Report shows value of humanities to meeting today's challenges

A new report from the British Academy shows the tangible benefits of skills developed in the arts, humanities and social sciences to the UK workforce, economy and society. 

The 30-page report, 'Qualified for the Future', says these skills will be particularly valuable in meeting future challenges.

The Academy says: "The future of employment, skills and growth is uncertain, with demand being driven not only by technology and automation, but also by how we live within our local and global environment, political uncertainty and demographic change.  

"The arts, humanities and social sciences will be vital in building the society we want to live in, with individuals able to tackle the challenges we face and shape the future.

"These subjects give us the tools to examine and explain human behaviour, understand how society functions, learn from the past and apply those lessons to the present, and analyse the drivers and implications of a changing world and how different countries, places and cultures interact."  

The report also analyses graduate salaries and subjects. It finds that, except for STEM graduates in highly paid professions like medicine, there is a limited earnings gap between STEM and AHSS graduates. 

This builds on the findings of a 2013 report by Oxford Humanities into the career destinations of Oxford Humanities graduates. The report found that these graduates played a large and growing role in employment sectors which brought about growth in the UK economy in the 1970s and 1980s.

Oxford Humanities is currently working on a further analysis of recent data on graduate destination, which we hope to release later this year.