by applying to their company. It takes time, money and effort to recruit a new person, so employers want to know that the employee would be worth their time and stress.

A professional training programme is much better than a degree in a random subject. There's no such thing as transferable skills it's all just bs packaged by universities to attract students.