01 Feb 2017

One in three Aussie students aren’t finishing university within six years of staring their degrees, according to recent government data. This is the lowest rate of university completion in Australian history. At this point, it’s probably fair to say that people are starting to freak out about it.

A news.com article, titled “Nation of dropouts,” described the statistics as “shameful.” The education minister, Simon Birmingham, warned that too many students had “started a course with next to no idea of what they were signing themselves up for.” And the universities, especially those in regional areas, have been forced to defend themselves as best they can, fearing funding cuts.

But maybe dropping out isn’t always such a bad thing. In a world where jobs are rapidly changing and it’s often said that people change career more than 5 times over the course of their lives, maybe dropping out, taking a break or changing courses is a normal part of the educational process.

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And for certain people, maybe dropping out is actually a better option.

Take my mate Gus* for example. He’s almost finished a law degree. His parents are both lawyers, as are his two older brothers. One night, after a few beers, he admitted to me, “I wish I’d had the guts to just drop out after first semester. I never want to become a lawyer.”

Gus wanted to be a primary school teacher, and I reckon he probably will become a teacher one day. But he feels like he needs to finish his law degree first, because he’s come this far, and his family really wants him to finish.

Gus’s situation isn’t unique. There are shitloads of students undertaking courses they neither enjoy, nor plan to make a career out of. Some of them will become part of the dropout statistic; others will soldier on, in many cases, to please their parents, peers or simply to conform to the societal expectation.

To me, this is not a success story.

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Finishing a degree for the sake of finishing a degree isn’t an enviable path to tread, especially when you never plan on using the degree. Likewise, dropping out of university to follow another ambition does not e     quate to failure.

But this is generally ignored when we look at university dropout statistics. Essentially, there’s still a tendency to pressure young people into chasing a prestigious, stable, safe career, regardless of their individual ambitions. This pressure is pushed further when news.com describes dropout rates as “shameful.” And it’s furthered again when we automatically assume that every dropout is a failure and ever completion is a success.

Success isn’t as simple as these statistics suggest. I work alongside dropouts, some of whom never returned to university and never will. I also work with people who, like me, completed university first time round. In my particular field, the distinction is meaningless.

This article shouldn’t be taken as an encouragement to dropout of university. But at this point it seems important to acknowledge that success comes in many forms, far above and beyond university.

*Gus isn’t his real name, but he’s a real person.