Would you encourage your (future) children to get a degree?

[Deleted]

I think many of us got the advice from their parents to:
a) Do your best in school and get a degree
b) Get a degree in something you like

With the current academic inflation (especially Bachelor degrees), the possibility you stack up huge student-loans and the increasing demand in work experience over a degree, what would you advice your children?

Would you advice they get a degree in what they like? Or a degree in what is in demand? Or maybe not even to get a degree at all and get as much work experience as possible asap?

[Belize]

He'll have many degrees because of how hot his/her/it's/zer mixtape will be!

[Queen of Hamsters]

Yes, I'd encourage them to find something they WANT to do that would also give them a proper income.

[nonameelf]

It's already pretty much expected of people to have degrees to get jobs. In 20 years you'll probably need a bachelors and 5 years of relevant experience to get a job at McDonalds.

[Lady Dragonheart]

*Shrugs* My kids are grown up now. However, with my grandchildren, I'm going to tell them to do what they want to do and set goals for that. If those goals require degrees, then they should get on top of that and plan for it.

Despite that, I see little value in attaining a degree, especially in this day-in-age, unless you're aiming for very specific careers. I'd rather people select classes based on what they want to learn than what they feel that they need, or what someone tells them to take.

[Aggrophobic]

You're not getting any jobs without a degree here so it's pretty much mandatory.

[Cosmic Janitor]

If it's a sensible one .. sure. But then again here in Germany you only lose time by getting a useless degree where's in the US you probably lose a couple 10-100k + time. Also depends on what (s)he likes to do. There are alternative methods these days that are almost equal in many cases once you hit the job market. The amount if mechanical engineers I see that are glorified "Technicians/CAD monkeys" (in the German sense), they could also go a more practical route from the start without loosing much. Well there is a certain status element.. I guess it would depend on the case, really. So, maybe? Probably?

[Aeula]

No. They're going to own a chip shop in Bristol and that's final!

[Lochton]

Yes, I would offer them the support needed, if they should agree.

[Deleted]

No kids here but yes, but I would be very clear that I expect them to do something useful - so no fake degrees like media studies, socialist ballet, gender studies, etc

[Radaney]

I'll ensure it.

[slime]

I think many of us got the advice from their parents to:
a) Do your best in school and get a degree
b) Get a degree in something that makes money

That's more my parents.

[Spectral]

If my wife and I have a kid, I'd say we're very likely to encourage the kid to be into academics. While I think there are many problems with academia, both of us have pursued graduate degrees and have done well in life; if nothing else, that path is a path to friendship and connections with a good group of people that are tougher to meet if you don't take that route. Importantly, any kid we had would likely be smart enough and have the support needed to succeed to the extent of being in a prestigious school, which still carries significant value over just getting any ol' degree.

[Devilyaki]

If I have any would push them into something more useful like a trade.

[Spectral]

The thing with degrees is that people kinda think that academia is the only way for well paying jobs, while in reality jobs learned at vocational school can land you a lot better paying job with shorter education.

edit: well not necessarily academia, but college/university degrees in general.

This depends on what the terminal goal is. If someone's trying to make a comfortable living, sure, learning welding is a pretty good bet. If their goal is to make $150K+ (or higher), they're still going to generally be best served as a highly educated professional. There are other routes to get there, but strong academic performance has the lowest failure rate.

[Coronius]

Considering the state of the world? Absolutely.

[apples]

the better question is

if they want to get a degree in transqueer couch-kin sexuality

do you let them

[Spectral]

the better question is

if they want to get a degree in transqueer couch-kin sexuality

do you let them

As long as it's not my money, I don't see how there's any "let" about it. A nominal adult can do what they want with their own money.

[Pua]

My daughters are too young to really be thinking about this, but the truth is that we've no idea what value a degree will hold in the jobs market of the future. More and more people worldwide are finding themselves brutally constrained because of student debt and declining wages, but that's something that can be dealt with in Scotland because higher education is free; there are no tuition fees paid in our universities. It's also starting to look like Britain is going to vote to leave the European Union, something that will hasten Scotland's independence from England and pursue more left-leaning policies that are similar to European priorities (particularly the Scandinavian countries). Again, this will have an impact on the Scottish economy and the types of careers that will be on offer.

At the moment, Britain is generally a low-skill, low-wage economy with an ever increasing cost of living. This is mitigated north of the border thanks to devolution, but will only be truly mitigated should Scotland become part of Europe, independent of the United Kingdom.

The problem is that, as some have mentioned, Bachelor's degrees have dropped in value because they're generally easy to get and there's no way to really know whether this will change in the short term or not. This means that a trade or apprenticeship might be more appropriate, particularly for those who are more vocational than academic, or you push down the route of a Masters or PhD if that happens to be your thing.

Ultimately, it'll be up to my girls. Whatever they want to do will be fine with their mum and I, and we live in a country that can more readily support their aspirations without mortgaging their entire future.

I feel very sorry for English and American families with no independent wealth in order to cover the cost of a degree program. It's a horrible situation to be in.

[Deleted]

A degree is pretty much needed nowadays. I'd be careful not to push children into something they do not like, since that might cause them to waste many years at the uni without ever obtaining a degree. For me, it's very important that a degree is taken in the due time. I would also hope that something in the STEM area is choosen, but - again - I wouldn't push it too much.

Note that in my country we do not have the huge student loan problem as in the US. The cost of a failed uni is mostly related to the support: housing, food, (moderate) tuition for a few years.