Are commerce/business degrees replacing arts degrees? (1 Viewer)

[MiuMiu]

Well the stigma on Arts degrees at the moment is that 'everyone has one' and that it doesn't really count for much. But in the past few years people seem to have turned away from studying arts at uni (probably for the above reason!) and more and more people have business degrees. With so many people getting these degrees, will they be redundant and as useless as an Arts degree in the not-to-distand future? Just thought Id put it out there for discussion, no arguments thanks.

 

[Generator]

I do not think that business degrees will reach the same mark as the Arts degree, as they have more of a vocational appearance as opposed to the studies of interest aura. Even though both are easily applied across a number of fields, the vocationalised nature of a commerce/business degree in an increasingly financial world will mean that it is more readily applied and more likely to be up to date on what is happening in the real world than an Arts degree (unless it is a social justice issue). Besides, with the number of business schools growing by the day, an applied degree in the business world should become more valued as the universities seek to retain their credibility.

However, I have not seen any real drift away from Arts degrees (although I do attend USyd, which has more than increased its load of Arts students over the recent years), and the stigma that you mentioned would only exist in certain circles rather than be society wide.

 

[Hussain]

Originally posted by Ms 12
Well the stigma on Arts degrees at the moment is that 'everyone has one' and that it doesn't really count for much. But in the past few years people seem to have turned away from studying arts at uni (probably for the above reason!) and more and more people have business degrees. With so many people getting these degrees, will they be redundant and as useless as an Arts degree in the not-to-distand future? Just thought Id put it out there for discussion, no arguments thanks.

I think Commerce degrees seem to be the favourites of students as their ROI is far better - I guess.

Hussain.
Australian-Universities.Bz

 

[santaslayer]

Business/Commerce courses are now the most popular course in australia wide accounting for 70,924 people as their number one preference. (SMH CAMPUS-teritiary education guide, weekend edition 20-21/12/03)
That being said, i dont get the feeling that arts degrees have decreased at all, in fact, i think their popularity has been quite stable. (accounting for 60,019 under humanities)
As for redundancy in business degrees, i think that will purely depend on what major u choose. Majors such as accounting, imo, will probably never have an expiry date as all sectors across all industries will require accounting professionals, regardless of economic or social change.
other less "directed" majors will, and may suffer such as Business Law (which i dont see the point in, enlighten me people, as professional lawyers dealing in corporate law are the only people qualified to fit that criteria) may become redundant.
As for ur point in the decreasing demand for arts subjects, some other reasons which "may" contribute to ur point:

1. No clear cut path of career upon graduation
2. Subjects are too vague and do not reflect the demand in what
employers are looking for in graduates?

that being said, i believe that arts graduates have a solid, well rounded eduaction (which may help in the workplace). Ms 12, i believe that most law students that combine their studies with arts ge nerally take the law path upon graduation ( i dunno why, i just feel that way), whilst comerce graduates ay opt for a career path with their commerce major

 

[Hussain]

Originally posted by santaslayer
Business/Commerce courses are now the most popular course in australia wide accounting for 70,924 people as their number one preference. (SMH CAMPUS-teritiary education guide, weekend edition 20-21/12/03)
That being said, i dont get the feeling that arts degrees have decreased at all, in fact, i think their popularity has been quite stable. (accounting for 60,019 under humanities)
As for redundancy in business degrees, i think that will purely depend on what major u choose. Majors such as accounting, imo, will probably never have an expiry date as all sectors across all industries will require accounting professionals, regardless of economic or social change.
other less "directed" majors will, and may suffer such as Business Law (which i dont see the point in, enlighten me people, as professional lawyers dealing in corporate law are the only people qualified to fit that criteria) may become redundant.
As for ur point in the decreasing demand for arts subjects, some other reasons which "may" contribute to ur point:

1. No clear cut path of career upon graduation
2. Subjects are too vague and do not reflect the demand in what
employers are looking for in graduates?

that being said, i believe that arts graduates have a solid, well rounded eduaction (which may help in the workplace). Ms 12, i believe that most law students that combine their studies with arts ge nerally take the law path upon graduation ( i dunno why, i just feel that way), whilst comerce graduates ay opt for a career path with their commerce major

Bottom line is still ROI = Return on Investment.

Hussain.
Australian-Universities.Bz

 

[golfstick]

arts cutoffs are still going up

 

[santaslayer]

yea.....u'll probably need a low 90 by a few years time..lol

 

[Ribbon]

you already do need a low 90 in alot of unis. Uni of Melb has been over 90 for the past few years I think? I can't remember which uni it was, but I heard one particualr arts course went from like 83 to 93 this year...

 

[santaslayer]

yea, but business degrees are much more focused yet versatile, u know what i mean?.like accounting or eco major?
yet arts is still vague...........

 

[Minai]

mm I tend to agree - even though there are increasingly more and more commerce graduates, they still tend to get the jobs when they do graduate

 

[santaslayer]

Sunrise industry! (as opposed to being sunset)

 

[Matthew_152]

...Is there any point in doing an arts degree...its so vague. No offence to Arts students...i just dont understand what employment opportunities it provides...

 

[Generator]

Two points:
1. Generic skills.
2. Learning for the sake of learning is far from being a useless exercise.

 

[SoCal]

Originally posted by Matthew_152
...Is there any point in doing an arts degree...its so vague. No offence to Arts students...i just dont understand what employment opportunities it provides...

I don't do Arts but I think that some people use their Arts majors as a base for becoming a teacher in that field.

 

[Matthew_152]

yeah...alot of teachers do seem to have arts degrees.

 

[santaslayer]

its a stepping stone to do further degrees...eg, teaching, law, nursing?.......ummmmmm busineess?

 

[daiana]

I don't do Arts but I think that some people use their Arts majors as a base for becoming a teacher in that field.

yes very true

but an Arts degree is vague if you don't know what majors u want to do. but yes it is still somewhat vague because SOOO many opportunities exist...but they just go right past our consideration. and i'm not talking about being a checkoutchick at mcdonalds asking the law student, "would u like fries with that?"

i truly believe that those who are passionate will find their way around!! no matter what degree! even Advanced Finger Painting!

 

[clairegirl]

its a stepping stone to do further degrees...eg, teaching, law, nursing?.......ummmmmm busineess?

it's not a stepping stone it's a degree, teaching, nursing have lower cutoffs than arts.... if they wanted to do teaching, nursing they could have gotton in

 

[daiana]

yea but isnt every degree a stepping stone?

 

[clairegirl]

yea but isnt every degree a stepping stone?

yes but he's saying arts is a stepping stone to GET INTO another degree such as nursing ... ahh yehh right