Full transcript
Is it still worth going to university?
Are you more likely to be employed if you’re a graduate?
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
Are people still applying to university?
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?
How will AI impact jobs?
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
What should you study in the age of AI?
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
The importance of work experience
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