UK: Value of degrees halves in 20 years,  research shows as critics rally against degrees as ‘disqualifications’

The "graduate premium" is a term often used to refer to how much more graduates are likely to earn on average, compared to their peers who do not hold a degree.

The new study analysed how the financial return to a degree has changed over a 20-year period during which increasing numbers of people have been choosing to study at degree level.

Researchers found that graduates born in 1990 earned 11% more than non-graduates at age 26. However those born in 1970 earned 19% more than their peers who did not go to university. This suggests the "graduate premium" fell by eight percentage points during this period.

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said that the research shows that “some degrees these days are ‘disqualifications’ rather than ‘qualifications’ for employment”.

He said: “A degree in heavy metal music from Nottingham Trent University, for example, is likely to put off potential employers and close doors even in the rock music industry.

“The declining earning potential of graduates reflects the fact that many young people are being seduced on to useless degree courses that launches them on a pathway leading to debt, disappointment and, not infrequently despair.

“Some unscrupulous universities are ‘on the make’ via Pied Piper student recruitment tunes.

“Nottingham Trent University may recently have re-named the Heavy Metal course but heavy metal is heavy metal by any other name and the certificate-carrying graduates are still down at the job centre.”

The HESA figures take into account factors such as time spent in the workplace and non-cognitive skills.

The study used data from the Labour Force Survey, the British Cohort Study or the 1970 cohort and the Next Steps dataset for those born in 1989/90.

The findings are tentative, the study says, and further research will look at graduates born after 1990 to see if the fall in the graduate premium is a short-term dip, or the start of a longer decline.

Graduates tend to have steeper growth in their earnings over time than non-graduates, and further research will look at this.

Tej Nathwani, an HESA econometrician, said: "Whilst the benefits of a degree are not solely financial, higher education remains a significant investment decision for young people.

"Changes in fees and funding have resulted in increased reliance on student loans, which are now treated differently in public sector finances.

"Consequently, graduate earnings continue to be an important area of research in higher education.

"This study adds to the available information about the financial benefits that individual students can expect from a degree. We hope to explore this area further in forthcoming years, as new data is released into the public domain."

Dr Greg Walker, chief executive of universities' group MillionPlus, added: "HESA's study shows yet again there is a significant positive financial return to higher education study even very early in a graduate's career, at age 26, in addition to the wider benefits higher education brings to former students and society.

"That there has been a dip in returns for the generation who joined the workforce in the aftermath of the Great Recession in 2008-09 is not surprising, given that this downturn was the deepest since the 1930's.

"A strengthening economy should mean a further upswing in the number of graduate-level roles and entrepreneurial opportunities."

SOURCE 





Negotiations With Striking Chicago Teachers Union 'Take a Turn for the Worse'

Striking Chicago teachers have been off the job for 5 days now and talks with the school board have virtually broken down. The union keeps demanding a librarian, a nurse, and psychologist for all 550 public schools in the district which would add almost $3 billion to the district's budget in a city that is desperately trying to find a way to plug an $800 million budget hole.

Borrow the money? Surely you jest. Chicago's municipal bonds are rated at "junk" or lower. Bailout from the state? Illinois is still trying to recover from the year and a half it operated without a budget.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot can say "There is no money" until the cows come home and the union isn't listening.

Associated Press:

Earlier Monday, Lightfoot sent a letter to union leaders asking for teachers to return to work without a deal as contract talks continued and reiterated her concern that teachers' demands are unaffordable for the district.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey described Monday's talks as "taking a turn for the worst," and said city and district negotiators were following the mayor's lead. "She wants us to simply give up on some of the most basic things that we're asking for, and that's not the way that labor negotiations work," he said on Tuesday morning.

The "way that labor negotiations work" is that both sides recognize the realities of the situation and each gives a little. But this isn't a labor negotiation at all. This is a "social justice" campaign.

One of the teachers' demands is that the city is supply affordable housing for its 16,000 homeless students and their families, as well as for teachers.

The Chicago union hasn’t released details of its housing proposal — and it’s unclear what changes, if any, such language would require of the city. But it does include a demand that the district put in writing that it supports any potential city and state policies aimed at making housing more affordable.

Union officials have noted city programs that help members of the police and fire department purchase a home. They’ve also referenced approaches to help teachers used elsewhere, including a California school district that’s building affordable housing for teachers and a Colorado program that covers a portion of teachers’ down payment for a home.

Teachers also want more staff dedicated to helping students who are homeless and working with families who are close to losing their housing.

Where can the city find $3 billion? It might start with the school district bureaucracy. The schools were funded at $78 million over last year's budget -- out of a budget of more than $2.5 billion. But school administration received a whopping 14% increase over last year.

The district’s proposed central office budget will increase by 14% to $279 million, and increase from about 900 people at the end of last school year to 1,060 people.  Experts say the relative size of Chicago’s education bureaucracy, about 5% of the district’s operating budget, is bigger than other large urban school districts, even as the city has moved toward a more decentralized approach to governing and funding schools.
And the salaries are obscene.

Over 9,000 school administrators earned more than $100,000 per year, and they’ll each receive $3 million or more in pension benefits during their retirements, according to a Illinois Policy Institute analysis. While school districts pay administrators’ salaries and benefits through local property taxes, state taxpayers are on the hook for those pension costs.

The city offered a 16 percent pay raise over 3 years, which was rejected by the union. They offered to fund 250 new positions, including counselors, nurses, and teachers' aides. It was also rejected.

The teachers are banking on angry parents rising up and demanding the city do something to end the strike. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is to happen.

SOURCE 





The university degrees you SHOULDN'T be studying if you want to land a job after graduating - and the ones that are almost certain to get you hired

Thousands of graduates are facing an uphill battle to get a job after university, a new report has revealed.

The study by the Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work found it was those with medicine and teaching degrees who have the best prospects after graduation.

By contrast, low levels of private and public research in Australia have restricted demand for graduates specialising in science, technology, engineering and maths.

THE DEGREES THAT WILL LAND YOU A JOB THE QUICKEST

The percentage of graduates who find work in the first four months:

Medicine 94.9 per cent

Teacher education 83.3 per cent

Engineering 83.1 per cent

Nursing 78.7 per cent

Business and management 77.9 per cent

Law and paralegal studies 77.2 per cent

Computing and information systems 73.2 per cent

Science and mathematics 64.6 per cent

Humanities and social sciences 64.3 per cent

Communications 60.5 per cent

Creative arts 52.2 per cent

Source: Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching 2018, four months post-graduation for undergraduate degrees


Survey data from 2018 showed 94.9 per cent of those with degrees in medicine were in full-time work within four months of graduation.

The median salary for medicine graduates when they first enter the workforce is about $70,000 a year. 

Teacher education degrees, where graduates start on an average of $63,500, had a 83.3 per cent success rate of finding work quickly. 

The report said jobs with a human connection would continue to be ready in supply.

'This is especially true in human, caring and public services - which have been strong sources of new job-creation in recent years,' researchers said.

Other industries which have experienced high demand for skilled graduates are nursing, business and management and law.

Science and mathematics came in at eighth on the list at 64.6 per cent.

The data showed a clear split in success rate between those holding vocational and generalist degrees.

Humanities communications and creative arts students, considered to be studying a generalist qualification, had as little as a 52.2 per cent chance of landing a full-time job in the four-month window. 

Data presented in the study also showed health care's share of the job market has grown the most - by five per cent since 1986.

Lead researchers Alison Pennington and Jim Stanford argued rather than taking away jobs, the rise of technology was actually 'freeing up' jobs for humans.

They said the rise of social media and digital technology industries has led to the creation of new roles not previously possible.

'The future of work will be marked by an increased role for jobs where technology complements human labour, and "frees up" humans to undertake more abstract, cognitive and emotional labour,' the report said.

Researchers said problem-solving, leadership and people management skills will all be important qualities in the future of the Australian working world. 

SOURCE