HIGHER EDUCATION

Author: Prince Foday

 

 

Introduction

Higher education can literally mean education beyond secondary school. This could be education at vocational institutes, college and universities. Established institutions have had their own view of the concept.

Cambridge University Press subscribed to the meaning of higher education as education at college or university where subjects are studied in a vast deal and higher level, and that the level of education has clear and increased use of modern contraceptive methods (Cambridge University Press, 2019). Nidirect government services advanced higher education as being third level educations after you leave school and that it takes place at universities and further education colleges and normally includes undergraduate and postgraduate study and that education at higher education gives you the chance to study a subject you are interested in and can boost your career prospects and earning potential. Nibusiness itemised higher education to be postgraduate qualifications, bachelors’ degree, higher national certificates (HNC) and Higher National Diplomas (HND), foundation degrees, certificates and other academic awards conferred by a university or higher education college (Nidirect government services, 2019). Wikimedia Foundation proposed higher education to be a tertiary education leading to the conferment of an academic degree and that higher education otherwise called post-secondary education or third-level or tertiary education is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs upon completion of secondary education (Wikimedia, 2019). IGI Global suggested higher education to be all education beyond the secondary level leading to a formal degree and that it is at a stage of learning achieved in colleges, universities, academies and so forth. In all the definitions advanced by the institutions the central focus was on education above the secondary school.

Higher education is important in every aspect and achieving it can be beneficiary to the individual, household and the nation. Higher education is appropriate for career development, personal development, passion pursuance and realistic benefits.

 

Career Development

Higher education is important because it is a circle where a career is developed. Developing a career is not an easy path and a confusing state to be as the path to be chosen can lead to a success story or a nightmare. It is important to be conscious in a chosen career, particularly the one that can attract one’s employability in the job market. Some career can be marketable and others faced with a high level of competition. It is ideal for an individual to choose a career that is demanding and one that attracts employers. A career that is unique with minimal competition can be the right move. The organisation and structure below can be helpful in choosing a career.

Organisation and Structure

Management in the organisation and structure is the board of directors (private sector business) or board of governors (public sector business). The board of directors or the board of governors are responsible for strategic decisions or policy decisions. The production, personnel, marketing and finance are functional departments responsible for implementing policies designed by the management. The production department is responsible for providing goods or services. The personnel department is charged with the responsibility of recruitment and selection of staff, staff appraisal, termination and retention, and health and safety. The marketing department has the task of creating awareness and arousing the interest of potential and existing customers about the product, and further conducting research about the product of the business. The finance department is responsible for taking stock of the cash inflow and cash outflow of the business. The important thing is that all the functional departments require someone with knowledge in higher education. The production department needs someone skilled in business management and engineering. The personnel department needs someone that skilled in personnel management. Marketing department demands people with higher education in marketing management, retailing and research and development. The financial department needs people with skills in accounting and finance. Higher education is relevant in filling all positions in the functional departments and even the board members. The important thing to note is that all the functional departments are supposed to be managed by people that are knowledgeable or having skills in business management. Engineers fall under the production department and medical doctors under the personnel department. Medical doctors fall under health and safety. The pursuance of higher education in business management put someone in the advantage position, as medical doctors and engineers are all accountable to that person.

  

Personal Development

Higher education leads to personal development. It decorates oneself with the credentials that can be beneficial to the individual, household and the nation. It provides an added value and builds an objective outlook about life and people. Higher education transforms the individual to the position where you feel different from your former position. It redeems the person with higher education from naivety and narrow-mindedness. Higher education improves one’s communication skills and strategic thinking. The achievement of higher education enables the individual to identify the inherent skills and realisation of passion. The knowledge acquired from higher education can build a sense of discipline and accomplishment.

 

Passion Pursuance

Although it is uncertain in what to pursue after secondary education, people tend to follow their passion or area of interest. The passion may be influenced by the individual, friends, and an institution or otherwise. People can pursue higher education in engineering, health care, teaching, and marketing, personnel management, plumbing and so forth, and will pursue a higher education relating to that. The pursuance of one’s passion at higher education level is the right thing to do as the contravention of that will stifle the individual’s self-esteem and that can be frustrating. 

 

Realistic Benefit

Higher education has a real benefit on the individual, household and the nation. Pursuing education to a higher level will improve the individual’s know-how and skills. It makes the individual become employable and enables the person to cope with competition for jobs and puts the person to a higher pay rate beneficial to his or her household. The higher pay scale can make the individual have the desired income to buy goods and services to maintain the circular flow of income between the households and firms. The achievement of higher education can be important to the nation, particular for private and public sector businesses. The person that acquires higher education can provide services to either private sector or public sector firms. The person being employed is required to pay direct tax (income from employment and road tax) and indirect tax (value-added tax).  

The additional importance of higher education can evidential from the data and graphical representation below.

 

 

Average Hourly Pay-2010
Qualification		Median Hourly Pay (£)
Degree		16.1
Higher education		12.1
A levels		10
GCSE grades (Aͯ-C)		8.68
Other qualifications		8.07
No qualifications		6.93

 

Source: Office of National Statistics

 

	Average Hourly Pay-2010

Average Hourly Pay-2010
Qualification		Median Hourly Pay (Degree)
Degree		94
Higher education		70
A levels		58
GCSE grades (Aͯ-C)		51
Other qualifications		47
No qualifications		40

 

The data and graphical representation clearly show the disparity in terms of income between secondary education and tertiary education. It shows that higher education can attract higher income than secondary education. University degrees and higher education provide a median hourly pay of £16.1 and £12.1. This is expressed in degrees as 94 ͦ and 70 ͦ for university degrees and higher education.

 

 

Conclusion

Higher education is important as it puts the individual in a comfortable situation for higher earnings and inevitably beneficial to oneself, the household and the nation. It provides the confidence to interact with people everywhere in the world and makes the person susceptible to changing lifestyle and situation. Respect can be obtained from higher education and that changes people’s perception about you. Gaining higher education means higher income compared to someone with secondary education. The person with higher education is open to be placed in the position of controlling those without higher education and can lead to organisational success. Businesses are faced with the risk of success and failure and the person with higher education is prone to organisational success than someone with mere secondary education. A person may have wealth but sustaining wealth becomes a problem if not having the know-how to maintain it.  Sustaining a wealth demands the appropriate skills and the lack of such skills will deplete the wealth and will leave the individual confused and frustrated. Higher education provides the capability to manage scarce resources and achieve organisational objectives. Higher education in business studies or masters in business administration can equip the individual with the desired skills to design the ideal policies good for business success. Learning is a continuous process and a secondary education is necessary but not sufficient. What is necessary and sufficient is the acquisition of secondary education and going beyond that level to higher education. Higher education provides a platform for trust and increases one’s employability. Achieving higher education builds the way for self-reliance and improves private sector participation in national development. Not everyone can be employed in the public sector and it is glaring that higher education can encourage self-reliance. Those with higher education will prefer to form their own businesses and that can relieve the government from its unemployment burden and curb social unrest. Unemployment is of immense concern to the government so having people with higher education changes their dependence mentality. It makes people feel that they have a role in nation-building or national development.

 

 

References:

Cambridge Dictionary (Updated 2020). Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/higher-education (Accessed 15 September 2020)

Nidirect government services. Available at: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/what-higher-education (Accessed 16 September 2020)

Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education (Accessed 17 September 2020)

IGI Global. Available at: https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/curriculum-development-through-competency-based/13094 (Accessed 18 September 2020)

Theguardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/aug/24/earnings-by-qualification-degree-level (Accessed 19 September 2020)

 

Author:

Prince Foday

London, United

Email: zopsianechoes@gmail.com