Kemi Badenoch thinks my degree is worthless. Here’s why she’s wrong

At this year’s Conservative conference, Kemi Badenoch reaffirmed Rishi Sunak’s position that, should they get back into power, she’ll be coming after the “Mickey Mouse” degrees. First on the chopping block are anthropology, sociology and media studies, cut down with a scythe sharpened by a need for proper degrees and apprenticeships that can churn out graduates far better prepared for neo-liberal dronery. I mean, “goofy degrees” was right there, guys.

I am the proud owner of a joint honours degree in sociology and anthropology (cue a scoff from a Tory MP limbering up for a shuffle across the benches). So, I feel rather inclined to rush to the defence of my beloved -ologies, and to my fellow dossy degree holders. Our degrees have been called “debt traps”, said to ill-prepare graduates for work and condemn them to poor salary prospects. But a point I think is being overlooked here is the fact that some might like to learn things other than how to be a city slicker. Quick disclaimer: despite being in full-time employment, I’ve been in an overdraft more often than I’ve been out of one this year. Do with that what you will.

open image in gallery

I need to be told that my degree was a “waste of time” and “low value” about as much as I need a hole in the head. It’s so incredibly unhelpful to devalue passion and make people feel as though they’ve got themselves into debt for nothing. It feels like another example of climbing the proverbial ladder, then pulling it straight up after you. Why should learning simply for learning’s sake be a privilege no longer afforded? Surely, we deserve the full scope of choice just as much as the generations before us.

It’s a continuing pattern from the right, of dismissing young people wanting to engage through less traditionally academic streams as simply woke and entitled. It’s a tired and divisive narrative, dismissing the grievances of the young while providing conspiratorial explanations for the generational divide in politics. In an economy that Ms Badenoch’s party played quite a big part in trashing, it feels somewhat rich to be told that the degrees that put us into huge amounts of debt are effectively useless.

I’m not going to try and convince anyone that, if I’d done a degree in computer science or a vocational apprenticeship, I’d be making less money than I am now – but I made that choice, and I would again. I spent three years genuinely fascinated by what I was learning about. Of course, passion lies in all corners of academia, study and skills; but that’s the beauty of individual interest – it creates a huge range of experts in a huge range of fields.

open image in gallery

Us Gen Zs often feel jaded beyond our years, going forth with the knowledge that things are discernibly financially harder for us, or that our future will not be filled with polar bears and glaciers, all whilst wryly laughing at subversive memes. I think the fact that so many are still earning “Mickey Mouse” degrees tells those willing to listen that we are still wanting to engage – that we may wish to learn about history or religions outside our own, the meaning of thought and how it can shape the cultural milieu.

Now, I’m not saying there isn’t a problem. Half of recent graduates are under-employed, and the average university degree leaves graduates with £45,600 in debt. But rather than just cutting the humanities and the arts from modern pedagogy, perhaps there needs to be a conversation about how vital interdisciplinary study is.

At the risk of sounding terribly earnest, surely education should give joy, personal growth and an understanding of worlds outside our own, as well as skills that can make money. As misinformation runs rampant and social media sways opinion in ever-more-extremist directions, people with the tools to root out their own truth and engage in critical thinking are not something we want to lose.

I am by no means asking for a right to sit around sighing about not being able to afford a cappuccino while I wistfully thumb a Pierre Bourdieu essay, but I just think narratives such as “ban all degrees that don’t make money” don’t create an inspired, engaged and enfranchised populace.

As politicians pedal against the incoming tide of populism, perhaps turning to face it with the relativism and humanism taught by the “ologies” may be to our advantage. What Kemi Badenoch is doing is a tactic all parties seem to be deploying right now – finding an issue that really doesn’t relate to what the actual problems are, and saying: if I get in, I’ll fix it, and therefore everything will be excellent. And luckily for me, I can’t be proved wrong until after you’ve voted.

The job market, stagnating wages and wealth disparity are not the fault of a 22-year-old who studied criminology. As I know from my studies, Badenoch’s message is contributing to her downfall. A disaffected youth never bodes well for the societal health of a country. Perhaps luckily for them, however, I’m not entirely sure the Conservatives had many more young voters to lose in the first place, with the average Tory voter’s age rising from 39 in 2019 to 63 at last year’s election. So perhaps we live to study our goofy little degrees another day.

substack.com/@milliejacobs