bug - you are always right - a matriarch of the forum (up)

good idea Eska, although my friend works for vivienne westwood and I have it on good authority that she tends to see a good idea put her signature at the bottom and pass it off as her own cos you are her employee its then ok lol. :p

The problem is, with all the students working to pay fees, then all the jobs that the non-university people would have gone for are all gone!

I think the two gentlemen have got it about right - it would be rubbish to have a tiered system where the rich get the best education. As a lecturer I know that departments are constantly fearing that someone will turn round and demand a 'reciept' for what they are getting in terms of education e.g. contact hours, essays marked in so many days, grades, personal tuition etc etc.

I actually did an 'about turn' just before uni - I was going to go to do music as everyone assumed that was what would happen. So I do understand the 'arts'. I still work as a musician so please don't imagine me in a lab coat poking people to get reactions!

I saw the section about private sector organisations putting more money in - but it gets you thinking that somewhere along the line, will a piece of research be 'adapted' to suit that organisation? I.e. you write it up like that or your funding gets pulled .....

hmm eska, I think you are deliberately taking offence - I was merely trying to say that university courses are becoming more and more geared to what is useful in Alan Sugar's world of 'hard hitting business',  they assume these 'softer' subjects are worthless and refuse to look at the skills they actually provide you with. I would imagine that film studies provides you with very in depth analytical skills for example - although I do not know the subject in detail of course ;-)

My original point actually was that they shouldn't be even attempting to classify subjects in terms of more or less important or 'better' than others and that all courses offer their own benefits, but maybe I didn't make myself clear. Maybe I should enrol on communication studies at undergrad  :$

to be fair - I did say that others would take an alternative view. AND I did say that most peopel think my subject is 'soft' too - so it wasn't a personal dig at film studies - just an example of what many peopel have pulled out as soft subjects. I could have chosen film, media, english lit, psychology, sociology, culture studies, anthroplogy, even history now is seen as a course for having fun, i.e. interesting but not necessarily helpful in BUSINESS - just highlights the whole 'alan sugaring' of HE!

No offence meant Eska in fact, if I could understand half the films I watch then I would be a better person - I still haven't got a clue about what went on in mission impossible!

hmm - I agree its the type of degree, but didn't the conservatives come out and say they were going to league table the courses, giving 'proper' courses more points. But I worry about this because I do psychology, which is often seen as a soft subject. It does however, provide you with a balanced range of skills with an equal amount of literacy/numeracy/critical appraisal skills. It is also a science (i.e. not just body language and dream analysis like so many people think).

Who would decide what was a 'proper' subject?? I would consider film studies a complete waste of time, but I am sure a film director may consider it differently! Who knows!

Maybe a better way would be to change the class system (not the posh vs common lol but 1st vs 2:1). If you had a greater range of degrees, then you could single out the 'elite' i.e. you wouldn't end up with 90% of people getting a 2:1 and therefore employers might value the degree class a little more.

What's your opinions on the CBI report out today?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8263672.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/21/cbi-university-fees-funding-crisis

I would say the majority of people pay for Masters degrees - it is very rare to get funding for these. Most people do get funding for PhDs.

lol I am assuming that's different. I hope you haven't found anything about drinking way too much pepsi max and cancer :$

Then you get into the whole tuition fees mine field! - eventually it will probably mean that you get researchers and teachers, completely separate (as some are already) because students will demand they get teaching quality for their money - not just some bumbling researcher who wants some extra cash on the side. - hence the introduction and enforcement of the PGCHE or whatever its called - teaching qualification in HE.

This will then result in students not being taught the most up to date research (because the researcher is off doing his own thing) and the whole concept of the learned teaching the learning has gone out of the window! Hmph! :-s

on a different but related note - are you looking for funding later on as joseph rowntree foundation has projects availble about alcohol etc. - just thought you might be interested.