Humanities scholars fight back as cuts approach ‘tipping point’

Academics are doubling down on efforts to show the worth of arts and humanities degrees in the face of increasingly harsh criticism and cuts to jobs at several departments in UK universities.

Hundreds of redundancies planned across institutions including the universities of Kent, Brighton and East Anglia were all said to be disproportionately affecting non-science subjects, with some fearing a “tipping point” that could see provision disappear from parts of the country.

The Times columnist Emma Duncan wrote recently that this demise should be “cheered” because these courses do not lead to well-paid jobs but scholars say such criticism is based on an outdated view of what a creative degree provides.

A report released last month by the University of Oxford found that its humanities graduates earn well above the national average, with more going into the business sector than any other profession; one of several recent studies attempting to defend the fields.

Daniel Grimley, Oxford’s head of humanities, said the findings showed that “far from being a vanity degree”, the department’s courses “equip students for the exceptional challenges of the contemporary job market in ways that they demonstrably go into high-earning careers across a range of sectors”.

While recognising universities were in a “very tight space”, he said scholars could still make the case for long-term investment by finding more ways to “capture how arts and humanities graduates make a really substantial and significant economic contribution to the nation”.

Alexandra Vincent, divisional registrar at Oxford and former chief operating officer at the Arts and Humanities Research Council, said that the humanities were “stuck in a narrative”, in part because it is easier to show the impact of science research.

“There is also an issue that a lot of the people reflecting and controlling the narrative probably have a view of an arts and humanities degree that goes back decades,” she added.

“But these courses have evolved, they’ve kept up with business and are making sure the cohorts of today are developing skills that are needed both now and in the future.”

Time may be running out to shift the debate, with cuts already being implemented across the country.

Philip Carter, academic director at the Royal Historical Society – one of the groups to have raised the alarm over the humanities’ plight – said the situation was potentially approaching a “tipping point” because there had been a “definite acceleration in the number and range of proposed changes within history departments”.

Whereas a few years ago the RHS would have been helping one or two departments in trouble, in the past two years it has worked closely with 11 that were facing cuts, and nine more have also asked for help, he said. Those traditionally regarded as successful as a result of strong performance in exercises such as the Research Excellence Framework were now among those suffering, he added.

“There is potential that if these things go through – and we hope we can still rein this in – we will end up in a situation where students of the future won’t have the choices they had five years ago; where you have to travel because you cannot study a subject in your local area,” said Dr Carter.

He agreed that the situation was prompting more to speak out in defence of humanities work and “the implications of what could happen if that is lost”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com