Decline in arts and humanities degrees impacts disadvantaged students, British Academy finds

Figures show a decline in the accessibility of the humanities and arts over the last few years, with recent research showing that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are most likely to be unable to pursue these subjects.

The British Academy found that subjects like theology, anthropology, and languages have experienced huge cuts in universities across the country.

Course-cutting has led to students having to travel further away from home, or achieve much higher grades, in order to access the subjects they would like to study. 

Research also found a significant correlation between the decline of humanities provision and the increased provision of STEM, finance, and law degrees within individual institutions.  

Some humanities students have suggested there is a stigma associated with not pursuing STEM degrees

The lack of provision of language degrees has also been identified by academics, including Becky Muradás-Taylor, Professor of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Leeds, who called for a language degree programme to be reinstated in at least one university with lower entry requirements in each “cold spot”, where options aren’t provided. 

Some humanities students have suggested that there is a stigma associated with not pursuing STEM degrees.  

Maria Coupe, a first year Modern Languages and Linguistics student at the University of Warwick told The Boar that she believed studying languages is “seen as a privilege,” adding that she had often been told she has “no career prospects” by her peers.  

Grace Schimper, a second year Archaeology student at the University of York, echoed this experience, stating that she lives with “a STEM student who has outwardly said that humanities are pointless and don’t help society as a whole”. 

She also voiced concerns about a decline in funding for the humanities, with her department having to relocate “because they can’t afford the lease, which they’ve had since the ‘60s, anymore.” 

Sarah Cowen, head of higher education and research policy at the British Academy, said that universities needed to consider implementing new models to ensure such subjects were widely available, stating that the research provides a “worrying picture of who gets to go to university”.