The anxiety from “ and now, what do I do?” is becoming an integral part of the student who has just graduated. The data show that many students who arrived at the first important goal of their studies, find themselves displaced about what concerns their future. Is it better to continue the studies with a specialized degree course, or to specialize in a specific field through a master? This is one of the questions that torment the new graduate most and which causes him nightmares: according to a study, many students prefer to postpone their bachelor graduation because they are still unprepared to decide which path to take later. In this article, we tackle this problem and try to provide the student with the necessary information for choosing the most appropriate path for himself.
The new “3+1”
The term “3 + 1”, coined by experts in the education sector, is an anomalous course of study, which provides for the achievement of a bachelor degree and the continuation of studies with a specialized master. Why anomalous? Normally, those who decide to start a well-rounded education process, choose to obtain a bachelor degree, which provides basic knowledge, and then specialize through a specialized degree. This path is called “3 + 2”, and is a classic. In recent years, however, this type of path has come to a halt: more and more students arrived at the end of the undergrad terrorized by the possibility of not finding a job and seeing their own years slip away in the big university classrooms.
After the economic crisis, which took place in 2007, the employment problem has afflicted Italy in a very important way. Despite many years of study, the new graduates were struggling to find a decent job and related to the course of study completed. Indeed, more and more companies were looking for “know-how” rather than “knowledge”, and avoided recruiting young enterprising graduates, encouraging the integration of already trained and experienced staff into the company. This situation has caused several red flag: politics has tried to stem the situation by creating or modifying the legislation for entering the world of work. The apprenticeship contract, for example, has become the great protagonist of under 30 recruitment.
Since then, more and more young people began to see their education in a different way: no longer as the missing piece to their work success, but as a necessary path but to be compressed as much as possible. Hence the “3 + 1”, the combination of university and professional course aimed at the immediate insertion into the world of work.
Specialized Degree vs Master
Milan Fashion Institute creates 360-degree job opportunities with its Masters. The vocational courses proposed aim to prepare the student to practice different professions in the fashion industry. The master, indeed, is just that: a shorter path than the specialized degree, which provides both theoretical and practical skills in a given trade area.
In some cases, the “3+2” university path is essential, as for medical school that lasts 6 years, but in most cases the specializing master is what you need to enter the world of work quickly and with the right skills. There are those who choose the master as a natural completion of their studies, as the student of economics who choose a master’s degree in MBA, or there are those who decide to change course to improve their chances of getting a good job, as a graduate in modern letters who struggles to find a job in his field. But let’s get to the actual comparison:
Master | Specialized Degree |
Usual Duration: 1 year circa | Usual Duration: 2 years circa |
Acquisition of both theoretical and field skills | Acquisition of mostly theoretical skills |
Specialization in a specific field, aimed to recruitment | Specialization in a specific area of academic imprint |
Extended training internship of long-term in partner companies (even several months). | Training internship not always included and often at the discretion of the student |
As can be seen from the table, the master is more oriented towards pro-employment training, while the path of university specialization is more focused on increasing the student’s culture. There are some aspects that make the master the best choice for many young students:
- It’s shorter and makes the student immediately expendable in a business context.
- It becomes a sort of bridging between different careers, giving the possibility also to a law graduate to exploit their potential and knowledge in another area, just like fashion.
- It allows a dynamic and careful training and a continuous dialogue with the teachers, as the classes are often formulated by just over 20 students.
- It has the internship period in the company as the cornerstone, an element that brings great value to the person during the interview and subsequent work.
Conclusions
With this article we don’t want to denigrate the choice to continue university studies with the specialized degree, but we wanted to explain why the phenomenon of “3 + 1” is so growing and because it’s actually an excellent choice to operate.
We hope that this article has been useful to understand the main differences between master and specialized degree, and that you have gained a decision on the next step of training to be undertaken. For any need, for a simple information conversation, to better know the fashion world in which we operate or to get information on our masters, contact us. You can write an email to info@milanofashioninstitute.it or call us at +39.02.3031.6640.