Is History a good degree?

HI everyone,

Again I feel that I have been put down by people studying science subjects, so I am just coming here to speak about it.

I study History at a top ranked uni for it (I won't name my Uni, but it is in the top 5 for History).

I worry that I won't be able to get a good job after it, as it is not a science/engineering degree.

I hate being made to feel so inferior by so called 'friends' who study Science degrees. They say things jokingly to me, but deep down, it really gets to me. There is so much work and pressure on this degree.

I worked very hard to get here, but I worry that because of my subject choice, I have no future.

I am not going to speak to these 'friends' anymore. They make me so upset.

I'm also doing a English and History degree and I love it, even though it is very hard. My extended family is always asking me if I plan to work in retail as they are all studying STEM subjects.

Here is the thing though. A degree like history means you can change careers more easily than say a person doing computer science. A lot of history graduates have gone on to do different things. A lot of politicians have history degrees as do lawyers, civil servants, and headteachers.

In the end it is not your degree that matters but how much ambition you have to get to a certain career.

It is as good a degree as any.

Your "friends" are dickwads who clearly don't understand the dynamics of graduate prospects and probably put much of their sense of self into what they study. Truth is they probably have no idea what they want to do with their lives anyway.

History is a great general degree, it opens up doors to do specific things (e.g. historian, museum work, research etc) but also opens doors to the vast majority of grad schemes (anything from finance, to law, to whatever) that are open to all.

How competitive you'll be for that stuff, however, is more about what you've spent your time doing at uni - extracurriculars, work experience, part time jobs, leadership, your grades.

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Well, no.

That is false. Any respected degree will keep doors open. There's nothing stopping a CompSci from doing politics or teaching or law.

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Well there is in the fact that law involves a lot of academic writing/reading and if you did a course like computer science where you don't do much academic writing or reading then you will find it very hard to get into the practice whereas a history graduate won't. You would have to study way more than a history graduate would just to simply be able to gain the academic writing skills needed in a law degree.

Computer science graduates could go into politics but it is more common for humanities graduates to go into politics because humanities graduates develop good skills in forming arguments.

It's not like a science/engineering degree guarantees you a job anyway, jobs in those fields are still oversubscribed just like all the other grad jobs out there.

HI everyone,

Again I feel that I have been put down by people studying science subjects, so I am just coming here to speak about it.

I study History at a top ranked uni for it (I won't name my Uni, but it is in the top 5 for History).

I worry that I won't be able to get a good job after it, as it is not a science/engineering degree.

I hate being made to feel so inferior by so called 'friends' who study Science degrees. They say things jokingly to me, but deep down, it really gets to me. There is so much work and pressure on this degree.

I worked very hard to get here, but I worry that because of my subject choice, I have no future.

I am not going to speak to these 'friends' anymore. They make me so upset.

Unemployment rate of all graduates: 6.7%

Unemployment rate of Mechanical engineering grads: 7.8%
Unemployment rate of Electrical engineering grads: 8.3%

Unemployment rate of all graduates: 6.7%

Unemployment rate of Mechanical engineering grads: 7.8%
Unemployment rate of Electrical engineering grads: 8.3%

https://www.hecsu.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/What_do_graduates_do_2016.pdf

and I typed it wrong. General grad unemployment is 5.7% not 6.7%

HI everyone,

Again I feel that I have been put down by people studying science subjects, so I am just coming here to speak about it.

I study History at a top ranked uni for it (I won't name my Uni, but it is in the top 5 for History).

I worry that I won't be able to get a good job after it, as it is not a science/engineering degree.

I hate being made to feel so inferior by so called 'friends' who study Science degrees. They say things jokingly to me, but deep down, it really gets to me. There is so much work and pressure on this degree.

I worked very hard to get here, but I worry that because of my subject choice, I have no future.

I am not going to speak to these 'friends' anymore. They make me so upset.

I never said that I wasn't sympathetic, I just stated the facts. Your friends should try to help you progress in life and in your career repeating insults isn't the way to do it.

FOOK History

You could learn a thing or two about history judging by your posts


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