Should You Study a Degree If You Don't Want the Job?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently told students not to study Law at university if they weren't going to follow-through.

We asked our members if they agreed, or if they thought there was a benefit to studying something for the sake of studying it, and not necessarily because it will lead to a job. Here’s one great response.

What a question! In theory, we study so we can hopefully get a good job, become an active member of society and earn a good income to maybe one day afford a house in Sydney.

Therefore, logic says, what’s the point of studying for a degree that you aren't going to turn into an occupation?

But, what happened to the joy of learning for learning's sake?

Education has been around since ancient civilisation. It's as old as humanity itself. And a lot of what we learn now dates back to then as well. Formal education as we know it started back in the Middle Ages, a time of monarchs, plagues and, yep, universities. The first few institutions considered as places of education began popping up around Italy, France and England.

Fast forward to the present day and UNESCO predicts that within the next 30 years more people will have received formal education than the entirety of history thus far. That’s pretty amazing for a world in which some groups of people are still denied the right to attend school.

So then, let's return to the question: Should you study something if it's not going to turn into a job?

Simply put, education provides us with answers, or encourages us to keep asking and investigating. How big is a circle? What are my legal rights? How long will it take for a rocket to leave Earth's atmosphere?

Education also encourages creativity and critical thinking. Subjects like Art and Textiles provides us with hands-on skills as well as the ability to create thought-provoking pieces of work, while Maths and Science show us how everything around us functions. Humanities subjects like Geography and Economics teach us about our place in the world and the economic systems that govern our everyday lives.

Prime Minister Turnbull is suggesting the only point of learning is to get a job. And if you can't tell already, I completely disagree. If you want to do the learning just because, please do. Learn about your world and your society. Become educated in the things you care about, and even if you don't want to be a part of that field of work, learn it anyway.

Congratulations to Josephine for winning this week's writing challenge: Should You Study a Degree If You Don't Want the Job? Josephine wins a $50 Westfield gift card for her submission. For your chance to win, check out our latest writing challenges in our Competitions section. Also, be sure to follow this guide on how to win the writing challenge

Photo: MGM