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Why is an English literature degree considered useless?

Is anyone here an English literature graduate?
I want to do it at Uni but have been ‘advised’ not to (basically been told i won’t earn more than a teachers wage)
Any advice on what I should do or at least consider? I’m willing to listen to any negative or possible points.
Thanks
Reply 1
Do you think me enjoying the subject is a good enough reason to want to study it at Uni? If I want to become an author (which I think I do) surely I will do better if I study English Lit at degree level, than say just A-level?
Thank you for your help
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 2
Like he said, English Lit does lead to a variety of jobs and they are not "weird" jobs in any way at all but they are known for not being highly paid. That's not to say you will end up begging in the streets but it just does not pay as much as a STEM degree. What job do you actually want to do in the future? Do you want to do something related to English Lit? If yes go ahead, do you want to study it because you just love the subject? Personally I find nothing wrong with that as well, go for it. However this option should only be chosen if you don't care about the money that much.
Some people do jobs just for the money and will reject them simply because the pay is ****, as I am sure you would have come across those people many times in good old TSR
Original post by Megxn0
Is anyone here an English literature graduate?
I want to do it at Uni but have been ‘advised’ not to (basically been told i won’t earn more than a teachers wage)
Any advice on what I should do or at least consider? I’m willing to listen to any negative or possible points.
Thanks

I studied English Literature and History at university. I am now currently completing a teacher training course and I enjoy teaching a lot. Honestly, whether you want to study a English Literature degree depends upon what matters more to you. Do you care more about getting a high flying job that pays well or would you rather do a job that meets your passions?

Really, you can still get a high flying job with a humanities degree. I know someone who studied philosophy and is now a sales executive, who recently just bought their own property. In the end, a degree is just a piece of paper. What matters more is your experience and personal traits. So, I would advise against ruling out English Literature based on the argument that you won't be able to get a job that pays well because that factor has nothing to do with your degree and more about your experience and personal attributes.

If you want to study English Literature because you are interested in the subject, go for it. If you want a good job, you can build up experience through internships, temp jobs, etc. Employers are not just looking for people with degrees. They look at what you can offer as a person.
If you have a plan for what you want to do with it then it isn't useless in the slightest. I think people refer to doing degrees as useless if the person doing it is just doing it for the sake of it and doesn't have any idea of what job they want.

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