Young women are losing faith in the university system with nearly half believing it is not worth getting a degree。
Tuition fees and little chance of landing a good job make higher education an unattractive prospect for them, a study suggests。
It found that nearly half of female graduates would not go to university if they had the chance again。
The research will cause concern because it was carried out before the Government announced that fees will almost treble to ?9,000 in 2012.
The findings have prompted warnings that a generation of ambitious young women will miss out on a high-flying career and the opportunity to continue their education。
Louise Court, editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, which conducted the survey, said young women seem to think university ‘a waste of time’。
‘It’s never been harder to be a young woman with ambition,’ she said. ‘Understandably, women are angry and frustrated about their future and this is having a damaging affect on their self-esteem。
The survey of 1,353 women also looked at the career prospects and financial outlook for women in 2011.
Two thirds of those questioned said they thought it would be ‘almost impossible’ to get their dream job and a quarter were unable to follow their preferred career。
Only 14 per cent said they felt safe from the sack。
And the financial situation for graduates was especially bad, with half saying they had so much student debt they could not save。
The same proportion believed they faced worse financial hardship than their parents。
One in seven women said they had been forced to postpone getting married because a wedding would be too expensive。
And more than one in six admitted that financial constraints had made them postpone trying to start a family。
Vicky Tuck, a campaigner for women’s education and former head of Cheltenham Ladies College, said: ‘The rise in fees is going to make a lot of people reflect on why they are going to university。
‘Before the introduction of fees it was not an automatic assumption that a degree would lead to a good job. It is only recently that we have seen that relationship。
‘I believe that women should only go to university if they have a genuine interest in learning, a precious opportunity. If they go purely to get a job, many will be disappointed.’
年輕女性正在對(duì)大學(xué)失去信心,近半數(shù)的女性認(rèn)為攻讀學(xué)位不劃算。
一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示,由于大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)高企,找到好工作的可能性又很小,高等教育對(duì)女性的吸引力越來(lái)越小。
該調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),如果再給這些大學(xué)畢業(yè)的女性一次選擇的機(jī)會(huì),近半數(shù)人不會(huì)去讀大學(xué)。
這項(xiàng)調(diào)查是在英國(guó)政府出臺(tái)新學(xué)費(fèi)計(jì)劃前進(jìn)行的,調(diào)查結(jié)果讓人憂心。新計(jì)劃說(shuō)大學(xué)學(xué)費(fèi)2012年將漲到9000英鎊,幾乎是現(xiàn)在的三倍。
該調(diào)查警告說(shuō)將有一代胸懷大志的年輕女性會(huì)因此失去繼續(xù)受教育的機(jī)會(huì)和一份有前途的職業(yè)。
這項(xiàng)調(diào)查是由《時(shí)尚》雜志開(kāi)展的,該雜志主編路易絲·康特說(shuō)年輕女性似乎認(rèn)為讀大學(xué)是 “浪費(fèi)時(shí)間”。
她說(shuō):“做一個(gè)有抱負(fù)的年輕女性從來(lái)沒(méi)有像現(xiàn)在這么難。可以理解,女性對(duì)她們的未來(lái)感到憤怒和絕望,這對(duì)她們的自尊心是一種傷害。”
該調(diào)查采訪了1353位女性,調(diào)查了她們?cè)?011年的職業(yè)前景和經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況。
三分之二的被調(diào)查者認(rèn)為找到理想工作“幾乎是不可能的”,四分之一的人無(wú)法從事自己喜歡的職業(yè)。
只有14%的被調(diào)查者說(shuō)她們覺(jué)得自己不會(huì)被解雇。
而畢業(yè)生的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況尤其糟糕,半數(shù)畢業(yè)生說(shuō)她們的學(xué)生貸款太多,根本攢不下錢(qián)。
有一半人認(rèn)為她們面臨的經(jīng)濟(jì)困境要比她們的父輩更加嚴(yán)重。
七分之一的女性說(shuō)婚禮的巨額支出迫使她們延遲結(jié)婚計(jì)劃。
超過(guò)六分之一的人承認(rèn)因?yàn)榻?jīng)濟(jì)窘迫而推遲生育計(jì)劃。
婦女教育運(yùn)動(dòng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者、切爾滕納姆女子學(xué)院的前校長(zhǎng)薇琪·塔克說(shuō):“學(xué)費(fèi)上漲將使很多人都開(kāi)始思考上大學(xué)是為了什么。
“雖然在學(xué)費(fèi)上漲計(jì)劃之前,人們也不會(huì)自然而然地認(rèn)為學(xué)歷能帶來(lái)理想工作。但是到了最近人們才開(kāi)始看重這兩者之間的聯(lián)系。
“我認(rèn)為女性應(yīng)該是出于對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)的真正興趣、想得到一個(gè)寶貴的學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)而去上大學(xué)。如果她們僅僅是為了找工作而去上大學(xué),那很多人都會(huì)覺(jué)得失望的。”