Does your child really need a university degree?     039

As we know over the last ten years there has been very significant growth in the percentage of people who go to university, and now this would be 30 to even 40 per cent of young Australians. But there are not good, well paying, satisfying career positions for all of them. Statistics show that “25 per cent of students who graduate will never work in a job which requires a degree” (Peter Murphy, The rise and fall of our bureaucratic universities, Quadrant, May 2013, pp. 48-52).

For university graduates seeking high level professional work opportunities are indeed limited. The big employers expect a great deal from university graduates, mostly a credit level average or better. They want “high-calibre talented individuals… demonstrated academic commitment and aptitude” (Ann-Marie Moodie, The pick of the crop, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Sep 2010, My Career, p. 5).

But this is not all they want. Employers also want people who have demonstrated achievement in non-academic areas, and leadership, teamwork, passion, emotional intelligence, innovation etc. are words that come to mind. How can employers be so fussy wanting such high achieving graduates? Well, they are selective because they can be selective. There are just so many young people out there competing for professional positions.

It isn’t surprising then that a recent survey by graduate careers Australia (see Julie Hare, Career at odds with degree for many grads, Australian 10 Aug 2016, p. 18) found that nearly half of graduates who “established careers as managers and professionals three years after graduation, work in a field unrelated to their degree”. Taking a more general view of all university graduates it seems that only about a quarter to one third of university graduates gain employment in the exact career area for which they trained. Importantly though all university students have to pay off student debts.

Now if it is fairly certain that your son or daughter wants an occupation that does require university degree, and will be successful in that occupation, then university education can be a rewarding investment, but my point is that university is not for everyone. It is a matter of balancing risks, likely outcomes and areas of talent and interest. Vocational education or business and administrative courses at TAFE may be a better alternative. So when helping your son or daughter prepare for a career keep all options on the table.

All content copyright—Mark Thackray—Australian Educational Services