"Mickey-mouse degrees"

Today's moan is directed at the influx of arrogant journalists picking fun at those spending thousands of pounds and three years of their life on so-called "Mickey Mouse degrees".

Initially, I was annoyed that my degree (Music Journalism and Media) is most probably classified as such, but then I thought even all those graduates in Golf Management and Surf Studies have paid in excess of £18,000 and three years hard graft only to be down-trodden in the broadsheets by a plethora of ignoramuses.

It seems incredibly easy to just point and poke fun at these type of degrees without actually looking into the individual modules and how they can be applied to future work. My degree is deceptively broad in that it covered various journalistic styles, regulations, and ethics against a backdrop of the history and workings of the media. It is forgivable to assume that I am only trained to write music reviews. I can tell you now, I would not have wasted my time if that was the case.

I agree to an extent that there are some courses such as Equestrian Psychology that probably don't cut it as a degree subject. However, I'm not going to insult the efforts of wannabe Equestrian Psychologists by labelling their degree as a Mickey Mouse subject.

In my opinion, University today is not all about the specific degree subject. I've learned so much about living independently and about myself (bit cheesy.. yes) as well as attributes like prioritising workloads, organisational and teamwork skills which funnily enough always seem to crop up in the personal specifications section of job applications. That's the whole point of going to Uni isn't it? To get a job?

I'm going to end with a reference from The Times newspaper article: "'Mickey Mouse' degrees?" which states that with regards to the Golf Management degree, "Graduates finish with a degree and a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) qualification. Even in these straitened times, over 90% find graduate-level work within six months". I bet the odds are a lot bleaker for the 'classic' degree subjects!