Humanities Graduates are vitally important to UK Plc
60% of the UK’s leaders have humanities, social science or arts degrees
A new report to be published today (17 December) has found that a high proportion of successful leaders in the UK come from a humanities background. Around 60% of people at the top of their professions – including CEOs of FTSE 100 companies, top creative industries and professional services organisations and MPs – studied arts, ‘broad humanities’ and social science degrees. In this study only 15% studied the STEM subjects, for which the Government will continue to provide funding to support teaching in English universities.
The report, commissioned by New College of the Humanities (NCH), offers a snapshot of professional life in the UK, looking at the degrees studied by leading individuals across different sectors. It presents a quantitative and qualitative look at the breadth of subjects covered by ‘the humanities’, the importance of these subjects, and aims to understand what qualities graduates of humanities disciplines bring to the world of work and to society.
Professor AC Grayling, Master of New College of the Humanities, said: “A humanities education is deeply enriching for individuals. But it offers great practical benefit too. For service economies in the developed world, a broad educational background is essential. Much of the talent that goes into law, journalism, the civil service, politics, financial services, the creative industries, publishing, education, and much besides, is drawn from people who have studied the humanities.“Our society and economy needs broadly educated people, who have gained a wider view of the world and human affairs; of how to think about them, understand them, and apply the lessons thus learned.
“Our fear is that humanities provision is being diminished. It is wrong to think that humanities matter less, or offer fewer career opportunities than science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Many bright young people could benefit enormously from them.”
Key findings:
- The degrees of over 800 leaders in their fields were investigated; around 60% of these studied an arts, humanities, or social sciences discipline
- Of these, 60% undertook a degree in the ‘core’ humanities subjects of art history, history, literature, languages or philosophy
- The group with the highest proportion of graduates in arts, humanities and social sciences was current MPs: 65% studied an arts, humanities or social sciences discipline (compared with just over 10% who studied STEM disciplines)
- The group with the smallest proportion of graduates in arts, humanities and social sciences was Vice Chancellors of Russell Group universities (around 30% compared with 65% from STEM backgrounds)
- With MPs excluded, 45% of the remaining sample (CEOs of FTSE 100 companies, creative services, financial services and Vice Chancellors of Russell Group universities) studied an arts, humanities or social sciences discipline
- The sector with the most even distribution of graduates was found among the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies, with around 34% having studied arts, humanities and social sciences subjects and 31% from STEM backgrounds
The full research report can be downloaded here.
