Students and parents don’t see eye-to-eye on education, poll says
Posted Sep 19, 2015 07:07:38 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Students may be more pessimistic about their future than their parents realize.
RBC’s 2015 Student Finances Poll shows three quarters of students are concerned about choosing a program that won’t help them get a job after graduation.
The Director of Student Banking at RBC, Mandy Mail, says over half of students feel they’ll have to take a job after graduating that pays the bills instead of being what they really want:
“The job market right now is tough. Youth unemployment rates in Canada is double the general unemployment rate. Also, baby boomers are still in their roles in their companies, so now, until those people retire, it’s harder and harder to get that entry-level job that you’re looking for.”
Parents may also have a bigger influence over their kids’ post-secondary education than they might think. According to the survey, a significant number of students are choosing their courses to make their parents happy.
“Nearly a third of students are choosing their major to please their parents, and parents aren’t fully recognizing this,” says Mail.
“Tuition for four years is probably around $24,000, and if you add in $10,000 per year for living expenses and housing expenses, it takes you to about $65,000… pretty expensive if you think you might end up having to do a mulligan because you’re not loving what you do.”
The survey also found students were more interested in making lots of money (14 per cent students versus eight per cent parents), travelling (12 per cent versus four per cent), finding love (eight per cent versus two per cent), and paying off debt (six per cent versus two per cent) than their parents realized.
