Humanities secondary to STEM? Why I believe we should celebrate all students.

The point of this blog post is to recognise that all students, STEM and non-STEM should be appreciated. I would just like to clarify that STEM and vocational students are incredible. 2020 has highlighted how important understanding science, technology and statistics is for our society to function and carry on through a crisis. Similarly, the arts like film and books have given people a way to occupy extra spare time they have had in lock-down.

It is important that people do not readily divide themselves between STEM and non STEM, as everyone should be aware of the basics of technology and science, likewise everyone should have a basic understanding of government and philosophy. For example, our understanding of disease is critical for us to be compassionate to vulnerable people whilst living through a pandemic. On the other hand, major world events like the Black Lives Matter movement remind us how we important it is for us to understand the effect the course of history has had on present society and how we all need to address issues of race. We should be less ready to put ourselves in one box or the other but instead be open to learning about the world around us.

Many cultures and institutions condition young people to believe they must aim for a STEM career, or else they are incompetent and will always struggle to find work. Students at A-level are encouraged to study similar subjects, to optimise their grades, but this can be at the cost of losing the opportunity to study something that they are passionate about.

I am writing this post as I am tired of hearing remarks like ‘what’s the point of studying the arts?’ ‘they will never get a job with that degree.’ There is also the endless jokes about arts students having poor employability, and having wasted time. Not only are many of these claims totally inaccurate, I also believe this can be really harmful to future generations. It may result in people not fulfilling their dreams just because of fear of what other people think or what they have been conditioned to believe. This is supported by empirical evidence. Numbers of students choosing to take subjects like English and performing arts for A-Level are falling rapidly every year. There is concern that the lack of students graduating in English will result in a desperate shortage in English teachers for future generations. From 2007-2017, the number of students studying languages fell by 53%.

Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have both had the effect of creating a sense of anxiety about the future careers market which has sadly further pushed students away from pursuing arts and humanities subjects.

There is also a worrying trend in parents forcing their children into making choices based on creating a STEM career, which may not be in the child’s best interests. This can result in the child feeling like they cannot be themselves and later depression. If a child is particularly young, the damage is exacerbated as they have not had the time to develop their social and emotional communication skills. People should have the freedom to pursue what they love and are good at. Although STEM degrees have a clearer career path, subjects like English can still offer a variety of careers such as the civil service or publishing.

It is easy to get disheartened by institutional or parental pressure but people should be encouraged to be themselves.

Written by Pearl Penelope Wright.