With new university students getting ready to set foot on campuses around Australia, many people are wondering whether a degree in the humanities will actually pay off.
While some degrees are specific to particular careers, such as engineering, psychology, teaching or architecture, a degree in the humanities is broader.
This particular field of study covers a broad range of topics that include history, literature, philosophy and, traditionally, creative arts and languages (although the latter two now often have more specialised degrees).
Regardless of what different people consider “humanities” subjects, these areas of study are all about the human experience, as Stanford University explains with the following definition:
“The humanities can be described as the study of the myriad ways in which people, from every period of history and from every corner of the globe, process and document the human experience,” the prestigious university says.
“Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. These modes of expression have become some of the subjects that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella.”
But an historical shift toward more practical and employment-focused university degrees has left many people wondering whether or not a humanities degree is really worth the money and time required to graduate.
Enrolling in a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor or Communications, for example, leaves university students open to major in almost anything they want. In turn, that means people can end up with detailed knowledge of things like history and literature, but very few job opportunities relevant to their studies.
It’s this fact that popular websites like The Daily Beast are all too eager to point out, while politicians have also been known to use these views to justify funding cuts to university departments within the humanities and focus more on result-driven fields like the sciences.
Humanities Degrees and Employment Opportunities
Criticism of humanities degrees varies between parties, but typically centres on the fact that there are no specific or clear employment opportunities available for graduates. As Jordan Weissman recently wrote in The Atlantic:
“The cliche about majoring in humanities is that it’s a lovely way to spend four years of college and poor way to land a lucrative job.”
Weissman acknowledges that there are statistics in the US that back up this view “to some extent”, noting that the majority of graduates from the humanities earn less than those whose studies focus on disciplines like business or engineering.
But there is more and more global support for these kinds of degrees, with entrepreneurs, career experts and even research showing a wide range of benefits to getting a liberal higher education.
The Association of American Colleges and Universities, for instance, found that over a lifetime, people who majored in the humanities and social science earn similar salaries to graduates who studied in practical fields such as education or nursing.
Recent graduates in the humanities in Australia also have a better chance of employment than the clichés would suggest. The latest report from Graduate Careers Australia shows that 59% of bachelor degree graduates from the humanities found full-time employment and 27.1% were in part-time or casual employment while looking for a more permanent position.
The national averages (regardless of degree specialisation) had 71.3% in full-time employment and only 18.1% in part-time employment.
But even beyond that, there is a rich history of humanities alumni succeeding in business and even making more money than their peers. For starters, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling majored in French and Classics, Stephen Spielberg in English, Jon Stewart is a Psychology graduate and Conan O’Brien majored in History and American Literature.
While all of these examples are working in the creative world, where it is perhaps easier to justify a humanities degree, there are just as many in the business world. A report from Business Insider names a wide range of successful people who have the humanities on their CVs, including:
- US politician and businessman Mitt Romney (English)
- PayPal Co-founder and CEO Peter Thiel (Philosophy)
- American Express CEO Ken Chenault (History)
- US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (English)
- Former Avon CEO Andrea Jung (English literature)
- CNN founder Ted Turner (Classics); and
- Entrepreneur and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina (Medieval History and Philosophy)
There are many more success stories among the humanities graduates, and a number of these professionals actively support study in this field, arguing the development of skills like critical thinking can be far more useful than practical skills when it comes to getting ahead.
These alumni and advocates for the humanities prove that employment, money and success can come regardless of the degree.
But as Weissman says in his Atlantic article, “there’s also something to be said for encouraging students to study something that they enjoy, or have a natural talent for. Namely, they’re more likely to stick at it.”
He also has the best piece of advice for university students who are already starting to worry about what to do after graduation, concluding that “sometimes “do what you love” is perfectly good advice.”
That’s something worth remembering if any doubts creep in on or off campus, regardless of the chosen degree and major, because enthusiasm and passion give people the drive to succeed.
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