Vocation, Vocation, Vocation

Mentioning you’re an English literature student can induce a confounded stare, a snide remark about “dossing” or a brief, awkward silence
“I wanted a career that would help people. I like to feel that what I’m doing is contributing to the community.” Nursing student Keren Pickin.
“Arts degrees are third-class degrees.” These were the words I read, glancing down at the scrawl of ink lettering etched into one of the desks in the Samuel Alexander Theatre. It was my very first lecture in English literature. I blinked several times and looked again; this time bringing my face so close my nose almost touched the surface of the desk. Still the letters read “arts degrees are third-class degrees.” There was no name underneath. I could fathom nothing about the author, only that he or she plainly had some objection to arts degrees and had had the “pluck” to scribe it anonymously into a desk where any arts student might see it.

These words, which are now impressed upon my brain as they are upon that desk, are a somewhat crude example of how students perceive and value the vastness of degree courses and opportunities that are available to them today. The world of education has certainly undergone huge cultural shifts over time, establishing and then re-establishing the “acceptable” curriculum for study. The ancient universities revelled in their academic research in subjects such as classics, history and philosophy, which would today fall into the category of arts. Medics and engineers were only later admitted into universities to study alongside the men of letters. Then, the sole possession of an education was reason enough to obtain it, not for the intention of venting it into a specific function.

However, the world has substantially changed since then, not only in terms of who has the right to an education but also in the diversity of subject choices available.  Universities now offer increasingly niche and vocational degree subjects, the reason being that they are specifically aimed at preparing students for direct employment in his or her field of education after graduation.

As a result of the now standard vocational approach to education, many people believe that the academic subjects are on their way out. What is more, this reversal of fate is completely understandable. The media has been full of research and surveys detailing both student and government angst over some very compromising statistics, particularly concerning graduate earning power. Some findings in the 2003 issue of Labour Market Trends concluded that arts degrees earned graduates between two and seven percent less in their lifetimes than adults with only two A Levels, as opposed to law graduates who come out on top with between 24 and 30 percent more. 

This startling information marks the increasing vulnerability of students as a result of the level of debt they will have to face in their post-university years. Since the rise in student debt as a result of the increase of annual tuition fees from £1,700 to £3,000 in 2006, trends have seen a shying away from academic subjects in favour of vocational ones, suggesting that students are more financially conscious in their career choices than before.

In response to the Labour Market Trends report, economics professor Ian Walker from The University of Warwick distinguishes vocational degrees as the lower-risk venture for students, representing a “postponed consumption”. He states, “Economics is a very dull subject but after a few years you can buy a Jaguar with it, whereas a knowledge of postmodern literature is a knowledge of postmodern literature.”
Our generation of students feels more than ever the mounting pressure from all sides to secure a purposeful position in society and, considering that even the former minister for education Bill Rammell viewed that it would be “no bad thing” for students to take up vocational subjects over academic disciplines, many now live in a very real fear, not only of financial redundancy but also social inferiority. 
Medicine, nursing, law, social work, business or accountancy are now the socially acceptable degrees that mark someone as a hard-working, valuable member of society. Mentioning that you study a degree in English literature, the performing arts, philosophy, history or foreign languages may very well induce a confounded stare, a snide remark about “dossing” or a brief, awkward silence, gingerly followed by, “And what are you going to do with that?”

When nursing student Keren Pickin was asked why she chose her degree, she explained, “I wanted a career that would help people. I like to feel that what I’m doing is contributing to the community.” She elaborates on this view, saying, “I have a friend who wants to be a fashion journalist…how is that helping anyone?”

No one can contest the enormous importance of occupations such as medicine that sustain the high quality of life that we have come to expect. However, despite the heightening negativity surrounding the study of arts and cultures, there must be something integral to it that attracts a great deal of student passion and, for this reason, we must accept that these subjects offer something alternative that the vocational degree perhaps cannot provide.
“I didn’t come to university with earning money or upholding the infrastructure of the government and the economy specifically in mind,” says English literature and Spanish joint-honours student Chris Bell. Significantly, he points out that there are aspects of life, such as books, music, literature, architecture and fashion, that are taken for granted because they are so tightly woven into day-to-day existence. Bell explains, “I told my medic friend, ‘Okay, you can save my life one day and that’s great but if there wasn’t anything to look forward to in life, there wouldn’t be any point.’” 

When asked what he believed to be the benefits of his course, he replied, “There’s more freedom of thought, a sense of uniqueness.” The fact remains many students can benefit from the versatility, lateral thinking, written and verbal communication and research and debate skills offered by academic subjects. “There are different types of degrees for different types of people,” admits Pickin. “[Academic degrees] are great for people who don’t know exactly what they want to do!” This privilege indicates that arts graduates are at greater liberty to broaden their education, to accept non-graduate jobs or to travel before they settle into their desired profession.

However, there is no right or wrong answer to choosing a degree, contrary to popular belief, and no “magic bullet” approach to employment.  A University UK report notes that in 2000, there were just 18,000 placements on graduate recruitment schemes and 400,000 graduates seeking them. The reality is that we now live in a world in which industry, commerce, public and private sectors are constantly subject to technological and organisational change and therefore nothing in the job market is certain or secure. Employers are cracking down, seeking “softer”, broader skills, diversity and experience that enhance graduate prospects. As quoted in the report, a vehicle manufacturer director stresses, “I don’t care what your degree is in…it is as much if not more about personal traits, personal drive and ambition. You could be managing director of this company with a degree in sociology.”

Many students are perhaps unaware of the limitless options that are open to them, whatever, however and for whatever reason they choose to study. When a door closes (and it often will), the student is the sole person who can crack open the next. A degree and a university experience have only as much value as students are prepared to put into them.