While efforts to get more students, particularly girls, into science are to be welcomed, there is a danger that the equal importance of the humanities and social sciences may be overlooked.
A
recent article in The Spectatorby Katie Hopkins highlighted some of the ignorance around the role of these subjects.
The Sun columnist and reality TV contestant claimed that non-vocational, non-technical, non-professional university degrees are “an indulgence” and “a waste of time”.
Hopkins should visit the new
Prospering Wiselywebsite, created by the British Academy.
It might educate her about the importance of humanities, and wider her limited concept of economic value and the ways in which that value is created.
Lord Stern, President of the
British Academyand one of the world’s leading economists, is something of a poster boy for a well-rounded education.
“I happened to do a maths degree. I enjoyed doing science, but I was also reading War and Peace. Most scientists are deeply interested in the humanities. In my own field for example, behavioural economics has huge importance for business.
“If you think the way the different skills are woven together in the kind of businesses we have, science and the humanities should be working together.”
Stern says the launch of the
Prospering Wiselywebsite is “not about making the case against other subjects”.
“We should not be getting into these artificial horse races. We walk arm in arm with our brothers and sisters in the Royal Society.
“We have seen in the UK an emphasis on STEM subjects and some people in humanities feel defensive about that.
“The humanities and social sciences are about the meaning and fulfilment of life.”
As for Hopkins, Stern says her argument is “really stupid”.
In his introduction to the website, he sums up the case for humanities and social science.
“To understand challenges which include an ageing population, migration, sustaining the environment and managing climate change, we require conceptual clarity and impartial, evidence-based research and analysis, together with open-mindedness and creativity in exploring new ideas.
“This is precisely what research and scholarship in humanities and social sciences do. The quest for a better, deeper, more valuable life has always been at their heart.”
The UK’s deep reservoir of research and expertise across these disciplines – from history to psychology, economics to law, literature to philosophy and languages to archaeology – is a national asset.
Newly released QS World University Rankings show that despite large increases in investment by the US, China, Singapore and other Asian nations, UK universities remain world-leading in humanities and social science disciplines, with particular strengths in politics and international studies, geography, sociology, English, education, history, law, psychology, languages, economics and philosophy.
Overall the UK remains second to the USA, but faces rapidly growing competition, especially in science, engineering and technology.
Influencing human behaviours, challenging inequality and asking ‘what is a good life’ are as important for business as numbers and spreadsheets.
The nature of ‘prosperity’ is much broader than its purely financial definition.
Stern says the contribution of the humanities and social sciences to the economy is “absolutely outstanding, if you look more deeply as we tried to in terms of what we stand for, what our society means - understanding the human condition and what it is about”.
He adds:
“It is helping us understand the human condition and relationships. Ask people if they are happy or unhappy, how their life is and how they feel about their life, if they are fulfilled. Ask how they understand the purpose of life and their communities.”
Stern gives the example of an oil company to demonstrate his point. It needs geologists, engineers and other scientists.
But it also needs to understand “risk management, finance, law, international relations, anthropology and economics”.
“Prosperity by itself is not enough: it must be married with wisdom. In a complex modern society, we need to think and understand in a way that is open, creative and rigorous. And we must talk to each other in a reasoned, reflective and careful way.”
The
Prospering Wiselywebsite exists to boost understanding of prosperity that can deepen and broaden well-being across our society, help us think about and tackle the great challenges of our times, and give us valuable insight into our lives and communities.