I have an arts undergrad and a business post-grad, and the skills I learned in my undergrad have proven to be far more useful in the day to day of my business career than my masters ever was.

Being able to conduct critical analysis, writing copy and reports, researching policy and operations, and communications have made a greater impact on my career success than learning about the Boston Box ever has.

All the Masters got me was a grad job. It's a foot in the door. My success in that job is all due to my arts training. The only reason people see arts as unemployable is because businesses treat it as unemployable.

The way to get more arts graduates into the workforce is by creating opportunities for them to be recognised, not to force them into STEM degrees to do coding, which is becoming less relevant than communications given the impact of like, AI.

Arts ed is already bloated w white private schooled people (incl me!), & we're the only ones able to transform arts success at uni into success in the workplace bc we have the means to do so - we can afford unpaid internships & do the social stuff at uni which creates networks.

So yeah, arts degrees ARE useful & valued, but only for people who can afford all the surrounding stuff (networks/internships) that businesses require to perceive the arts as useful. Solution is to expand business' benefits to hiring arts students, not to make fewer arts students

And this isn't even getting into the fact that university study shouldn't be seen as just vocational.

Learning for learning's sake is important.

Arts is important for quality of life.

This thread is just a rebuttal of the "arts is useless for careers" argument.

Also I haven't even TOUCHED on the fact that the biggest criticism of most STEM graduates is that they lack skills taught in the arts! Critical thinking, understanding of history and structural bias, communication, presentation, group work - that's the basis of the workplace.

Sure you can code, but do you understand how your coding may be entrenching existing inequities? Can you communicate what you're doing to others around you in a compelling way? Can you understand the people you're trying to work with and for, and speak in their language?

That's why the big push in schools is for STEAM!!!

THE A IS FOR ARTS!!!!!

THEY'RE PUTTING THE ARTS BACK INTO STEM!!!!

BECAUSE IT IS NECESSARY!!!!

ALSO if you wanted to funnel more students into jobs through vocational education, had you considered doing that via funding the VET sector properly instead? You know, the sector dedicated to vocational training?

also also ALSO our best and brightest STEM students typically get jobs overseas bc there's better funding for r&d / tech in America! And the unis were funding their r&d mainly through intl student fees and that's buggered too! Those economy-saving STEM jobs don't even exist!!!

like, sure would love to get a STEM job in the country and contribute to the economy but you've been working against the csiro and STEM growth industries like green tech and research for how many years now?

I'm livid! and, due to my arts training, capable of expressing the complexities and downfalls of this policy decision! wow!