In a downturn, what's a degree worth?

In a downturn, what's a degree worth?

Life skills needed to weather the crisis, says Lim Hwee Hua

05:55 AM Jul 13, 2009

DURING the recession in the late 1980s, more than one in five of America's college graduates ended up in non-college-level jobs. In such a bleak scenario, what is the value of a university degree?

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, broached this question that must be on the minds of today's graduates in Singapore, given the current economic climate.

Her answer, to National University of Singapore (NUS) graduands yesterday: Plenty of value, and not just in terms of the technical competencies or analytical skills such an education imparts.

What's critical is "the foresight and gumption needed to recognise patterns of local and global change, to make critical interconnections" and stay "ahead of the game".

Such life skills had "enabled this same group of American graduates" to ecape the doldrums "and help propel the country into a period of unprecedented economic growth", noted Mrs Lim, who is also Second Minister for Finance and Transport.

And these skills will stand Singapore graduates in good stead also, with today's fast-changing marketplace and career movements.

The average United States college graduate has been found to hold some 11 jobs by age 42 - two-thirds of these before they even hit age 27, according to the US Department of Labour.

"You will not only need to learn to seize opportunities as they present themselves, but also need to be proactive in creating them.

"Your ability to adapt quickly to the changing tides - even if it means entering uncharted areas that you might not have been initially trained in - will put you in a distinctive advantage regardless of the economic situation," said Mrs Lim.

Yesterday afternoon's commencement ceremony involved some 300 graduates from the NUS Business School's Business Administration programme and 100 graduates from its University Scholars Programme.

Among them was Ms Charlene Chang, who - while other fresh graduates fret over finding employment in these times - secured her job a year back.

She starts work next month with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong, a position she secured immediately after finishing a 10-week internship at GBM Corporate Finance (Mergers & Acquisitions) at ABN AMRO, Hong Kong.

Earlier yesterday morning, the NUS Business School saw its first batch of accountancy students get their degree scrolls - notably, every one of them having already secured a job.

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