Is it still worth going to university? — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:01Earning a degree
- 0:02used to lead
- 0:03to a steady job
- 0:04with a good salary
- 0:05But today
- 0:06young graduates in the West
- 0:07are finding fewer
- 0:08employment opportunities
- 0:11So, is it still worth
- 0:13going to university?
- 0:22The unemployment rate
- 0:23of young graduates in America
- 0:25is now approaching
- 0:26the same rate
- 0:27for the age group as a whole
- 0:28In 2010
- 0:29there was around
- 0:30a six percentage-point difference
- 0:31in unemployment
- 0:32between young people
- 0:33and young graduates
- 0:34But now there's just a
- 0:35one percentage-point difference
- 0:36between them
- 0:37It's not just in America
- 0:39In the European Union
- 0:41the unemployment rate
- 0:42of young people
- 0:42with tertiary education
- 0:44is now approaching
- 0:44the overall rate
- 0:45for that age group
- 0:48One theory for this
- 0:49is that universities are accepting
- 0:51less-talented applicants,
- 0:52and then they aren't
- 0:53teaching them very well
- 0:55This could lead to employers
- 0:56not expecting much of a difference
- 0:58between the average graduate
- 0:59and then someone who didn't
- 1:00go to university
- 1:02Another theory
- 1:03is that fewer jobs
- 1:04need graduate-level qualifications
- 1:07For example, in the past
- 1:09you often needed
- 1:10to attend a university
- 1:11in order to understand
- 1:12how to use a computer
- 1:13On the frontiers of science
- 1:15the strange world
- 1:16of the computer
- 1:17But today almost everyone
- 1:18can use tech,
- 1:19regardless of whether or not
- 1:20they went to university
- 1:22The number of jobs
- 1:23in graduate-friendly industries
- 1:25is also decreasing
- 1:26Across the EU
- 1:27the number of 15-to-24-year olds
- 1:29who are employed
- 1:30in finance and insurance
- 1:31fell by 16%
- 1:33from 2009-2024
- 1:35And, since 2016,
- 1:36the number of British
- 1:37twentysomethings in law and finance
- 1:39has fallen by 10%
- 1:43It's tempting to blame AI
- 1:44for these waning opportunities
- 1:47Yet the decline in graduate jobs
- 1:49started long before ChatGPT
- 1:52What's more likely
- 1:53is that the industries
- 1:54that traditionally employed graduates
- 1:56have had a tough time lately
- 1:58Since the global financial crisis
- 2:00of 2007-2009,
- 2:02the golden age of investment banking
- 2:04is over,
- 2:05so they're spending less money
- 2:06on hiring graduates
- 2:08In America
- 2:09all this
- 2:10is affecting young people's decision
- 2:12on whether or not
- 2:12to attend college
- 2:14The number of Americans
- 2:15enrolled in bachelor's programmes
- 2:17fell by 5%
- 2:18from 2013-2022,
- 2:20according to data from the OECD
- 2:22Yet in most rich countries,
- 2:24where education is cheaper
- 2:25because the state plays
- 2:26a larger role,
- 2:27young people are still applying
- 2:28to universities in droves
- 2:30Excluding America,
- 2:32enrolment across the OECD
- 2:33rose from 28m
- 2:35to 31m
- 2:36in the decade to 2022
- 2:40Perhaps students
- 2:41simply aren't picking
- 2:42the right subjects
- 2:44Arts, humanities
- 2:45and social sciences
- 2:46are still proving popular
- 2:48Even, inexplicably, journalism
- 2:53If these trends say anything
- 2:55about young people's ideas
- 2:57about the future of work,
- 2:58they truly are in trouble
- 3:01So, in the age of AI
- 3:03what should you study at university?
- 3:07As technology improves,
- 3:09the future of work
- 3:10is changing, too
- 3:12Many of the jobs
- 3:13that graduates will have
- 3:14don't even exist yet
- 3:17Some young people worry
- 3:18that certain skills they learn
- 3:20might become outdated
- 3:21as technology changes
- 3:23Coding, for example,
- 3:24is at risk of becoming obsolete
- 3:26within only a few years
- 3:28According to one study
- 3:29the percentage of American
- 3:30and British IT professionals
- 3:31who worry that AI tools
- 3:33will make many of their
- 3:34day-to-day skills obsolete
- 3:36increased from 74%
- 3:38to 91%
- 3:39in just one year
- 3:40There are some subjects
- 3:41which are likely
- 3:42to stay relevant
- 3:45Robotics, for example,
- 3:46will help people
- 3:47maximise the benefits
- 3:48of technological change
- 3:50And practical jobs,
- 3:52like plumbing
- 3:53and carpentry,
- 3:54are less likely
- 3:55to be taken over by AI
- 3:56and will remain
- 3:57valued by society
- 3:59These professions
- 4:00often don't require
- 4:01a university qualification
- 4:02and can be learnt
- 4:03in other ways,
- 4:04like on apprenticeships
- 4:06But arguably
- 4:06what's more important
- 4:07for students
- 4:08than studying a specific subject
- 4:10is to focus on learning
- 4:11soft skills instead
- 4:12Things like communication,
- 4:14critical thinking
- 4:15and reliability,
- 4:16as well as empathy
- 4:18and being able to
- 4:19build relationships
- 4:20All are transferable
- 4:22across multiple industries
- 4:24OECD findings
- 4:26from 2019
- 4:27demonstrate that people
- 4:27will need to rely
- 4:28on their currently
- 4:29unique human skills
- 4:31to succeed
- 4:32Understanding how to learn
- 4:33will be key
- 4:34to developing new skills
- 4:35and adapting in changing times
- 4:38The research also suggests
- 4:39that jobs with complex
- 4:41social interactions,
- 4:42such as care,
- 4:43will still need humans
- 4:45so developing skills
- 4:46like negotiation
- 4:47and persuasion
- 4:48will be vital
- 4:49Currently AI isn't very good
- 4:52at these soft skills
- 4:53I understand
- 4:54emotions have a deep meaning,
- 4:55but I can't experience them
- 4:56like you can
- 4:58So if workers
- 4:59can plug the gaps,
- 5:00while also being
- 5:01able to transition
- 5:02into emerging industries,
- 5:04then it will help humans
- 5:05to compete with machines
- 5:07Nearly all degrees
- 5:08will allow you
- 5:09to gain these skills
- 5:10through group projects,
- 5:11presentations and
- 5:12extra-curricular activities
- 5:16Ultimately it doesn't
- 5:17really matter
- 5:18which degree
- 5:19you choose to study
- 5:20Perhaps what's even
- 5:21more important
- 5:22is that a student gains
- 5:23work experience
- 5:24or an internship
- 5:26Research finds
- 5:27that those who graduated
- 5:28in 2022
- 5:30and completed internships
- 5:31were 23% more likely
- 5:34to start a full-time position
- 5:35within six months of graduation
- 5:37This gap
- 5:38increases further
- 5:39in certain fields,
- 5:40like oil, gas and mining,
- 5:42where it rose to 65%
- 5:45Although it's hard to predict
- 5:46how improving technology
- 5:48will change the world of work
- 5:50over the coming decades,
- 5:51one thing is for sure:
- 5:53a student
- 5:54with a variety of skills,
- 5:56a lifelong desire to learn
- 5:57and a good attitude
- 5:59will go far
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