As university fees continue to soar to the maximum £9,000 mark, there is an increasing emphasis for students to seek value for money so their degree leads to a well paid graduate job. Bearing this in mind, many students feel inclined to forego their passion for the arts such as English Literature or History in favour of a vocational course with perhaps offer a more certain professional future. However, it would be a disservice to many of the humanities to imply that they don't equip graduates with professional qualifications and skills. Professor A C Grayling, a master at the New College of the Humanities in London asserts that "The humanities provide a rich source of personal development, informing and expanding the mind, enhancing its powers of thought and understanding and giving the individual a perceptive, educated insight into the human condition. This gives great advantages in practical ways, not least in respect of careers."
A key advantage of a degree in a humanities subject is that they equip students with a key set of skills which are eminently transferable regardless of degree discipline and qualify arts graduates for a wide range of professional work. Vocational courses which directly qualify graduates for particular professions can leave these graduates exposed to the erratic job market and their specific skill set could become redundant at any point. Meanwhile, humanities graduates will remain less vulnerable to these employment fluctuations and can adapt their skills for whatever career may be in demand.
Grayling says that humanity degree graduates hone skills which are adaptable to any area of work, "They are equipped with the one great skill that meets every eventuality: the ability to think". Humanities degrees allow students to indulge their passions and to develop critical thinking skills, including close analysis, communication skills and coherent and efficient writing skills - all of which increase the value of the individual arts undergraduate in the complex job market.
A significant criticism of humanity degrees is the limited amount of contact time which arts students receive during the week. Students obviously ought to be committing the majority of their weekly hours to reading, reading and more reading; however the reality is that humanities students will most likely have a lot of free time on their hands. For the pro-active undergraduate this luxury of time can again be used to enhance your employability. We have emphasised time and again the benefits of extra-curricular activities which demonstrate your ability to balance a timetable and allow you to develop skills which you can only hone in the real world. While chemistry students will be scurrying round in labs, the practical arts student can be perfecting their employability skill sets in a real world environment.
Humanities courses tend to receive a bad rap in the current employment climate. However, it is important not to disregard their advantages. They can provide graduates with the preparation for a wide variety of professions, whilst allowing them to indulge in their passions and develop extra-curricular skills which only enhance their chances of securing a graduate job.
Tom, GRB Journalist
