xiinfaniin Posted September 25, 2007 Originally posted by Yaab: Hi everyone.. Is there such a thing as a "useless degree"? Discuss. Yes, here are some examples: *Philosophy *Music Performance *Art *Art History *Music business Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naden Posted September 25, 2007 ^ Wow. Interesting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Faarax-Brawn Posted September 25, 2007 Originally posted by xiinfaniin: quote:Originally posted by Yaab: Hi everyone.. Is there such a thing as a "useless degree"? Discuss. Yes, here are some examples: *Philosophy *Music Performance *Art *Art History *Music business I think Philo is the most useless in that list. I agree though,that is as useless(for a Somali) as it gets. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blessed Posted September 25, 2007 Ghani, you're such a miskiinad, I'd tell them that I'd study the course of their choice and let them pay for my choice. My degree must be useless. I must be the only Somali that's done it and seem to be the only one on facebook in that concentration. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LayZie G. Posted September 25, 2007 ^^ it certainly is useless if you have a degree in any of those program's XIIN listed, you might as well end your life if you wasted 4 yrs of your life just to major in music business or arts, btw, I didn't know music business existed, it sounds useless, but didn't even know respectable institutions offered it as a major, what a bumper, no offence to above nomad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LayZie G. Posted September 25, 2007 PS:Polital Science should be added to the useless list. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Salma Posted September 25, 2007 Takes the tips from my lips or fingers clicks) LOL. Study what u love and where u think u will achieve and master. Follow your passion and never let the surroundings deceive u. For me, I have deep love for humanities and art subjects (Psychology, Philosophy, History, Sociology,Media, or Comparative religions . But, in UAE where I live, I coulnd't find my favourite subjects in my city. My relatives and friends made fun of me, whatttttttt? Pyschology & Sociology? honey, what u gonna do with that?. Somalis don't need assistance from any1 dear. Qaat and bad words are enough for our ppl 2 clear their minds. Don't waste 4 years on these useless things. U must study IT or Business Administration and I hated them, I end up doing Management Information System (MIS) and my brain is shouting at me all the time "What the hell you'll do with MIS anyway, Indians are invading UAE and the Gulf. Plus, India with their new Silicon Valley in Bangalore will never let u survive and get a job. Even, Bill Gates is recruiting from India LOOL. But, keep it short, its either Business Administration or Computer Science or go Sleep. The only three things I love in the Computers are :- 1- Email 2- Google 3- and Graphics Design. and since I am doing some freelance Graphic Desinging (logos, Business Cards, Shoppings bags, Letterheads and Business Envelopes, Greeting Cards, Banners, gadgets, photoshop, illustrator, corel draw,,,, bla bla bla. I can't digest sitting behind a dead screen doing programming and analysing. I love colours and designing, but if I want to do further studies it gotta be Visual Communications and not MIS. Bottomline, your job is your future destiny and your destiny is in Almighty Allah's hands. Best you can do is to pray "estikharah prayer" and seek assistance from Allah. But, remember, not ONLY GEEKS and Engrs. who can build Somalia, even Artists are required. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xiinfaniin Posted September 25, 2007 Naden, I gather you hesitated to nod your head in agreement with the list. Which one do you think should not be on the list adeer? Faarax, soomaali or soomaali la’aan if you spend a lot of money to get your degree you better get out of it something that’s marketable and by which you could make a decent living adeer. In that regard philosophy is a fadhi-ku-dirir with academic dye… Sister Amina, have I listed yours? There are helper degrees that proves to be a good stepping-stone to other careers... LG, I am inclined to agree with you on the political science being useless…but with connections you could still get a decent job in the congressional bodies, State departments etc…so it is not as useless as it sounds. Folks lets face it, if we only are after knowledge or satisfying our intellectual hobbies we might as well camp at the libraries and quench our knowledge thirst with variety of readings, do research, get trainings etc. But from where I am coming from, people go to school and spend tons of money to 1) get credentials and 2) make a decent living (read: make lots of money). If that were the sole criterion by which degrees are to be judged then, most art degrees are useless I say… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chubacka Posted September 25, 2007 ^^^ true. Anyway everyone is talking about what occupations will be useful in Somalia but is anyone planning to work there. I was fortunate in dat being at da "jarmacaad" was more important than what I was studying! What is important Mr Poster (sorry forgot name) is dat you plan ahead what you will do after your degree, wot career choices will your degree open? What do you want to do in the future. Jst plan inshallah den you can study what fits in wid your plans. There are many useless degrees, BA war studies?! jst to name one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N.O.R.F Posted September 25, 2007 Originally posted by Naden: ^ Guaranteed job upon graduation in Engineering? That will be a first. Nothing is guaranteed and the job market fluctuates depending on where you live, the school you've graduated from, and the internships/practicals you've undertaken. Neither degree guarantees work, high salary or high demand. Like Caano Geel said, if you love what you are doing, you will probably excel as a student. A guaranteed job upon graduating is on the offing (in the UK at least) and a well paying one at that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted September 25, 2007 Personaly, I always enjoyed History, Geography and langages which are very powerful tools. However, taught from western perspective, this rapidly change into brain-washing fueling prejudices (Eurocentrism & Americanocentrism with the focus on British economic history, French political systems ect) and little intellectual insight. just compare how they focus on their Greco-Roman civilizations roots while at best describing superficially other civilizations which contributed even more to fundamentals human breakthroughs and technological progress (Sumerian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Africans and not least Islamic civilizations). So, as Xiin said, some good books and courses might as well do the job with much less headaches and stress. Now, for jobs I'd advise you to take Northerner advises, engineers, for example, are always in demand and reasonably paid, especially in booming Islamic countries... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naden Posted September 25, 2007 Xiin, it is astonishing that you (or anyone) would make such a global assessment without qualifiers such as useless for me or useless in finding paying work in a specific place and specific time. While reserving judgment on the business of higher education in the US or the politics of employment, education is what the person gets out of it. Arts, culture, music, philosophy, history, and many others are the very soul of humanity's journey, reflecting upon and documenting it. When it comes to making a living, most people need to learn a 'trade' before, during, or after a BA or a BSc. if they choose to pursue them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamster Posted September 25, 2007 Xiin In the UK where you study matters alot rather that what you have studied in so fas as securing well paying jobs (unless you want to bome a doc or engineer etc bythewhy contrary to the popular belief being engineer does not pay that much in comparison to other professions: banking, finance, legal, PR, PE etc). I know philosophers, geography graduates and historians milking it at places like JP Morgan, Goldman, Mogan Stanley etc as financiers. It is all about what you like matey. If you study History of Art and are good at it you can make a killing by working high powered arty job! You study what you are passionate about Mr Yaab. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blessed Posted September 25, 2007 LayZie, Lol! No offence taken. I only called it useless because, it makes me feel like a loner. Xiin. You didn’t mention mine but it's a cocktail of what’s referred to as useless disciplines. Still, I’ve a feeling that you’d approve of my BArtsofEducation :cool: despite the lack of career specific training. At the end of the day, it’s personality, drive and being passionate about something will get you far. Also, apart from the transferable skills that I’ve already mentioned, having a degree also has a great influence on your salary scale even if is not relevant to the work that you do and approximately 60% of graduate jobs advertised in the UK do not specify any particular degree subject. Most graduate degree schemes are open to graduates of all disciplines. I was incidentally speaking to someone who did English Lit. for both her BA and MA but has landed a job with the UN in Darfur. Just to go back to what MMA said, okay student debt is a problem but there are ways of avoiding that and whilst in some cases there are other routes to the same job on the most part ethnic minority applicants will need a higher education qualification as backup. Just a look through these findings points to how lack of education is the bedrock of the problems faced by Muslims in Britain and I’m sure the picture is same on a global scale . Finaly, who says that you can’t use your ‘knowledge of the dunya’ in doing acts of worship? Lets not be so one dimensional, akhi. lol@Zulfa. Welcome back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kool_Kat Posted September 25, 2007 Someone once told me, on an average when someone starts college/university, they change their major two or three times before they decide on what they really enjoy and good at... In high school, I was really good at Computers and enjoyed it very much, so I thought a major in Computers will suit me...Applied and got into Computer Science...After a few weeks of the program I decided that I didn't like it and changed it to Finance...By the end of that term I hate it, and changed it once again to Business... Point is what you think you like and enjoy now might not be as appealing as actually studying it...But it should always be something you picked to study, not your family... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
