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Media Studies and other trendy 'Mickey Mouse' degrees 'leave students disatisfied'
Last updated at 23:52pm on 12.09.07
More students are receiving first class degrees under the Labour government
Trendy degrees such as media studies, tourism and complementary medicine have come bottom in a survey of how students rate their courses.
The Government-funded poll of 177,000 students gave the highest ratings to traditional disciplines such as history and classics.
Undergraduates were least likely to be satisfied with the quality of their courses if they studied degrees derided in some quarters as "Mickey Mouse".
The least contented students were taking courses such as cinematics, photography, imaginative writing, complementary medicine and media studies.
Just 74 per cent of undergraduates doing these degrees said they were satisfied.
Other courses with below-average ratings included publicity studies and tourism, transport and travel.
In contrast, satisfaction ratings for physics and chemistry were 90 per cent, for history 91 per cent, English 87 per cent and classics 93 per cent.
The findings came in a survey of final-year students who were asked to rate their courses for quality of teaching, feedback, academic support, resource and organisation.
The university with the most satisfied students emerged as the Open University, where 95 per cent declared themselves happy with their courses.
It was closely followed by Prince William's alma mater, St Andrews, on 94 per cent, Buckingham on 93 per cent and Oxford on 92 per cent.
Cambridge students did not fill in enough questionnaires to take part.
Other institutions, including some former polytechnics and specialist art or music colleges, fared less well with scores as low as 53 per cent.
The figures showed that overall, nearly one in five students - 19 per cent - did not believe their courses were up to scratch.
The same proportion did not consider their courses to be "intellectually stimulating".
A higher proportion - nearly four in ten - were unhappy with the way their work was marked and the feedback they received.
University chiefs suggested this was because they had grown used to re-sitting exams they fail at school.
Leeds University vice-chancellor Michael Arthur, chair of the National Student Survey steering group, said: "Even when you do get essays back in a very timely fashion and with detailed comments - at least detailed in the eyes of those providing them - students still don't necessarily regard that as good feedback.
"A theory is that there is really quite a significant difference between the type of assessment and feedback that occurs earlier in life through your secondary education and that that occurs at university.
"There are multiple opportunities to resit assessments to improve your score and universities don't usually work in that way."
Shadow universities secretary David Willetts said: "This is further evidence that the quality of the student experience is under threat.
"Parents and students need to be confident that their top-up fees are paying for greater teaching commitment."
Reader views (24)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Hmm useless degrees: kinesiology, Theater & Film, Geography, Business Administration, Graphic arts. Most of those degree's equal nothing but a temp admin job. I take issue with Steve's comment, personally I received a Political science degree and was hired within 3 months of graduation (2005). I was able to land a job as a Technical recruiter and it's paid off well. I've talked to many hiring managers who are looking for international sales positions and think that a Poli Sci degree is a great start. One hiring manger told me that young people with a Poli Sci degree communicate above average and are extremely adaptable to differing situations. Although in Canada it is almost impossible to get a job in party politics or government agencies with only an undergrad but there are plenty of well paying alternatives.
- Matthew Owen, Toronto Canada
My personal dissatisfaction stemmed from the $8/hr. I made as a cameraman in Toronto, plus all the 'politics' you could ever imagination, as the 'bonus'. At least I had the brains to drop out after year 1, when I started getting freelance gigs. I'd bet that's what's behind the disillusionment. Along with all the Mickey-Mouse hog-puffing.
- Feldwebel Wolfenstool, Thunder Bay, Canada
Ha! Imagine how dissatisfied their parents are, who have forked out to pay for junior to study the effect of Monty Python's Flying Circus on global culture.
- Floyd Dabarber, Boston, USA
We do have a similar problem in the U.S. (I teach at a university so I have an insiders view). In the U.S. useless degrees include 'gender studies', 'political science' (surely a misnomer), 'media strategies' and the like. What exactly does one do with such a degree, unless it's to get a university job teaching others useless nonsense?
Fortunately in the States, a graduate with a useless college degree can still drive a taxi. You can even sound educated while transporting a fare.
- Steve White, Frankfort, IL, USA
I am very proud of my two degrees from Oxford, and my doctoral degree from Cambridge in toliet usage. I am full of smiles; to receive paper from the loo.
- William, London
One goes to college to get an education, not a job. But if that education is shallow and facile, not many jobs are going to follow.
- Wazzup Dog, USA
I understand the frustrations, we here in the US are also having to deal with silly studies such as this. I think it is an attempt to pander to the ever-present and more current crop of under-educated college students we are seeing. If you can't read or spell anything on your high-school diploma, then you need to stay there until you can, not move on to a college level institution where you are going to be buried by everything. Education systems are failing all of us everywhere by simply passing students without insuring they are actually ready.
- James, USA
Who makes up these courses? They should be fired immediately. How the heck are we to compete in the world with junk like this.
- Patti, New York
Liberal and post-modern mindests beget "Mickey Mouse" degrees. Anything goes, so laziness abounds, until adulthood, life and bills interrupt.
- Trafford, St. Louis, USA
I have a friend who got a degree in 'Women's Studies'. I asked her what she learned. She learned, feminism, activism, militarism, unions, social issues, politics and how horrible men are. I asked her what kind of job this prepared her for. She told me she was getting a job as a typist in an office.
What a waste of time and money. She could have got all that propaganda drummed into her head for free.
- Mandy Freiberg, Omaha NE, USA
Let's not all start bashing Mickey Mouse. He's done pretty well for himself.
- Jeff, Tampa, FL, US
This is part of the diploma mill phenomenon suffered on both sides of the Atlantic. Social policymakers have decreed: We want everybody to have a degree. This David Willetts character exemplifies the attitude, in his statement, about getting what you pay for: education has become just another consumer good. Parents "buy" an education for a fee. What they "buy" is not a diploma but the right for their darlings to attempt to measure up to rigorous courses of college-level work, not some post-modernist's notion of "what students want". Actually, it turns out that instead of the pseudo-courses being offered up by institutional mediocrities, students actually prefer traditional, substantial, scholarly courses. This should send a message to the academic and political idiots who are turning higher education into diploma mills. Results-based policies are shams. You get a college degree because you earn it, not because it's public policy. You don't invent a course of study in order to have something which a particular constituency can do well enough in for a degree. What's next, a B.A. in self-esteem?
- J M Rice, Long Beach, California
If I were in an HR department, I would look for candidates that had a more traditional education no matter the position. The people with a traditional degree show more drive than those who received a 'Mickey Mouse' degree.
- Steve, Tempe, AZ
Once it is decided that everyone should have the option of a university education, courses and majors must be devised for those of limited academic talent and motivation. At best, only 20 percent of the population have the mental horses for a good university education.
- Bryan Heathcotte, Glendale, Arizona, USA
Isn't this similar to the old adage that "you get out of it what you put into it? If the course is too easy you are bored and unhappy. You know, kind of like high school courses in the U.S. If, on the other hand it is challenging and you are stimulated by it with those "ah hah" moments where you grasp why something is done the way it is, or what led to why we do certain things (I wish I knew why yawning is contagious!) then you are much more contented because it allows you to immerse yourself in the class work and come away with a feeling of accomplishment. If you have no curiosity as to why things are as they are then you shouldn't be in school to begin with!
- Donald Wells, Oklahoma
I've always thought that universities should have some sort of career counselling for incoming students. Social science degrees are interesting (I have one), but almost completely useless in the job market. But then I suppose entire departments (e.g., History, Humanities, Philosophy) would go out of business. I wouldn't cry.
- Disco, Minneapolis, USA
Robert A. Heinlein said it perfectly in "Stranger in a Strange Land" - "...when they started handing our doctorates for basketweaving and bellylint contemplation, I turned mine back in for medicine." Not to mention, a fair number of these 'acadameia nuts' get annoyed when you point out "if the world ended tomorrow, what useful skills/study could you bring to the mix..."
- James Miller, Laurel, MD, USA
There's a very large divide between the nature of grounded, practical, science based coursework and the nature of open, theoretical, humanities based coursework. The latter fields are newer, less structured, less funded, less understood, and consequently less liked, less regarded as valuable, seen as less meaningful.
If you want to mock Media Studies, or even Mickey Mouse, maybe you ought to look at the things that matter in your lives, the things you spend your money on, invest your time and thought on, and realize just how applicable and critical these unpopular subjects are to our societies. This sort of study shows that these fields need more promotion and more engagement, probably more effort on the faculties and administrations to organize them and present them in a better light. If students don't understand the value of these degrees any better than the rest of society, of course they're going to have low ratings.
- Brandon, Pompano Beach, FL
I would guess that the people pursuing such ludicrous degrees are not exactly the sharpest tacks in the box. It sounds like those are degrees for people not intelligent enough to get into better areas and who should be learning mopping skills.
- Peter, New York, NY
When did going to university become an apprenticeship? It's a learning experience. If it helps you get a job, so much the better, if not, you will have expanded your horizons. Mind you, if your desired horizon is the understanding of tourism, maybe going straight into a job would be more useful.
- Adrian, London
A degree in a useless subject is a useless degree. The best way to learn a lot of jobs is to start doing them at 18, not to spend three years accumulating debt and (eventually) a noddy degree, in order to start three years later with one's head stuffed full of nonsense.
Even thirty years ago, the graffito on the loo-paper dispenser said it all. "Sociology degrees, get yours here".
- Nigel, London
You could easily get a job at the BBC. A Mickey Mouse degree for a Mickey Mouse corporation - run by David Blunkett
- Dave, Wookey Hole, Somerset
Exactly how satisfied would anyone think they'd be doing a "complementary medicine" course? These people only take the courses for an easy ride at uni, whereas a proper degree like a science is going to push you harder ( tough they've had to drop many parts of the syllabus in the last 20 years due to so much being removed from A level courses).
- Terry Roll, London
I hope the kids taking media studies are not hoping to land jobs in Fleet Street.
Newspapers have their own training scheme - the NCTJ - and it's the only one recognised by the industry.
Students should spend their grants on real courses instead of wasting it on this useless claptrap.
- Dennis Spence , Manila, Philippines
