Do you think ‘take what you enjoy doing’ as a degree is good advice?

[Timetakesacigarette]

At school, dd was encouraged to take what she enjoyed and is subsequently part way through a Chemistry degree at a very good uni (but not Oxbridge). She’s struggling to get internships/work experience but her friends who took maths/computer science or finance are faring better (a lot didn’t get the top grades she achieved). She could have taken medicine (but her heart wasn’t in it).
I feel guilty as I wasn’t clued up about Stem and was happy to go along with what she/the school wanted. My friend pushed her son to do maths (even though he wasn’t keen) and he’s is now a high flyer earning very well.

I’m hoping it all pans out in the end but the grad market seems difficult now. She will need to earn a decent amount as we can’t support her financially very well in the future.

She has a couple of friends on degree apprenticeships. They’re not enjoying it all that much but at least they’re earning well for their age and will have the experience and a degree at the end.

I think you need to step back. Are you seriously suggesting you should have pressured your daughter into doing maths or computer science or finance at university when she hadn't the remotest in studying them, just as she didn't want to study medicine?

I think chemistry will be ok. If she is enjoying it, then even better!
I did chemistry back in the day and to really achieve, you needed a PhD or masters, maybe things are different now.

I think if "do what you enjoy" is something that doesn't have a clear pathway to work, then it might be less good advice.

And I wouldn't push someone into something they clearly don't enjoy.

Chemistry is a very well respected academic degree.
What year is she in?
How many internships has she applied to?
What type of internships has she applied to?

in my experience you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink.
Chemistry is a good degree - I know someone who did a STEM degree and got apprenticeship in an unrelated sector and now has a great job. A pretty tenacious person though.
My eldest did a pretty ‘useless’ degree and is struggling. I didn’t encourage it but you can’t stop it!
Youngest is doing a STEM degree at a good RG and I suspect he’ll do ok w job hunting but who knows. Unf he didn’t apply for internships for various reasons.
Def should t take medicine if not in to it. It’s very tough and not all doctors get jobs on graduation.

I was told at sixth form to choose what I enjoyed and regret the two years I tried first time round - lots of debt and bad decisions stemming from being miserable at uni.
Second time round at the age of 24 I did my nursing degree, went straight into a job and haven't looked back.
Now I have two small DC and unless things change dramatically I won't be encouraging them to go to university unless they have a clear plan on what they want to do, and the degree directly links to a career. Obviously each to their own, and everyone will have different opinions but I would rather they work and start earning until they have a firm what they want to do - there is no harm in going to uni a little later with a bit of real world experience IMO and its a lot of debt to rack up on a maybe.

No. I very much like sitting and they didn't offer that as a degree.

She’s doing a STEM degree. Would encourage her to continue to pursue work opportunities and other things to boost her CV. And avoid comparisons with acquaintances.

No, I’m not suggesting this if you read my post. I was happy to go along with what she’d chosen as I could see it was a good degree. She, herself, has started to question whether it was the right degree decision now that her peers and contemporaries are getting experience. She does apply for internships but is also bogged down with work for upcoming exams.

She’s in the third year of a 4 year degree.

Thanks for the other responses. It could be that she needs more experience of the AI interviews to get to the next stages. She’s applying for finance/pharma/civil service/environmental type experience. She tends to get through the first sifts then rejected at online interview. I just think maybe a more skills based course would have been more useful in hindsight.

Chemistry is known to be a tough subject

No it’s dreadful advice. University is hideously expensive and many non vocational degrees, especially in the Humanities space, won’t help much in today’s job market. I’m saying this as someone who took a bloody useless MFL degree and I’m only in the job I’m in now via pure luck.

I should begin by saying that I am biased because I have a chemistry degree (and PhD) but this also means I have some skin in the game/experience of getting a job.
There is absolutely no reason why you wouldn’t be able to get a high flying finance job with a chemistry degree. Particularly a good chemistry degree.
Is she trying to get a job in chemistry as a lab scientist? That is different and competitive and also poorly paid.
If I were her I would research careers outside of core lab-based chemistry and go from there. It probably isn’t her degree holding her back but rather her lack of enthusiasm outside of what she knows about chemistry.
I say this as someone who was exactly the same as a graduate and took a few years to figure out what I actually wanted to do. It was only when I could speak confidently about why I wanted to do the career I’m in that the job offers came.
Hope she’s not feeling too down about it. Being a graduate is tough particularly in this market! But she should have no regrets about her degree choice. Chemistry is great!

Or she just needs more practice at interviews?

I think it’s very good advice and I’d include non stem subjects in that. There is absolutely no point doing a subject you don’t like in order to get a job you probably won’t like either. What a waste of time and money.

it doesn’t sound as if your daughters issue is her subject choice given that she’s getting interviews. It’s more likely lack of interview skills and they largely don’t come from your degree subject but from everything else.

If she is getting through the paper soft and getting to online interviews, then it isn’t her degree or capability. She also needs to work on her interview skills and presentability. I work in IT and interview a lot. Some people look great on paper…. Then are poor in the interview. Definitely worth brushing up as it’s stiff competition. It’s great she’s getting to that stage though so definitely something she can get through!

To an earlier point - grades don’t always equally high pay. There is so much more than grades to form a well rounded individual. Lots of super intelligent people lack common sense and would be eaten alive in some industries. Focus on her whole self, not just her grades.

I was really pushed by my parents to do a degree I was not particularly interested in.. I was highly academic and got top marks, I started liking it and ended up doing a PhD in the subject. Found loads of highly paid jobs and then ended up in a job that does not require my degree and I like it even more, but I thank my parents every single day as they set me for financial stability.
friends who followed their “passions” are not so much happy now at 45-50 yo.. it even turned out they were not so much their passions as they were only 17!!!!
so if people need to work to live, they need to be practical and study for a job they can earn well.. they can always change when they are financially more stable. Exception would be an extreme passion for something, but it does reveal itself very very clearly and only to a small percentage of people.

anyway for your daughter - has she considered water or energy companies? They are all recruiting. Starting salaries are not amazing, but if you are good and progress there are good pays for managers

Our school pushed everyone to go to uni. If you weren't sure what you wanted to actually do, "do something you enjoy."
Probably the worst advice when in my opinion it should be encouraged to hold off on getting a degree and into debt. Some may find employment, some may go to uni a few years later. There are also so many routes to different careers like apprenticeships etc.
Most I know who did a degree without an "end goal" job ie not medicine, teaching, computing are in random jobs which didn't even require a degree. Some well paid, some not. Others have went back to uni and taken on additional debt to fund a degree for a career they are now interested in.

I don't think you did the wrong thing as you didn't know any better and wanted to best for your daughter. That being said she has picked what many woild deem a hard degree, I went to school with someone who did chemistry at Oxford. Extremely smart individual. They now work for a pharmaceutical company I believe, so the options are there.

Schools need to do more, the careers advice and guidance we received 15-20 years ago was shocking. If you weren't interested in uni, they weren't interested.

Your degree should very clearly lead to a career. People’s interests change over their lives but they alway need food and shelter. They can go after their passion outside of work. Aim for a career and a lifestyle.

Chemistry is a good degree and has many of the same opportunities as a maths degree

I think study what you enjoy is good advice as long as your sensible, particularly when what you enjoy is chemistry. There's no point doing a subject you hate for years to go onto a career you hate.

If she's being rejected at online interview then it sounds like its her interview skills that are the rate limiting factor, not her choice of degree

It depends on the person's financial situation and ambitions.

I grew up in a FSM household. My sole purpose in going to university rather than straight in to work, as a teenager, was to earn a sufficiently high salary to never be poor again. I chose my degree accordingly.

My ds is aiming for a degree in renewable energy engineering because he wants to build hydro-electric plants, off-shore windfarms and nuclear power stations. He loves maths and physics and enjoys problem solving & building projects.

He has never experienced poverty and I'll do my best to see he chooses a career he will still enjoy at 50.

I’ve worked at a whole lot of very prestigious places and we would have absolutely employed a chemistry graduate. No question.
What kind of roles is she aiming for so we can give more specific advice.

I wouldn’t view chemistry as a “just do what you enjoy” degree, I think it’s a very good degree.

But I do fall firmly in the camp of they shouldn’t just do a degree because they enjoy the subject. Unless of course they are very wealthy and have a trust fund and therefore income/paying bills isn’t a worry.

They should think about job prospects and financial security.

We have to live on the real world.

In my 40 years of experience teaching in 3 different systems, I have generally found that students don't tend to do well when they are taking a course to satisfy their parents' expectations.

Yes, doing what you love and are drawn to is the best policy - any degree (taken seriously) is hard work. A motivated student - be it passion, vocation, or desire for a particular career - will always have a better outcome for their whole life, than one who does what is expected of her.

In one system in which I taught, there was quite a lot of freedom to leave & re-enter higher education(although I think the UK system is one of the best in the world, I wish we had more returners in "mature" age) and I taught an appreciable number of returning learners, in their 40s and older, who had done a "sensible" degree to make money, but came back to my area (humanities) to learn about what they were really interested in.

Yes enjoy what you are doing but there needs to be some idea of a job that you intend to go into at the end of it, otherwise you are going to uni for what? Just to go?!?

YANBU

I think at that age kids need guidance.

And letting them pick something that isn't going to lead anywhere is just a waste of time and money.

Though I wouldnt put Chemistry in that pile.

Maybe more research on degree outcomes etc.

But no I wouldnt just let them pick any random subject.

Kids need guidance.

DC1 graduated with a masters in Chemistry in 2024. Applied for 4 jobs and got 1. They are working in science though. I don’t think it’s ever going to be wrong to study chemistry. I can to some extent understand concerns over some subjects eg media studies or theatre studies. Although any degree is going to be an advantage.