"Fries with that?" - Update

Here on DegreeInfo there has long been discussion of certain courses of study that do not seem to easily lend themselves to the current marketplace. In other words, they probably won't help you to get a job in that field. Philosophy degrees, History degrees, English degrees, etc. all fall into that category and so some have said, "Don't waste your time and especially don't waste your money. Others have spoken eloquently about the value of these courses of study and how people should pursue their interests, etc. Good points have been made by everyone in this discussion. Historically my opinion is that it's fine to earn these degrees for "personal enrichment" as long as you go into it with your eyes open and don't spend more money than you can afford because there's likely to be very limited ROI. Now my degree is in the engineering technology field. Super practical. But then I went and did something a bit unusual. I started reading outside my field and after long thought and research I have just mailed off my application for admission to a grad program that is very, very unlikely to get me anything except some odd looks when people read my resume. This is an MPhil degree in an area related to Cultural Anthropology from our favorite South African university. I am very happy to be actively returning to the DL world and very excited to be moving into a completely new area of studies. I will let you know when it's all official and I will try not to whine too much about my new workload.:cool3:

 

When I was looking at degree programs a few years ago with a goal of going into national security, cultural anthropology was my backup to political science (internationally-focused), international relations, and national security studies. I was the only person in my security studies program, at the time, who chose the regional studies concentration. Technically, my transcript says regional security, but it was regional studies before they changed it; and, now, they've changed it back. I wanted to learn about world cultures and the history of conflicts in specific regions. My other classmates wanted to learn about WMDs and homeland security. I thought our core courses covered enough on homeland security. I haven't been hired for a federal job yet (the process was slowed down by sequestration), but I can tell you that being able to check off that I have academic knowledge of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, etc. has gotten me pretty far in the hiring process with one agency.

 

I'm taking a small stack of marketing and public relations TECEP exams this term. It's come up more than once in my reading for these that anthropologists (by name), and ethnography, have important contributions to give to marketing and corporate communication research.

So congratulations on your next career as a spin doctor! Or a spin master. :tongue:

 

Kizmet, I think it's great that you've decided to pursue this. I know little to nothing about this field, my daughter-in-law and her father are taking a masters in anthropology and already working in this area presently. Just from their conversations it certainly seems a fascinating subject. Sometimes you just have to say "damn the torpedoes" and follow the road less travelled (per Robert Frost). Enough with the cliches, but I do commend you for taking this step. Best of luck in your studies.

 

Hey, best of luck w/ your application! I took a cultural anthropology class at my local CC a number of years ago (it was one of only a handful butt-in-seat classes that I'd ever taken). It was one of my all-time favorite classes. The Prof was great, and the topic was very interesting to me.

With respect to ROI - I would say there is very little to worry about at least from a financial aspect since you've chosen to pursue this degree from a SA university.

Keep us up-to-date on your progress.

 

One of my kids wants to teach in Middle and High school. This is his passion.
He is majoring in English.
He is studying in a top tier university.
Contingency plan in case things don't go as expected is MBA.

BTW we hired a really skilled ICT Engineer, his BA degree is in music.
So there are some exceptions.

 

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I took some time and looked at the research interests/publications of the instructors, did some reading, emailed them some questions about their work and in the process told them I was applying to the program. As you might guess, people are usually happy to hear that others have read their work and are willing to discuss other's areas of interest in return. I was told that I should have little trouble with admissions so I have some confidence about that aspect. For me it always becomes a time management issue and I think I have a bit more self discipline now than in my previous "washout" experience. Time will tell. Again, thanks for the support.

 

I'll have to review some of these threads, sounds like some fascinating discussions!

While there may not be a significant ROI if you stay in a "personal enrichment" type of field, can one not easily use the degree just to satisfy the "a" degree requirement? Since quite a number of major companies and even major professional accrediting agencies are less concerned with the specifics of a degree, just that an applicant have a degree.

Cheers, I wish you the best in this new endeavor!

 

READ THE FINE PRINT. ALL OF IT. AND THEN VERIFY YOUR UNDERSTANDING WITH AN EMAIL/TELEPHONE CONVERSATION.

In short, the program that I was about to apply for costs a lot more than I originally thought. It's the "international fees" thingy. So I am/was very disappointed. This has caused me to quickly run through the list of programs that I had created earlier. Without a lot of time to waste (application deadlines) I've switched my choice and my application will soon be going out to The University of London. I'm sure that all you degreeinfo trivia fanatics will remember that this school was the site of my original DL washout. Hopefully the passage of time and the change in subject matter will make the difference with this plan.

 

Two things:

My UoL experience was not positive but that was in part the consequence of not having access to a common law library. But it was also a consequence, I think, of poor cooperation between the teaching and examining authorities. Be careful.

Second, a liberal arts degree is vastly underrated, even in monetary terms. You will see...reading, thinking clearly, and writing concisely are skills that no technical education can replace.

 

here's some research on "fries with that"

http://dailynous.com/2019/01/18/uk-philosophy-majors-graduate/

 

The question is, what exactly are they doing, and how much are they making?

“Civil servant” could be someone who patches potholes for the local Department of Public Works.

 

Simply, since 60% are not working full time at SIX MONTHS AFTER graduation, I'd say that major = big flop.