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| My arts degree hasn’t made my fortune – but its value is incalculable | My arts degree hasn’t made my fortune – but its value is incalculable |
| (2 days later) | |
| I was 29 when my brother-in-law casually said to me: “It would be nice if one day you could make use of your education.” I had a degree and an MA in creative writing which, as far as I was concerned, I used every day – reading novels, trying to write novels, arguing about politics, interpreting the subtle meanings in French cinema, and generally leading an examined life. But my brother-in-law, who left school at 18, didn’t understand why, as a journalist, I was bringing home less than half the salary he earned in the hospitality industry. | I was 29 when my brother-in-law casually said to me: “It would be nice if one day you could make use of your education.” I had a degree and an MA in creative writing which, as far as I was concerned, I used every day – reading novels, trying to write novels, arguing about politics, interpreting the subtle meanings in French cinema, and generally leading an examined life. But my brother-in-law, who left school at 18, didn’t understand why, as a journalist, I was bringing home less than half the salary he earned in the hospitality industry. |
| LSE graduates top average earnings table by age 29, data shows | |
| I thought of my brother-in-law’s comment this week when the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released figures showing that, on average, male arts graduates earn less at the age of 29 than their non-graduate peers. Graduates of the same age overall are only earning 6% more than non-graduates. For women, the figure is 26%, but earnings growth for women overall is lower, so the benefits from going to university are greater. | I thought of my brother-in-law’s comment this week when the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released figures showing that, on average, male arts graduates earn less at the age of 29 than their non-graduate peers. Graduates of the same age overall are only earning 6% more than non-graduates. For women, the figure is 26%, but earnings growth for women overall is lower, so the benefits from going to university are greater. |
| The IFS figures drew a predictable response from the universities minister Sam Gyimah, who cited “a clutch of courses at certain universities that are not delivering the financial outcomes for students” and threatened sanctions for institutions that don’t improve students’ earning prospects. Last week, Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, accused further education colleges of giving “false hope” to students on courses that leave them with unrealistic job prospects in the creative industries. | The IFS figures drew a predictable response from the universities minister Sam Gyimah, who cited “a clutch of courses at certain universities that are not delivering the financial outcomes for students” and threatened sanctions for institutions that don’t improve students’ earning prospects. Last week, Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, accused further education colleges of giving “false hope” to students on courses that leave them with unrealistic job prospects in the creative industries. |
| This attack on arts degrees, and on the idea of learning for its own sake, raises fundamental questions about what we want from education and, indeed, from life. In those terms, my brother-in-law and I are fairly extreme examples. He was, according to my wife, worrying about pension plans by the age of 15, while I grew up in a family of artists to whom the idea that anyone should spend their days doing anything they don’t love is anathema. | This attack on arts degrees, and on the idea of learning for its own sake, raises fundamental questions about what we want from education and, indeed, from life. In those terms, my brother-in-law and I are fairly extreme examples. He was, according to my wife, worrying about pension plans by the age of 15, while I grew up in a family of artists to whom the idea that anyone should spend their days doing anything they don’t love is anathema. |
| In 2006, aged 25, I swanned out of Manchester University, up Oxford Road to Rushholme jobcentre, and signed on the dole. There is nothing wrong with this, but I accept that, in the age of universal credit and exorbitant living costs, it’s simply not an option for today’s graduates. I realise too that such a life involves deprivations and that gainful employment can teach us about cooperating with others, the value of time and financial independence. But that work must be meaningful and not part of the “bullshit jobs” epidemic which, according to the anthropologist David Graeber, leaves “a scar across our collective soul”. | In 2006, aged 25, I swanned out of Manchester University, up Oxford Road to Rushholme jobcentre, and signed on the dole. There is nothing wrong with this, but I accept that, in the age of universal credit and exorbitant living costs, it’s simply not an option for today’s graduates. I realise too that such a life involves deprivations and that gainful employment can teach us about cooperating with others, the value of time and financial independence. But that work must be meaningful and not part of the “bullshit jobs” epidemic which, according to the anthropologist David Graeber, leaves “a scar across our collective soul”. |
| Is your university degree barely worth the paper it’s written on? Discuss | Sonia Sodha | |
| I was able to study an arts degree, without considering my subsequent earning potential, for the same reason I could commit myself to building a career as a writer: my family. My parents are not wealthy by any means, but they instilled in me the confidence to play the long game, focus on what mattered to me, and believe that things would work out eventually. One reason for this was the lessons they learned from their own subsidised arts educations in the 1960s and 70s. | I was able to study an arts degree, without considering my subsequent earning potential, for the same reason I could commit myself to building a career as a writer: my family. My parents are not wealthy by any means, but they instilled in me the confidence to play the long game, focus on what mattered to me, and believe that things would work out eventually. One reason for this was the lessons they learned from their own subsidised arts educations in the 1960s and 70s. |
| “The question of who gets to speak and why,” wrote the feminist writer Chris Kraus, “is the only question.” Arts degrees give students the skills to speak and buy them time – that most precious commodity – to work out what they want to say and how to say it. Studying Freud, or reading James Joyce or Toni Morrison for the first time, introduces students to ideas that challenge their intellectual preconceptions, as well as the consensus of the society around them. Maybe that’s why those in power try to marginalise arts degrees. | “The question of who gets to speak and why,” wrote the feminist writer Chris Kraus, “is the only question.” Arts degrees give students the skills to speak and buy them time – that most precious commodity – to work out what they want to say and how to say it. Studying Freud, or reading James Joyce or Toni Morrison for the first time, introduces students to ideas that challenge their intellectual preconceptions, as well as the consensus of the society around them. Maybe that’s why those in power try to marginalise arts degrees. |
| Next year, it will be a decade since my brother-in-law said he hoped I’d be able to make use of my education. With reduced fees and shrinking newspapers, freelance writing isn’t getting easier so my earnings are unlikely to accelerate between now and then. Should the university I attended, and lecturers who taught me there, be blamed? No. The lessons I learned from them have helped me bear the hardships, and enjoy the rewards, of the path I’ve chosen. That’s one of the many ways that I use my education. | Next year, it will be a decade since my brother-in-law said he hoped I’d be able to make use of my education. With reduced fees and shrinking newspapers, freelance writing isn’t getting easier so my earnings are unlikely to accelerate between now and then. Should the university I attended, and lecturers who taught me there, be blamed? No. The lessons I learned from them have helped me bear the hardships, and enjoy the rewards, of the path I’ve chosen. That’s one of the many ways that I use my education. |
| • Max Liu is a freelance writer | • Max Liu is a freelance writer |
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