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But, I think "General Studies" as a label doesn't sound quite as marketable as a more specific major, to an employer. To me, it just sounds like an extension of high school, like you couldn't make up your mind about what you wanted to do.
That's exactly what it is. It was set up for students who spent 4 years trying to "find themselves", and never did. Couldn't decide on a major, so instead of denying them a diploma, universities invented this generic category to cover their aimless wandering, so their 4 years of tuition wouldn't be wasted.
Nonsense. Everything isn't about the labor marketplace. Especially when it comes to higher education. For every kind of degree, there is opportunity in the academic field.
Now, you can argue that a specific program is useless. Such as programs that rank low from low ranking universities, such as Texas University San Antonio or ASU. But even an arts degree from a top program is going to be useful.
Do you mean University of Texas at San Antonio or Texas A&M University at San Antonio? There is no Texas University San Antonio. ASU is kind of an odd choice to use as an example here. It might not be ranked that high overall, but it has several top 25 programs. I would argue that it would be better to attend a top-ranked program at a low-ranked school than a low-ranked or unranked program at a highly-ranked school. Top-ranked schools don't excel at everything. For example, Harvard shouldn't be a top choice for certain engineering fields. It would make more sense to advise people not to attend low-ranked programs than to emphasize low-ranked programs from low-ranked schools.
It's such a worthless degree. Do people actually think a general studies degree will make them competitive in the job market?
In fact, I think a general studies degree may actually hurt your chances of getting hired when compared to someone with no degree.
Just think about it for a second. If someone, for the past 4 years, thought that the most productive use of their time and money was to obtain a general studies degree, would you really want them working at your company?
Hmm. Maybe employers should start doing educational checks on people who don't list any education, just in case they're hiding their general studies degree.
WHy?
1) Mommy and Daddy are funding it, so why not?
2) Schooling is financed by loans and the prevailing idea is that someone else will pay things back.
3) It maybe the only thing in reach for someone who needs an easy degree in a timely fashion.
4) Employers really do not need a college degree but require one for screening or to fulfill a mandatory government requirement.
A bachelor's degree is often a terminal degree: people simply don't want to study more.
It used to be that you could count on getting a PhD to teach, but universities have fewer and fewer tenured positions, so that career choice is often not lucrative.
This is incorrect. A bachelors degree is rarely a terminal degree. There are certain programs such as teaching where this applies.
There are more universities in the U.S. than ever. There is more research grant proposals than ever.
With the exception of the very few who take college courses for personal enrichment, it is indeed all about the labor marketplace.
Perhaps if/when you choose to step into a university you will realize it's not all about the labor marketplace. In fact, the degree offerings at a university don't even match up with the labor marketplace. They match up with academia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slowpoke_TX
There is no point in earning a degree in underwater basket weaving if all you can do with it is become a professor of underwater basket weaving.
In other words, self-perpetuation in the realm of academia is worthless.
Perhaps if/when you choose to step into a university you will realize that underwater basket weaving is not a degree that is offered at any university.
Perhaps if/when you choose to step outside of a university you will realize that there exist these things called idioms.
"Underwater basket weaving is an idiom referring in a negative way to supposedly easy and/or worthless college or university courses, and used generally to refer to a perceived decline in educational standards." Underwater basket weaving - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perhaps if you read the thread in which you chose to participate, you would understand what I was saying.
It's such a worthless degree. Do people actually think a general studies degree will make them competitive in the job market?
In fact, I think a general studies degree may actually hurt your chances of getting hired when compared to someone with no degree.
Just think about it for a second. If someone, for the past 4 years, thought that the most productive use of their time and money was to obtain a general studies degree, would you really want them working at your company?
Hmm. Maybe employers should start doing educational checks on people who don't list any education, just in case they're hiding their general studies degree.
A general studies degree is typically used to get into a graduate program. It shows that a student is well rounded and educated. A lot of students choose this path before applying to law school or MBA programs.
Why is it that you people hate science, but you seem to think any degree that's not a STEM degree is worthless.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 09-16-2014 at 06:09 AM..
Reason: removed the snide comments
This is incorrect. A bachelors degree is rarely a terminal degree. There are certain programs such as teaching where this applies.
There are more universities in the U.S. than ever. There is more research grant proposals than ever.
What I meant was that most people enter the workforce after a bachelor's, so that's why it's "terminal."
If the number of master's degrees goes up too quickly/too much and especially if it does so without a reduction in time and without a reduction in cost, that is a bad thing. It means there is more money spent and more time used to get the same kind of job.
Those people need to choose a field that serves a purpose other than self-perpetuation. More importantly, universities should stop offering these pointless programs.
The fact that universities are increasingly relying on adjuncts instead of full time profs is the real reason why the market is getting harder. I heard the "useless" degrees have gotten less and less popular anyway.
Those people need to choose a field that serves a purpose other than self-perpetuation. More importantly, universities should stop offering these pointless programs.
The problem here is still that "pointless" changes radically. Geography was pointless in 2004, and now is critical. Chemistry was once critical (and is still perceived as critical by most people) but now has become pointless. Business was a critical major for decades. Now it is bottom of the barrel for pointless majors. Computer science was a pointless major for far longer than it has been a critical major.
(And people who major in CS and geography back when it was "pointless" are doing very well now.)
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