Well gentlemen, a great deal of money has been invested in this project, & we can't allow it to fail

[kynon]

I have just happened across this story (couple of months old, sorry), and reading not just the story, but also the comment from Liam Burns, the president of NUS Scotland, has left me quite literally open-mouthed with disbelief

Comments

[ext_404345]

Edinburgh! Yeesss. Had similar there myself. For one woman with MINOR (!) asthma (I.e, she only ever got it at essay deadline and exam time. Rest of the time she was fit enough to go orientiering, rowing, hiking, etc), they arranged everything from delays in essay deadlines, to even being able to take her exam at home.

I get gout once, am unable to attend for two weeks, so they try to throw me out, after three years averageing 85% in essays and exams, and must raise Hel and highwater throughout the whole system from NUS to the dean himself to get their decision overturned.

I would still ölike to find out who on the staff she was shagging.

[cr4k]

Are you sure your DOS didn't just try to kick you out because you weren't good enough?

;)

[faerycake]

I don't think having a degree necessarily marks people out as more or less intelligent - heh, I know lots of people who don't have degrees who I think are a lot cleverer and more insightful than me even though I've got a pretty high level of formal education :P

[cr4k]

Liam does join up his social mobility philosophy by pushing for grants for poor students to be fair. He's now president of NUS in the UK, so I hope he keeps that up

[dryriser]

"In my experience of job seeking, the piece of paper is a prerequisite for being considered for technical jobs"

Really? My experience has been exactly the opposite - nobody cares what degree I have or where it came from, they all want experience. I've only found one company recently that cared about my degree and given that they also cared about my GCSE and Higher results, I consider their hiring process deeply flawed.

It took me a long time to find a specifically 'graduate' job. It paid bugger-all and I worked there just long enough to gain the experience that I could put on my CV to get a decent job.

I'd argue that these days, a university degree is often worth little *apart* from social status, with Edinburgh uni being the classic example or students completing arts degrees before going to work in the city - it's a stereotype that has a lot of truth to it.

[cr4k]

Really?

Yes really. My guess is that it depends on how specialised you are after a while.

I agree that companies that look for UCAS points etc...are displaying a bean counter type attitude which I would generally want to avoid in an employer. What should HR look for when assessing an inexperienced candidate for an entry level job? I think a computer science (2:1) degree is a pretty good indication of basic awareness programming and the issues that surround it as well as showing some level of dedication.

I'd argue that these days, a university degree is often worth little *apart* from social status

Do you think vocational degrees are worth little?

[savageteddybear]

oh dear I guess Liam has finally vanished up his own arse.. I used to actually like the guy and had many a good argument with him when we were both on the union council at the watt.

[dryriser]

Unfortunately, I think he's right. University *shouldn't* be about social mobility, but it is. We either have to overhaul the entire sytem from secondary education upwards to make results actually reflect academic ability and intelligence (and that's going to happen, right?), or accept that University attendance is likely indicative of social background, particularly when it comes to *which* university, and work round that. Or ignore further education completely when hiring.

As I've been saying to anyone who'll listen for a long time, your degree certificate, particularly in the more technical industries, is worth precisely fuck-all once you get your first (minimally paid) job - from then, experience is everything. It shows that industry is wising up, parhaps the rest of the country needs to as well.