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The Australian federal government\u2019s proposed increase in the cost of studying humanities and communications<\/a>\u00a0degrees at Australian universities has stirred much debate. One aspect that should not be overlooked is that these changes will disproportionately affect women.<\/p>\n Under the proposed changes, student contributions for social science, communications and humanities (not including English and psychology) will increase by A$7,696 per year. That\u2019s\u00a0double their current cost<\/a>.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s proposal has already been described as\u00a0social engineering<\/a>, given the government\u2019s declared aim is to boost numbers of graduates in areas of expected employment growth, including teaching, nursing, agriculture, STEM and IT. The intention of lowering fees in these areas appears to be to attract more students to study these disciplines in preference to humanities.<\/p>\n If the idea is to encourage students to leave the humanities and study science instead, it\u2019s a flawed approach. It would take a lot more than simply changing the cost of study to attract women to the field.<\/p>\n Women remain underrepresented at only\u00a027% of the STEM workforce<\/a>\u00a0across all sectors, despite a range of initiatives designed to improve the balance.<\/p>\n For women, the real deterrent to studying STEM-related disciplines is related to\u00a0employment outcomes and conditions<\/a>, and challenges in even\u00a0entering a STEM-based workforce<\/a>. STEM women are likely to earn\u00a0less than their male counterparts<\/a>\u00a0and also face\u00a0poorer pay prospects than those who study humanities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perhaps more importantly, women in STEM have few examples of\u00a0role models who clearly own the STEM space<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 reinforcing a notion that STEM-based work is male-dominated.<\/p>\n Increasing the costs of the humanities, then,\u00a0might not push people into STEM<\/a>\u00a0or into areas such as nursing or education. But it might push them away from studying the humanities, and away from the vital work they do in a range of industries.<\/p>\n According to the federal government\u2019s 2019\u00a0Graduate Outcomes Survey<\/a>, 64.2% of humanities graduates were in a full-time position six months out from graduation. Many were employed in positions in public administration, education,\u00a0business<\/a>,\u00a0health<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0science and technology<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the very industries the proposed changes target. In these roles, they draw on skill sets acquired in their humanities degrees; skills that are remarkably similar to those\u00a0Industry 4.0 capabilities<\/a>\u00a0employers are crying out for.<\/p>\n Every time I hear that #humanities<\/a> BAs don’t lead to jobs, I wonder: Jobs for whom? #gender<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/S5A0lN6vjP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Allison Miller (@Cliopticon) May 16, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nPushing women into STEM?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Pushing women away from humanities?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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