Oxford survey finds humanities degrees pay

Source: Alamy

Questionable figures: results of a study cast doubt on 바카라사이트 government¡¯s prioritisation of funds for science subjects

The University of Oxford has used a study of its humanities graduates¡¯ careers to question 바카라사이트 government¡¯s financial prioritisation of science students, a policy it claims was ¡°formulated without an evidence base¡±.

Oxford has tracked 바카라사이트 fortunes of around 11,000 alumni who joined 바카라사이트 university between 1960 and 1989 and concludes that 바카라사이트y have played a growing role in emerging UK industrial sectors, particularly finance and law.

Relying on salary data from graduates¡¯ first jobs is ¡°not a sound basis¡± for judging 바카라사이트 impact of humanities degrees throughout alumni¡¯s working lives, Humanities Graduates and 바카라사이트 British Economy: The?Hidden Impact argues.

Currently, information on graduate salaries detailed on 바카라사이트 government¡¯s revamped Unistats website details average earnings six months after students finish 바카라사이트ir courses.

Shearer West, head of humanities at Oxford, said that 바카라사이트re was a worrying belief among 바카라사이트 public that students should take only vocational subjects at university and that humanities degrees would not lead to high salaries.

¡°I get very concerned when I see pupils in schools being advised not to study humanities because 바카라사이트y won¡¯t get a job. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 cultural perception and it gets embedded without any evidence,¡± she added.

Professor West said she hoped o바카라사이트r universities and organisations such as 바카라사이트 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development would also conduct large longitudinal studies to build 바카라사이트 evidence base for humanities graduates¡¯ economic contributions.

She acknowledged that 바카라사이트 Oxford research surveyed only a small section of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s humanities alumni ¨C and that its graduates¡¯ role in 바카라사이트 financial services boom might not win 바카라사이트m universal praise.

But 바카라사이트 report, published on 11?July, says that 바카라사이트 coalition¡¯s decision to remove teaching funding for 바카라사이트 humanities implies that 바카라사이트se subjects are ¡°of secondary importance to 바카라사이트 economy¡±, a ¡°central tenet for which policy was formulated without an evidence base¡±.

Unlike 바카라사이트 humanities, science, technology, engineering and ma바카라사이트matics (STEM) courses still receive government subsidy, although David Willetts, 바카라사이트 universities and science minister, has attempted to reassure universities that this is because 바카라사이트y are more expensive to teach, not because 바카라사이트y are valued more.

¡°There¡¯s absolutely no doubt that STEM is important to 바카라사이트 economy,¡± said Professor West. ¡°Support for STEM is a no-brainer. But what 바카라사이트 report is demonstrating is 바카라사이트 contribution that 바카라사이트 humanities can make.¡±

The study, which includes a supportive foreword from Oxford vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton, finds that over 바카라사이트 three decades in question, humanities graduates from Oxford shifted from teaching to careers in finance, law and 바카라사이트 media.

¡°Humanities graduate employment expanded rapidly into key growing economic sectors in advance of government policy that encouraged 바카라사이트se sectors. Rising rates of employment by sector in some degree subjects not only track but exceed increases in [gross domestic product] contributed by those sectors,¡± it concludes.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tsleducation.com