As graduates struggle to find their place in the world, studying for more qualifications can seem the answer, writes John Downes

It is a fair bet that, were you to ask teenagers whether they intended to spend most of their 20s studying, the answer would be no. Some might agree about the value of further study, but many also want to start making a living - or travel the world - as soon as they can. Yet recent surveys suggest a different tale when teenagers become young adults.

Partly because of the "quarter-life crisis", when people in their 20s struggle to identify their place in the world, and partly because of changes in graduates' options, some Irish twentysomethings are becoming eternal students.

"I think there are quite a few graduates moving out of the workplace after a short while. They feel the jobs they are getting with, say, a basic arts or science degree are quite limited. Basically, they are not doing what they would like to do," says Rory Hearne of the Union of Students in Ireland. "A lot of the jobs out there are quite low skilled. To get higher-paid and more fulfilling jobs many employers look for a PhD . . . People coming out with BAs see no future progression, so they have to further themselves."

Some graduates consider doing master's degrees in marketing, development studies, law or another field of interest from their undergraduate degrees, Hearne says. Faced with fees and living expenses, they frequently have to work long hours in part-time jobs to get by, he adds.

Keith Maye, a 24-year-old student from Sligo, is an example. Having completed a three-year undergraduate degree in English and history at NUI Galway, he enrolled on an MLitt in publishing run by the college's English department. Then he spent a year as an underwriting clerk before returning to the college, where he is now completing a research master's in history.

"I had just turned 20 when I graduated from my primary degree," he says. "I just saw the publishing course and enrolled. I suppose I didn't give it a lot of thought. To pay my course fees and keep myself, I have to be doing bits and pieces around the place. So it involves a good amount of time management.

"The work in the insurance firm was interesting and enjoyable up to a point, but I didn't have a particular interest in business. In order to go further I would have had to do a commerce degree or an MBA. Otherwise I would have remained at the same position for a number of years without going anywhere. And that didn't appeal."

As a result, and with his parents' financial backing, he decided to return to college to pursue his passion for history. But having always worked at least part time, he was well aware that he would still have to supplement his income. He did this by giving tutorials at college last year. At the moment he works 20 hours a week for the university's computer-services department while writing his thesis.

"My parents were saying, go and do it now rather than wait around; you don't have any commitments now," says Maye. "I felt that it was a good time to go back, as I was used to a relative level of poverty, rather than getting used to having a decent amount of money coming in every week. One thing you do notice is there is a drop-off in your income."

Another person who is only too aware of the implications of being a student throughout your 20s is Louise Carpendale, whose maze of qualifications can be difficult to unravel.

The 27-year-old, from Malahide, Dublin, read for an undergraduate degree in European studies at Trinity College before doing a master's degree in European economic and public affairs at University College Dublin.

As she was particularly passionate about the legal element of the MA, she next enrolled on a postgraduate diploma in legal studies at Dublin Institute of Technology, did her Law Society entrance exams and then secured a traineeship with Matheson Ormsby Prentice, the corporate law firm. She qualified as a solicitor in December.

Carpendale laughs at the suggestion that an outside observer might think she became addicted to the life of a student, pointing out that she completed much of her postgraduate study while working full time.

There was, she says, also a common thread to her academic career: her interest in Europe. Given this, and the fact that she is now working in her company's EU competition group, she sees her career trajectory as a natural progression.

"I do enjoy study, but now I'm qualified and starting my career I'm looking forward to the work side of things. I hope to put more emphasis on my work than on my studies . . . but I can see a theme running through my studies. The focus is always on lateral thinking, and I like to think I have that ability."

Like Maye, Carpendale admits she was fortunate to have the financial support of her parents, which enabled her to pursue her studies and pay her course fees. She also relied on bank loans, although a training contract from Matheson Ormsby Prentice covered her training fees and study leave.

"It made a big difference to me to have it. I know if not I probably couldn't have managed it indefinitely," she says. "I suppose study is almost a natural inclination of mine at this stage. If I took a break, my fear is that I wouldn't go back to it, and I knew if I kept going I would get there."

It is difficult to escape the suggestion in all this that undergraduate degrees have lost their sheen. Where once it was enough to have a bachelor's degree to get into the career of your choice, many graduates are finding that this is no longer the case.

So are young people being forced to become students throughout their 20s if they want any hope of securing the job they desire? Or put another way, are postgraduate diplomas, MAs and PhDs becoming the new undergraduate degrees? Sean Gannon, head of the careers service at Trinity College, believes not. Many companies recognise the transferable skills that primary degrees provide, he says.

Recent years have also seen a proliferation in the number of interesting courses on offer to students, he points out, including conversion courses in areas such as business and law. As a result, more students are enrolling.

"There is going to be a time in any role when you are going to look around and say, in order to get to the next level, what skills do I need?" he explains. "But I don't think there is a huge amount of eternal students out there . . . They are coming back and are quite focused on what they want from their studies. I think the costs are too expensive in terms of fees and the cost of living. So I don't think many people have the luxury of being in a position where they can do it on a whim."

This may be true. Even so, neither Carpendale nor Maye has quite finished studying. Maye could go on to do a PhD in the subject he loves so much, as long as he can afford it. And even though Carpendale says she is content to focus on her career for the moment, she casually adds that she has enrolled on an evening correspondence course.

Where are they now?

Among the key findings of the latest survey of some 4,000 graduates of UCD in 2003 are:

Source: Annual report of the careers and appointments office, UCD (2003)

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