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University, it’s not for everyone

Lucy Kippist

by Lucy Kippist

20 Jan 12:00pm

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Filed under: Education, Society, University, Youth

41 comments

This is a message to the 80, 000 or so high school graduates who will later today log onto the UAC site and find out whether or not they received a place at an Australian university for 2010.

A great life doesn't rest on whether or not you do this. Picture: Renee Nowytarger.

Whatever happens don’t panic. Especially if you have spent the entire Christmas break avoiding the questions of (well meaning) relatives asking what you want to do with the rest of your life.

It is absolutely 100 per cent OK if you (a) you don’t want to go to university or (b)fall into the 30, 000 or so people who will miss out on a place this year.

University does have a lot of things going for it. But what it definitely won’t do is guarantee you success, happiness, ambition or many of the other lofty ideals often attributed to the experience.

Bill Gates one of the richest men in the world famously quipped that he dropped out of Harvard university when he “saw the error of my ways and realised I could make do with a high school diploma”. And so began the start of an incredibly succesful entreprenurial career.

There are obviously quite a few exceptions. If your dream is to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer then you’re going to have to find a way to either get in next year (via bridging course or later as a postgraduate) or learn to enjoy the idea of going to university. 

But for everyone else, or those that just aren’t sure what they want to do, the world is literally your oyster. And as long as you’re curious enough life will throw many learning opportunities your way.

Here are a few things to remember: 

1. Some of the world’s most creative and successful people never finished or even went to university. Woody Allen, Paul Keating, Annie Lebovitz, Olivia Newtown John, Michael Dell, Ellen De Generess, Dan Akroyd, Christina Aguerlia - the list goes on and on.  And the one thing they share (other than bucket loads of cash) is that they got to where they are without a cap and gown.

2. Australian universities are in pretty bad shape. Did you know 20 per cent of Australian students drop out of university in their first year, with the majority of these blaming bad choice in subject selection and financial hardship as reasons for dropping out? Or that the current unemployment rate for graduates sits at 7.2 per cent? That’s a 2 per cent rise since last year. And that less than 50 per cent of employers of graduates in the IT industry were reported to be unhappy with their recent recruits. And they cited lack of interpersonal skills and work experience as the key areas of contention.

3. There are so many alternatives. TAFE, apprenticeships, cadetships, private colleges or just getting full time employment. Some good information is available here and here. And if you’re not 100 per cent certain that you know where you’re headed what about trying some volunteering or even go travelling. You can’t beat that for a learning experience. And no matter what you end up doing, allow yourself enough time to think about what you want. It’s alot easier to get there if you know where you want to go.

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41 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • NCG says:

      11:34am | 20/01/10

      Lucy, I agree with this fully and try to preach the same message when I get a chance. I got the necessary entry score to get into the universities I wanted, but in the end opted against going. Instead I built my own company, which 6 years later is highly successful and worth multiple millions. Had I gone to university its doubtful I would be in the same place I am today. More likely I would be in a 9-5 mediocre desk job, paying back a HECs debt, with a certificate stating my bachelor of X to show for it.

      Anyone wishing to go down the path of law, medicine, engineering and alike have little choice but to go to university, to them I wish all the best. But for those who use university as another 4+ years to contemplate their future under the guise of an arts degree, I think you need a wake up call. Lucy, as you say, a uni degree doesn’t guarantee a job, success or prosperity.

      One simple piece of advice I’ll give for those at the tertiary education / work crossroads; do what your good at and or enjoy in life and you’ll succeed.

      Reply

    • anthony says:

      07:11pm | 20/01/10

      NCG,
      Well done regarding your choice. University education is not just about acquiring a professional skill but the ability to think outside the square of just our everyday mundane life.  There is nothing wrong with an art degree. We need all sorts of people - businessman like you, teachers, specialists in music, studying ancient Greek etc..

    • Dr Gaye Barr says:

      02:25pm | 21/01/10

      Well done, NCG and congratulations on your millions. But before you hammer Arts degrees, just consider how many people you may have consulted with or employed along the way - media, communications, social / political scientists, cultural specialists - there is a very broad range of professions in the market that stem from Arts faculties. If somebody is a doctor or an engineer, we can assume they have achieved that degree. Professionals with Arts Degrees aren’t called ‘Artists’ so chances are, you’ll never know.

      I have a pretty successful career - I’m not worth millions but I earn an above average income and lead a healthy and very happy life. I attribute this to my Arts Degree because it taught me how to think and write.

      Of course tertiary education doesn’t guarantee a job, success or prosperity, the latter two of which are subjective anyway.  But it certainly awakens potential, provides opportunities for networking and opens your mind to possibilities you would be unlikely to recognise outside the academic environment.

    • Christina O'Connor says:

      05:57pm | 21/01/10

      I recall reading news articles last year which said that some universities are considering making Arts units mandatory for Medicine and Law students in their early years. There must be a good reason for that.

      P.S. Yes, and I am an Arts graduate. Who has been accepted into the 2010 intake for B.Law (graduate entry).

    • MF says:

      01:12am | 22/01/10

      @Christina - the reason being that some Australian universities are currently trying to mimic the US system where you are required to take a certain number of credit units from outside your faculty.  There is much more to this degree restructuring than Arts students taking Science subjects (or vice versa), it’s actually a very small component of it.  If you’re interested in learning more about the restructure, there has been much published on it publicly in The Australian’s Higher Ed section from both sides of the argument.

    • Kate Southam says:

      11:39am | 20/01/10

      Your brave Lucy. As a journalist who covers employment and careers I would add:
      The high drop out rate demonstrates that a bit of life experience and work experience before settling on a degree would probably work wonders for many people.

      Employers can be biased towards uni. For many, it is just a selection benchmark - you don’t have it, you don’t even get to the first cut of resumes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

      Certainly I would advise people getting an undergraduate degree not to start a Master’s degree until they have worked. It’s best to get an employer to pay for your Master’s if you can. The more money you can get an employer to invest in you, the more likely they will promote you to get a return on that investment . Also, if you work first you might realise that you don’t need a Master’s in your undergrad subject but something else entirely.

      If you don’t get into uni, don’t spend too much time in the well of disappointment. Start working on the back up plan - travel, a job and some sort of training, a graduate management certificate, a TAFE qualification etc. You can get a degree later if you really want one. Just don’t do nothing.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      11:55am | 20/01/10

      Actually a tradesman’s apprenticeship is a better bet. Tradesmen charge an arm and a leg, choose their own hours (since when has a trademan actually showed up on time?) and tend to do better in the cash economy (It’s only us PAYE suckers that actually pay taxes).

      Reply

    • Jade says:

      03:20pm | 20/01/10

      Yeah my boyfriend just finished his 4 year apprenticeship and should be doing pretty good in the next few years after he has some experience in the workforce on his own under his belt.

    • James says:

      12:04pm | 20/01/10

      Two comments.  I am currently doing a PhD (almost finished thankfully - its awful!) and I did not finish high school, going back to study after a few years as a manual labourer (PhD might be bad, but nothing could be as bad as labouring).  So there is no urgent requirement to get to university quickly at all.  Kate Southam has hit the nail on the head.

      And IT graduates lacking interpersonal skills?  You don’t say…

      Reply

    • Lexi says:

      12:17pm | 20/01/10

      What excellent advice, Lucy.  I earnt a whole lot more money before I was conferred my undergraduate degree compared to my income now that I have a post grad qualification.

      Further, I don’t believe that universities actually prepare you for the workplace, in most cases.  They apparently teach critical thinking.  I learnt significantly more about spelling, grammar, syntax and other aspects of the English language as a cadet journalist than I did in a degree majoring in communications.

      My advice, for what it’s worth: take the opportunites that come out of left field - they’ll be the ones that few if any others get, and that’s what makes the difference in a job interview.

      Reply

    • H of SA says:

      12:44pm | 20/01/10

      Good point Lucy. As a current post grad student maybe some uni students can learn from my experience. See the course I’m doing post grad is offered undergrad too - but it took me until my mid twenties to know it was my work vocation.

      My first degree wasn’t a waste of time - but I could have also skipped spending my time on that and given myself some good work experience in the few years past high school where I was still uncertain about what career to pursue.

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      12:54pm | 20/01/10

      As the Baz Luhrmann song “everybody free” says,

      “The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t ... sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind, the race is long and in the end, its only with yourself”

      Reply

    • Rhiannon says:

      01:14pm | 20/01/10

      Great piece Lucy.

      Just to illustrate the point, I have three degrees (and a lot of debt) and am doing fine in my chosen career with a good income. My older brother dropped out of school in Year 11 and worked his way through the ranks in retail. His knack for people management lead to a solid corporate career in finance and he now earns more than I do; probably always will.

      Focusing on what you are good at and enjoy is always a good strategy, university is not always part of that equation. At any rate as others have suggested, you can always go back!

      Reply

    • Mike says:

      01:26pm | 20/01/10

      I had a couple of half-hearted attempts at Uni but never finished my degree. I have had an interesting, stimulating and rewarding career and have seen and done things i would have never imagined possible. It used to be that prospective employers would query why i didn’t have a uni degree but were prepared to set that against my growing work experience. i never really had a fixed idea about what I wanted to do. As a result, I have done a lot of different things along the way and I have learnt something from each experience.  My work interests and expertise have taken shape in the last ten years or so and now I have a very clear understanding of what I am good at and what I like doing. In the last year or so I have started doing some study more out of personal interest than professional need. And i have found i am enjoying it much, much more than when I actually attended uni the first time around.

      Reply

    • Bob says:

      01:28pm | 20/01/10

      What’s the difference between an IT graduate and a dog? Both can wear an intelligent look but the dog has less trouble expressing itself.

      I’m a dropout. I went into IT as a junior programmer and advanced quickly because I could relate to people. I’ve worked with a lot of people who are good with machines but don’t have a clue how to make them do what the customer actually wants.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      04:04pm | 20/01/10

      IT is not considered uni : it’s a trade, (with a new form of the pick and shovel.)

    • Ian says:

      01:54pm | 20/01/10

      My son dropped of Uni out last year having passed all of his first semester subjects but avoided telling me for months.  My response was that I didn’t want him to be miserable doing something he wasn’t sure he wanted to do.  30+ years ago I wasn’t sure I was studying was the right thing for me however I was having an absolute ball being a student - fortunately I did enough to get through.  I worked for CSIRO for two years and hated it. 

      I’m now approaching 30 years in my chosen vocation which does not require a degree, being paid well and still enjoying it.

      Reply

    • Emily says:

      03:16pm | 20/01/10

      Sure, uni isn’t for everyone but I recommend people consider the long term options rather than just the short term cash
      In WA, it’s possible with very little experience or qualifications to get a mining job and earn $100-200K pa. However, the hours are long, the FIFO roster is hard on your relationships, particular if you have a spouse and kids. Very few people make a long term career out of it and instead many blokes find themselves at 30 with no qualifications and no alternative prospects.
      For those who do go the uni route, getting some paying work experience applicable to your future career (not working at Maccas or Woolies) is the key to getting a great job once you graduate.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      03:31pm | 20/01/10

      You’re spot on Lucy, I once knew a guy who had 3 uni degrees (including Law) but still relied on Centrelink, whereas I never finished mine and can still get people to hire me based on what I can do.

      Reply

    • Eric says:

      03:35pm | 20/01/10

      Universities, like the mainstream media, are overrated bastions of left-wing conformity.

      First the Internet will destroy the old media - already underway in the United States - then it will eat the universities for dessert.

      Reply

    • anthony says:

      07:27pm | 20/01/10

      Eric,
      Don’t write so much rubbish. Let’s keep the left or right wing conformity aside.  University is a higher form of learning. you build on what you learnt at primary, secodary and college. University is not for everybody and 90% of us don’t have the mental ability to do it. University is about critical thinking so we don’t follow Hilter, Mao, Lenin, religions etc..without thinking. It is not just about money although that is very important to maintain a life.

    • James says:

      11:10am | 21/01/10

      Eric clearly has not had any experience with universities, and has no idea how the internet has changed scholarship over the last ten years largely for the better.

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      06:16pm | 20/01/10

      I can’t understand what all the fuss is about getting a higher eduction? In my whole family I’ve have one Aunt that was University educated and spent her working life in the teaching profession as did her husband and one of my sisters that went through to year12 and became a bank manager. No one else went past year10 and in that lot are an even mixture of blue and white collar workers. Some very, very successful and many just looking forward to the pension and it’s benifits. I’m lucky to be fairly comfortable in my small business and to be honest the only formal education that I rely on today is basic reading, writing and maths. everything else was a waste of the 10 years I was at school.
      @Shane from Melbourne. Pal you are so right on tradies! But in saying that I have a good mate in the building industry who built his business up by making sure he or his workers were where they were supposed to be at a certain time. He regularly gets calls from customers who can’t believe a tradie turned up when they said they would. He is quite successful as an account of this.

      Reply

    • John says:

      08:48pm | 20/01/10

      That’s right kids, don’t go to uni. Be Christina Aguerlia. Great.

      Reply

    • davido says:

      11:27pm | 20/01/10

      Personally, I think i would have been better off doing plumbing.

      Uni is not all it is cracked up to be if you ask me.

      Reply

    • katie says:

      10:35am | 21/01/10

      Many high schools, parents and members of the community put too much emphasis of university being the goal of education.  Why is it people choose the university course they are going to study based on thier TER,  rather than on what they would *LIKE* to do.  You should choose your career from EXPERIENCE before investing in a degree because they are actually very expensive…  Also we should do things that we *love*, because even if you love what you do going to work can still be a drag, and we need all we can to make it better.  Other entry pathways to university include prior learning from TAFE and STAT tests…. So you dont even have to have finished to yr 12.  You can make alot money without a degree, and you can make alot of money with one….  Importantly is a degree going to achieve what you want for your life?

      Reply

    • Wayne Kerr says:

      11:10am | 21/01/10

      I agree Uni is not for everybody.  I have had several attempts and still don’t have a degree. Without a degree I’ve manage to build a career and am realtively well paid.

      However I would argue that if one can do a degree while they are young and without major commitments in their life like a family of their own then I think it’s a good option.  In todays job environment it seems that if you don’t have degree you don’t even get to the first interview.  Furthermore having a degree under your belt can potentially give you more options in your working life/career then not having one. Believe me it’s hard to get a degree when you have a family and a mortgage.

      Finally using examples such as Bill gates etc is a bit misleading as they are the excpetion rather than the rule. I would guess most captains of industry etc have a degree.  They are not necessarily up there bevause of taht piece of paper but I bet you it helped a bit.

      Reply

    • MF says:

      12:25pm | 21/01/10

      I’ve (thankfully) already got my PhD and am now working in the university system.  While I agree that university certainly isn’t for everyone, and that drop out rates can be quite high in first year undergrad, I do think that writing off a university education can be detrimental down the line.

      People like Bill Gates are very much an exception to the rule.  In the US these days, you pretty much won’t make the first cut in the job application process unless you’ve got a Masters degree, let alone a simple Bachelors degree.  Things have changed dramatically within the last 30-40 years since the time Bill Gates attempted undergrad.  It’s naive to think that he’d succeed like that in today’s environment.  And using celebrities as examples of “hey, these guys didn’t go to university and they succeeded!”?  You’re kidding right?  How many people make it in Hollywood?  1 in every 100000 who tries?  Not a good example!

      Also, you’d be surprised at the number of tradies who end up at university in Science and Engineering degrees in their 30’s.  Because they finished grade 12, did their apprenticeship, earned their bucketloads, quit, thought they’d do something else, then realised nobody wanted to employ them without a degree…

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