This week I have been contemplating and discussing with anyone who is willing to enter my contemplative process, just what is the measure of "success" in our society, and is it something I want to participate in?
Being a homeschooling mum, I have already taken a step outside of what our society considers normal, but I have always thought that my children would follow a fairly traditional path into adulthood.... Uni, career, children etc.
Well neither of my boys know what they "want to do with their lives" and who knows about children!! but they are quite opposed to going to University and this has lead me to quite a bit of soul searching. I suppose I have been a bit of a snob, or atleast just another sheep following the herd, as I alway thought that a Uni degree was superior to a Trade or Certificate course as a way to gain employment.
I have been forced to question my beliefsby my children, and over the last year I have been talking to other homeschool parents who's children have taken a Trade or TAFE course. Slowly my mindset has been shifting and it has been such a revelation.
While talking to other homeschool parents I have started to realise that I am not alone in my disquiet of the status-quo. However when I talk to parents of schooled children it is still all about Uni. This has made me wonder what the cost to benefit ratio of Uni really is! Here are some of my musings:
Recently I began to realise that Tradespeople make a LOT of money! (Of course I have seen this from a far but never really considered it and let it sink in). There is some urban myth out there that if you get a degree you earn more money, and I am starting to realise that that is just not true.
This has lead me to question why there is such a push towards Uni, if a Trade, or other career path may be just as well paid. Which made me question what is success? If a person finds a job/career path that they enjoy, it pays them enough to live, and they have a fulfilling homelife as well would that not be considered a successful life? Is a Uni degree an essential part of this equation?
"Oh but it give you more options", I hear you say. But does it really. I know LOTS of people who have degrees and once they finished they didnt like the field they had chose, or they couldnt get work in said field, or they enjoyed it for a while but then had to change because of life circumstance (eg: my friend who trained as a nurses and then her back gave out and she had to change careers).
When I worked for Optus there were several people in our area that had degrees (even double or triple degrees) and had given up their chosen careers to work in a Call centre!
So is it considered successful to spend 30 or 60 or 90 thousand dollars on a degree(s) to earn the same as someone who has not spent a cent on one? My husband earns double what my girlfriend does. She has 3 degrees and dear hubby has none. Both are equally happy with their choices, however she had the bosting power of THREE Degrees which counts for a lot in our society, but she has spent a small fortune getting to her $40,000 job and we have spent nothing. (Dear hubby climbed the corporate ladder and most courses have been paid for by his employer).
Of course there are plenty of people that do a degree and find the career of choice a wonderfully fulfilling journey. I am all for that! If my kids wanted to study something because they were passionate about it, I would happily pay for them to do so. But doing a degree for the sake of some future "better job/accolades/prestige/better pay is not something I would encourage them to do.
I have also started to wonder about a young person going into debt before they even start earning money. I would like to encourage my boys to step out into the working world and decide what they enjoy before they commit to study, and while they are deciding they are making money and (if they take my advice) saving towards a house while they are still living at home. I have always believed that if you can pay off your house then you can make whatever choices you like about your career and study goals. Being financially free is the ultimate success surely??
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6 comments:
I'm off the opinion that it's much better to follow your interests, in the hope of finding your true passion, and where your life should take you. Maybe that will mean uni maybe not.
But stepping into a course, just so you can have a degree seems rather superfluous to me. If you know that to work in a particular industry you'll need one, then go for it. But I think perhaps it's wise to ensure that you really have a good understanding of that industry first.
A neighbour dropped round the newsletter to my high school (not sure why?) and I was quite shocked to see that they are still, 18yrs later, espousing how important yr 12 is, and how it will help them for the rest of their lives to do well now. And whilst that may be true, it is not quite as important as everyone suggests, and the obsession of getting a good career and earning 'good money' is totally insulting to people who do something because they have a love of it
(whatever they are earning).
In my opinion being successful should mean being satisfied and content with the path one has chosen, but I think being raised in a typical schooling model perhaps sometimes it's difficult to move beyond the expectations that we ourselves were raised with.
For some reason the myth is still being propagated that not only are people more successful if they complete year 12, but that they earn more and have more opportunities if they go to university.
Once upon a time uni education meant a broadening of the mind: that hasn't been the case since the 1980s when the focus shifted from a liberal education to a workplace goal-oriented education.
A young person is much better off getting a job, any job, and preferably travelling in between jobs, or working while travelling; or working towards a trade. Young people need to experience the world to get the kind of education unis used to offer.
If young people have a passion and uni education can continue and enhance that passion, then uni is the best choice for them. Most young people, however, don't have a clue what their strengths and limitations are, even homeschooling kids. Most of us find that out between ages 25 and 30 which is why a liberal education is best.
Many people assumed that I returned to TAFE to complete my HSC because I regretted leaving school in Year 10. No regrets here! I'm so glad I worked for a couple of years, and travelled to China while all my friends were slaving away over useless exams. I decided to complete school for myself - I love learning and that year was the best education year in my life (aside from Language study in Thailand). But I went on to Uni (and quit) because that was the next logical step, rather than really thinking through what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.
I actually had a uni professor tell us what Beverley so elequently pointed out, "University is about broadening the mind." It's about learning how to think for yourself, even to challenge status quo. Or at least it used to be that way.
I'm glad that Jordan and Luke have parents who are willing to look at the 'way things are' and challenge them. That you're willing to question the meaning of success and give them freedom to choose based on passions and abilities.
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