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Why is going to university the norm?

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Joseph41:
In 2015, there were 1.3 million students enrolled in Australian universities (with the vast majority of those being domestic students). As below, there is clearly an upward trend.


Source: Universities Australia

Source: The Conversation (taken from the Department of Education and Training)
And, naturally, the proportion of Australias who hold a degree is also on the rise.

This leads to the question: is the worth of a university degree diminishing?

Why do people go to uni these days? Career prospects? A thirst for knowledge? Or is it simply the done thing in various social circles?

fantasticbeasts3:
university for me has always been something that's expected of me. my culture is something that impacts that as well, but it's also parental expectations of "fully" finishing your education. despite these expectations, i think i would go to uni anyways simply because school is just so uninteresting and i'd rather focus my attention on doing something i'm actually interested in. also, career prospects and the whole "uni experience" seems like something to experience.

K888:
Interesting topic. I think the answers we get by discussing this on AN will be quite different to the answers you would get discussing it in other places, though.

I think there's just a general expectation in society these days that you'll go to university once you finish high school. People sort of just don't think about not going to uni as being an option. I imagine that in schools, when counselling about post-year 12 life happens, it can almost exclusively focus on what uni degrees people want to do and that sort of stuff - other things just aren't presented as an option.
We're helped by the fact that we have HECS and all that to make tertiary education more accessible. People also seem to do a degree if they're not sure what to do - it gives them a few years to think about or discover what they want to do, and they come out of it at the end with a qualification, which is a bonus :)

I guess also, these days, more and more jobs require you to have a degree. And there can also certainly be a perception that apprenticeships are for people who supposedly aren't "smart enough" to go to university. I guess some people might look down on people that work in labour-based jobs and the like that don't generally require a university degree, and they pass on these perceptions to their peers, kids, etc. so people might almost be programmed to think that a university degree is a superior qualification and makes them a better person?

strawberries:

--- Quote from: Joseph41 on July 22, 2017, 06:55:24 pm ---This leads to the question: is the worth of a university degree diminishing?

--- End quote ---
yes
SpoilerI feel like so many people going to uni now that like, I don't see the point anymore. It's like, ages ago, uni was only supposed to be for the "smart" people and nowadays basically anyone can get in.
offtopicI know unis are supposed to make money but the oversupply of students + graduates aren't gonna help people get jobs (i.e. people 'waste' time at uni + debt for nothing). But then again, with so many students to compete with I guess it pushes us to work harder??


--- Quote from: Joseph41 on July 22, 2017, 06:55:24 pm ---Why do people go to uni these days?

--- End quote ---
because my parents forced me. i love what i'm doing but if they didn't force me i probably wouldn't be here tbh
like fantasticbeats3 said above, it's kind of like culture for my parents/family too.

controversialbut all in all, if you're doing it just for the thirst for knowledge then that's all good :)
if your ideal career requires a degree (e.g. med, law etc.) than it's all good too
it's just so many ppl doing it now "just because" that it's become 'mainstream'? now everyone has a uni degree you're not special anymore.

heids:
I've dropped out of uni, I think mostly from a perverse and completely unoriginal desire to rebel against the status quo - "if everyone expects me to go uni without questioning it because I'm a high-achieving student, well fuck you all, I won't then" sorta thing hahaha.  Uni is an automatic social default, and I hate social defaults - at least until I've questioned them thoroughly and come up with my own reasons to follow them. 

Sure, many professions absolutely require degrees (most health-professional degrees, law etc).  But more generic non-essential degrees - feel free to do them of course haha, but I personally see more value elsewhere (such as on-the-job training!) than uni.

For me, I know I have a number of potential job options that I'd love without requiring uni, plus my entrepreneurial side screams for expression, so - why bother with uni?  I think the need for a university degree to get a fulfilling job is overrated.

*purely my personal perspective, this might just be me being a special snowflake hahaha*

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