Dear History Students,
Have you got the mid-winter blues? Maybe not given all the sunshine. But, if you are feeling a bit adrift and wondering whether all your hard work in your units of study is worth it, have a quick look over these couple of slides prepared by colleagues in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, one of which shows what percentage of you will be employed etc and your average earnings, compared to Science graduates. See attached powerpoint for full datails, but the real take-aways here are:
95.1% of Humanities grads at ages 25-34yo had a job. (Census 2016).
The average earnings of a Humanities grad 3 yrs after finishing is $70,300, compared to $68,900 for a Science grad (Graduate Outcomes Survey ’19)
67% of chief executives of ASX200 companies, 62% of government senior executives and 66% of federal parliamentarians have degrees in humanities (Academy of Social Services in Australia)
The Bachelor of Arts makes the most company directors. (Deloitte Report on the Value of Humanities 2018, Apollo Australia’s TOP 100 public companies Report)
And, most important of all (IMHO): Humanities graduates have the highest levels of job satisfaction ~ 86%
So, next time your irritating Science friends ask why are you bothering to study History, tell them it is because you want to have more interesting conversations AND be more employable then them, make more money than them, be their boss – and, be happier than them to boot. And maybe as well, tell them it is because you’d love to have hair like Clover Moore in the 1970s. I sure would.
Powerpoint Presentation (with many thanks to Bruce Isaac and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences for sharing their data and presentation).
In case anyone is interested, I’m also attaching a link to a “careers” talk we did during the lockdown (so a year or two ago) that focused on some History graduates and what they do now. Many of you might find it interesting, as the speakers also talk about the not-always-straight road they took, and offer some tips as to what to do to land your first job.
We will be producing some more shorter videos about what you can do with a History degree over the coming year and will let you know when they are done. Spoiler alert – the easy answer to this question is ‘just about anything’!
Mike
Chair, History
