21 Mar 2016

If you do an Arts* degree then you’ve heard it. If you’ve ever considered an Arts degree then you’ve heard it. If you’re not doing an Arts degree then you’ve probably said it.

“So what do you like, want to do?”
“Do you learn anything?!”
“Do you want fries with that?”

Not only is this demoralising (yes, I did an Arts degree), it’s a little ignorant. The benefits of an Arts degree extend beyond a Maccas fryer and their potential is immeasurable. These seemingly harmless comments contribute to a devaluing of education, education that is costing the Arts student almost a grand a subject, ouchhh.

1. They’re great if you don’t know what you want to do (and this isn't a bad thing)

The versatility of an Arts degree allows you to experiment and ‘find yourself’. You find out what you’re good at, you discover avenues in academia that high school didn’t tell you about and you find out what you really suck at. You’re given the freedom to learn about a broad range of topics before choosing which one you’re going to pursue as a career, which is probably a better op than getting three years into a specialised degree only to realise its not at all what you want to do when you leave uni. That really isn’t fun.

2. They expand your mind

On that point, what harm can all this learning do? It dramatically enhances your ability to communicate with and engage in a huge variety of conversation topics. You become well versed in a number of worldly subjects which, if nothing else, is great for impressing people at parties.

3. They are a great pathway to an alternative degree

If you didn’t get the ATAR you wanted, but got enough for an Arts degree, it’s the perfect pathway. If you can maintain a Distinction average (or in some cases a Credit average), you can easily transfer to another degree after a year or sometimes a semester–like into a Science degree, or medicine, or even law.

It’s the age-old argument that Arts degrees aren’t as difficult as others. However, this ‘difficulty’ is all relative. A lot of people struggle with essay writing like a lot of people struggle with numbers and math equations. Admittedly less time may be involved in an Arts degree vs. something like Medicine, but it definitely doesn’t make an Arts degree worthless.

If you don’t do an Arts degree and you hate on people who do, stop devaluing the educational choices of another. If you’re considering or already doing an Arts degree, you don’t need to know what you want to ‘be’ just yet. Your degree can take you into so many different fields–a lot of them creative–and in fact, many of the jobs you’re studying for probably don’t even exist just yet.

How’s that for preparing for the future?

*Arts as Humanities rather than Visual Arts