Vicky Tuck: 'I believe women should only go to university if they have a genuine interest in learning'. |
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(chǎn) 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 ‘a(chǎn)lmost 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.’ (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
年輕女性正在對大學失去信心,近半數(shù)的女性認為攻讀學位不劃算。 一項調(diào)查顯示,由于大學學費高企,找到好工作的可能性又很小,高等教育對女性的吸引力越來越小。 該調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn),如果再給這些大學畢業(yè)的女性一次選擇的機會,近半數(shù)人不會去讀大學。 這項調(diào)查是在英國政府出臺新學費計劃前進行的,調(diào)查結(jié)果讓人憂心。新計劃說大學學費2012年將漲到9000英鎊,幾乎是現(xiàn)在的三倍。 該調(diào)查警告說將有一代胸懷大志的年輕女性會因此失去繼續(xù)受教育的機會和一份有前途的職業(yè)。 這項調(diào)查是由《時尚》雜志開展的,該雜志主編路易絲?康特說年輕女性似乎認為讀大學是 “浪費時間”。 她說:“做一個有抱負的年輕女性從來沒有像現(xiàn)在這么難??梢岳斫?,女性對她們的未來感到憤怒和絕望,這對她們的自尊心是一種傷害?!?/p> 該調(diào)查采訪了1353位女性,調(diào)查了她們在2011年的職業(yè)前景和經(jīng)濟狀況。 三分之二的被調(diào)查者認為找到理想工作“幾乎是不可能的”,四分之一的人無法從事自己喜歡的職業(yè)。 只有14%的被調(diào)查者說她們覺得自己不會被解雇。 而畢業(yè)生的經(jīng)濟狀況尤其糟糕,半數(shù)畢業(yè)生說她們的學生貸款太多,根本攢不下錢。 有一半人認為她們面臨的經(jīng)濟困境要比她們的父輩更加嚴重。 七分之一的女性說婚禮的巨額支出迫使她們延遲結(jié)婚計劃。 超過六分之一的人承認因為經(jīng)濟窘迫而推遲生育計劃。 婦女教育運動領(lǐng)導者、切爾滕納姆女子學院的前校長薇琪?塔克說:“學費上漲將使很多人都開始思考上大學是為了什么。 “雖然在學費上漲計劃之前,人們也不會自然而然地認為學歷能帶來理想工作。但是到了最近人們才開始看重這兩者之間的聯(lián)系。 “我認為女性應該是出于對學習的真正興趣、想得到一個寶貴的學習機會而去上大學。如果她們僅僅是為了找工作而去上大學,那很多人都會覺得失望的?!?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 崔旭燕 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: land: to succeed in getting a job, etc., especially one that a lot of other people want 成功得到,贏得,撈到(尤指許多人想得到的工作) high-flying: very successful(十分成功的) |