University degrees versus practical skills: What’s more valuable in 2025? Talking Honey panel debates

Richard Wilkins is known to Aussies first and foremost as TV personality Dickie, and secondly as pop star Richard Wilde, with the now 70-year-old wanting to make music in his early career.

But there is one part of his career not many people know of – his teaching degree.

It seems Nine’s Entertainment Editor was unable to say no to his parents, submitting to their expectations for him.

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“I did that solely to keep my parents happy,” the former pop star shared in an installment of Talking Honey on the debate between the value of university degrees versus practical skills.

“I came out of school and went into uni and signed up for a course that I didn’t want to do.”

“They said go to teachers college, do that, you’ll have ‘something to fall back on’,” he said, using air quotes.

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“If I heard that once, I heard it a million times.

“All I wanted to do was make music, play in bands and follow a career, doing that kind of stuff.

“I’ve got a degree that maybe I did learn from, but it was sort of the wrong degree.”

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Deb Knight also went to university for a degree, but says that she learned most of what she utilises during practical appliances.

“You used to have to go into newsrooms and do prac in radio stations, TV stations,” the 2GB radio host shared.

“That’s where the majority of the skills were learned, I’ve got to say, on-the-job training, and that’s what helped open the doors to get in and get a job at the end of the day.”

Knight adds that university is not only for the education you receive.

“I made a lot of lifelong friends and the social side of it was terrific,” she said, adding that she would encourage her children to go as well.

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But she does admit, “in terms of the skills that I learned, it wasn’t in the classroom or in the lecture theater. It was actually going in tools on the ground, learning the stuff from people who were doing it.”

Jelena Dokic learned her skills on the court, having been a star tennis player before she retired in 2014, now talking on sports analysing and commentating, which saw her starting from the ground up.

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“I learnt everything on the go, so I also like to kind of say ‘practice makes perfect’ as well.

“I think I would like… to have that flexibility for people to go, ‘I’m a hard worker’ [and] give them a chance to learn on the job and and try and make their way up.”

She admits she had her fair share of setbacks, saying, “Iif you saw me six or seven years ago and I started doing certain things… I got doors closed. I wasn’t good enough, so I learnt and I taught myself.”

Dokic added that she believes hard work can make up for everything.

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Moderator and TV personality Shelly Horton added, ”I always encourage people in whatever career they want to do work experience as well.

“Get in there, have a taste of it, see if it’s actually what you wanna do.”

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