Bachelor's Degree graduates in Thailand face a bleak future for their careers

[webfact]

Bachelor’s Degree graduates face a bleak future for their careers

BANGKOK, 22 September 2014 (NNT) - College students in Thailand who are Bachelor’s Degree holders are unlikely to have a promising salary, as the employment market has been saturated with Bachelor’s Degree graduates.

Sirikanya Tansakul, a senior analyst from the Thailand Institute of Future Studies Foundation, declared that Bachelor’s degree students are less likely to have a bright future for their careers than they did 10 years ago.

In the first few years of the 2000s, the salaries for Bachelor’s degree holders used to be 3 times higher than their high school counterparts. Nowadays however, their salaries are only 2.4 times higher.

The senior analyst mentioned that as the market is becoming saturated with Bachelor’s degree holders, employers are less likely to give a high salary or a fresh start in their careers since they have no special qualifications.

The government should, therefore, focus on reforming the educational system in order to produce higher quality graduates and bridge the social inequality gap. Should this issue be prolonged, then it would be a critical problem within the next 5-10 years ahead.


-- NNT 2014-09-22

[nzvic]

This seems to be a global problem as tertiary education is encouraged and/or made possible, especially in western countries, where the growth in the sector hides the true unemployment rate. Also the spike in masters and doctorate holders is due to not being able to get a job, so staying on at university is just to fill in time, except for the really bright and able. Trouble is they think it's free in the western world, but we end up footing the bill for the unpaid billions$$$ loans they take out - and govt lets them off.

[arthurwait]

Same as the UK. Do a pointless easy degree and what do you expect ?

[wdr]

The Degree have the same value as Toilet paper and help to "Show Off" for parents.

The only thing the learn: Perfect Prostration and be slaves

[Just1Voice]

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

[NeverSure]

Same in the US. A degree in underwater basket weaving gets you nowhere. You could go to Thailand and teach English for 30k baht.

But a degree in any of the computer sciences will land a good job. So will medicine. There is a shortage of those people.

So a person needs to choose a specialty that's in demand and really learn it. I don't know if that can be done in Thailand. Many of those people studied overseas. Also Thailand isn't a country with much technology; they use what's developed in the West. They manufacture computer hard disks and smartphones but the jobs are factory jobs for Thais because they didn't develop and advance the technology. The same is true with autos and scooters. They are working for someone else who has the technology.

[EricBerg]

Thailand and education, a contradictio in terminis.

[recycled]

Now there is a novel idea,the government should, focus on reforming the educational system. Who would have thought?

[Soutpeel]

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

lets face facts, most bachelors degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on from most universities in the world these days...

[Soutpeel]

But a degree in any of the computer sciences will land a good job. So will medicine. There is a shortage of those people.

If your an Indian national it will....

[kriswillems]

Actually this as a good evolution.

An income of 2.4 times the income of somebody that finished highschool is still pretty high compared to most Western countries.

We've just talking about a bachelor degree here.

In my country somebody with a bachelor degree starts around 1.25 times the income of somebody with a highschool degree.

So, there still a lot of inequality between Thai people.

[Prbkk]

This is news? It has been the case for 30 years that Thai students need a Masters to get a good job. One of the key reasons is that the bachelor degrees are full of extraneous crap. KMUTT is one of the few that is making its degrees relevant to career prospects.

[Thai at Heart]

Actually this as a good evolution.

An income of 2.4 times the income of somebody that finished highschool is still pretty high compared to most Western countries.

We've just talking about a bachelor degree here.

In my country somebody with a bachelor degree starts around 1.25 times the income of somebody with a highschool degree.

So, there still a lot of inequality between Thai people.

What does a high school graduate earn on average in Thailand......?

2.5x a little is still a little

[NongKhaiKid]

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

Especially a BA in " English '.

[jaltsc]

"College students in Thailand who are Bachelor’s Degree holders are unlikely to have a promising salary, as the employment market has been saturated with Bachelor’s Degree graduates."

On the bright side...This must mean that 7-11 has saturated the market and will not be building any more stores

[dinger]

One of the problems here and it seems everywhere there is no real world education taught. Theory and history are great but to make it in the real world these kids need to be given some applicable skills or they will just flounder. I have 2 girls in the system right now. 1 just graduated from the Uni and I would equate her education level to be about a high school graduate in the U S She doesn't have much in the way of marketable skills and she is finding this out the hard way now, as she is having a very difficult time finding a job.

[NeverSure]

But a degree in any of the computer sciences will land a good job. So will medicine. There is a shortage of those people.

If your an Indian national it will....

Could be but it will in the US too. Craigslist for instance is forever advertising for help on their front page. LINK

And there are lots of jobs for new nursing graduates due to baby boomer aging, and all areas of medicine for that matter.

Anything tech related is booming.

[Time Traveller]

One of the problems here and it seems everywhere there is no real world education taught. Theory and history are great but to make it in the real world these kids need to be given some applicable skills or they will just flounder. I have 2 girls in the system right now. 1 just graduated from the Uni and I would equate her education level to be about a high school graduate in the U S She doesn't have much in the way of marketable skills and she is finding this out the hard way now, as she is having a very difficult time finding a job.

Correct, I have seen jobs here in Thailand where they require bachelors degree, but same thing in USA requires only a high school diploma. So Thai degrees are no where near the same standard as western degrees.

Anyway, that's really not the issue. The issue is that Bachelor Degrees were never meant as being vocational programs. They are purely education for the sake of learning only.

If ever anyone learnt anything in a Bachelors degree it was to be able to think, question, understand problems and find solutions. That's not enough for a career or job. But it's a good start. If any graduate can't make out with that then they really should have chosen a trade school instead.

[BillyBobThai]

As robotics and further automation take more and more jobs over the next few generations, what are these people going to do? At some point there are just not going to be enough decent jobs for people to make a good living.

[Thai at Heart]

Surprised they claimed that the future was so amazingly rosy before.

[trogers]

As robotics and further automation take more and more jobs over the next few generations, what are these people going to do? At some point there are just not going to be enough decent jobs for people to make a good living.

Be a politician...?

[seajae]

trouble is that the degree of knowledge associated to these degrees is very minimal, in reality they are no better than a western high school leaver and that doesnt mean finisher, it means someone that left as soon as they were able. When these people are still unable to add up manually, spell correctly or even understand an equation there is a big reason they are not able to get work. To pass a degree these days is a joke, they used to mean something 20 years ago when you needed to have a brain and think to be able to p[ass but no longer. Even iv]n schools they teach absolute garbage to the students, they treat them like idiots with their pass no matter what you answer tests and when only one class(out of several at the same level)actually teaches the harder subjects due to the fact most students cannot even fathom what the classes are about it becomes obvious.

Maybe some old fashioned learning and actually having to pass exams to advance or get a degree might help but I doubt it.

[h90]

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

Europe actually is making University degrees easier as well to have more people in the statistics.

[Cuchulainn]

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

And, let's face it. Most Thai Bachelor degrees aren't worth the (Khao San Road) paper they are printed on.

[h90]

trouble is that the degree of knowledge associated to these degrees is very minimal, in reality they are no better than a western high school leaver and that doesnt mean finisher, it means someone that left as soon as they were able. When these people are still unable to add up manually, spell correctly or even understand an equation there is a big reason they are not able to get work. To pass a degree these days is a joke, they used to mean something 20 years ago when you needed to have a brain and think to be able to p[ass but no longer. Even iv]n schools they teach absolute garbage to the students, they treat them like idiots with their pass no matter what you answer tests and when only one class(out of several at the same level)actually teaches the harder subjects due to the fact most students cannot even fathom what the classes are about it becomes obvious.

Maybe some old fashioned learning and actually having to pass exams to advance or get a degree might help but I doubt it.

I recall, a friend, English teacher showed me one of his tests.....I couldn't believe it:

"Washington is the capitol of:"

a) Elvis Presley

Bangkok

c) USA

Beside that the question is very easy, even if you don't understand anything and make random marks you get 33% of the points. So with just guessing right on a few questions you pass.

I couldn't believe it......

(Some private University)

[WhizBang]

Given the fact that the Thai educational system is so poor and that you can buy the degree of your choice, I would think most Thai degrees are actually worth less than the paper they are printed on.

That said, I consider it something of a miracle that the holder of a Thai bachelors degree can actually earn 2.4 times what a high school graduate earns.

[AYJAYDEE]

Same the world over for most fields of study. parents were wrong to send their kids to university. trade school is a better bet for most

[NeverSure]

As robotics and further automation take more and more jobs over the next few generations, what are these people going to do? At some point there are just not going to be enough decent jobs for people to make a good living.

But that's where the fun is. It has been all through the industrial revolution. Look around you and see all of the things you have that your great grandparents never dreamed of. And they are affordable due to improved manufacturing processes.

Robotics will make new jobs for people who are challenged to design, build and maintain the robots. Someone has to program them and keep improving that. But the robots will make things cheaply and they will be affordable to the masses.

There won't come a time when there won't be a need for people to fix your plumbing or your computer. People will still need their carpets shampooed.

The US has developed technology to make clothing without human intervention. In the past few decades it has instead shipped the cotton and other materials to China to have it made with cheap labor. But shipping both ways is expensive and wasteful. No Chinese can beat a robot and those jobs are coming back because every factory needs people to maintain the building and move product around. Someone will have to maintain the robots.

I think it's all exciting.

[chainarong]

Yes the same applies in OZ, with Geologists the unemployment rate is 15 unemployed to 1 of everyone else, same across all degree students now the enrolments are dropping off as they see their mates still looking for work 2 years later after graduating , this also indicates the Australian mining industry is not as healthy as some would like you to believe, some of my Thai family have had degrees in Media and one did work as local TV manager, the whole station didn't get paid for 2months, so they all walked out, they have mostly given up looking and do other work, which pay's SFA.

[NeverSure]

Yes the same applies in OZ, with Geologists the unemployment rate is 15 unemployed to 1 of everyone else, same across all degree students now the enrolments are dropping off as they see their mates still looking for work 2 years later after graduating , this also indicates the Australian mining industry is not as healthy as some would like you to believe, some of my Thai family have had degrees in Media and one did work as local TV manager, the whole station didn't get paid for 2months, so they all walked out, they have mostly given up looking and do other work, which pay's SFA.

I think OZ should focus on manufacturing. This is a value-added way to create new wealth. It has stopped building its own car brands and relied on natural resources.

Does it have its own brand of TV or computer or smartphone or... ???

If it has to buy all of that from other countries it is a wealth drain called negative trade balance and negative balance of payments.

No group can stand around with their hands in each others' pockets and believe they'll all get rich. Someone has to create new wealth. This is most easily done by converting raw materials into marketable and exportable products.

Australia is rich in land and natural resources and ocean and... It needs to maximize their value by adding value and this is what creates wealth and jobs.