Department of History
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Why study history?
If you are wondering whether History is the degree for you, read on.
Sometimes prospective students feel that, while they enjoy History, a vocational degree might offer better employment prospects. Although we are not against students taking vocational degrees if they have a clear idea about the career they wish to follow, we would argue that, if this is not the case, you would do better to follow your instincts and study the subject you are most interested in. This is because students make the best intellectual and educational progress when studying for a degree they are enthusiastic about.
Having said this, if you think that you would enjoy studying history, you can be reassured that the skills you develop during your degree will benefit you in the long term. Studying history teaches students: to conduct independent research, to identify the problems inherent in a question, to assess the arguments and evidence of others, to analyse primary data, and last, but not least, to construct coherent arguments in an accessible and persuasive way. These are all skills valued by graduate employers.
That History does offer good long term career prospects, is supported by recent research. Below, you will find an article reproduced from The Times Higher Education Supplement about Prof David Nichols' research into the employment prospects of History graduates.
Past Opens The Door To Fortune In Future
History may be bunk, but its graduates are the future of UK plc, according to research that reveals that the subject turns out more directors of top companies than any other.
The research being conducted by David Nicholls, head of history at Manchester Metropolitan University, began as a personal crusade to persuade sceptics that a history degree offered excellent career prospects.
Professor Nicholls said: "With a history degree you can aspire to be prime minister, a press baron, overlord of the BBC, famous lawyer, archbishop of Canterbury, diplomat, Oxbridge vice-chancellor, famous comedian, business multimillionaire or celebrated pop musician." His research into the careers of thousands of history graduates has shown a disproportionate number of high-fliers. "Not only do history graduates enter a wide range of careers, many rise to the top," he said.
Historians holding political power include Gordon Brown, Alan Milburn and John Prescott. At least four historians have become bishops in the past ten years. And in business, historians have swept the board. Among the company directors, chief executives and managing directors who studied history are supermarket supremo Lord Sainsbury, Sir Roland Smith, chairman of Manchester United plc, and Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop.
Professor Nicholls said his research had a serious aim. "There is an increasing threat to history in schools and universities," he said, citing anecdotal evidence that headteachers were persuading pupils to take "easier" subjects -"so league-table results will improve", he said.
"The UK is the only country where it is not a compulsory part of the curriculum post-14. Albania used to be the only country that had that dubious honour."
The research, backed by a National Teaching Fellowship award, will now look into the skills of historians at school and university to discover why, for instance, significant numbers of cabinet ministers (six at present) and vice-chancellors are historians. As history graduate Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Ali G, might say: "For real."
Alison Utley, The Times Higher Education Supplement, No.1564 (15 November 2002), p. 1.
Reproduced by kind permission of THES.
The THES piece was based on a paper by D. Nicholls, 'What's the Use of History?' [ pdf 85k ] It remains as true today as the time at which it was written.
One might also note that employers tell us that they particularly value Bristol History undergraduates because of their capacity for high quality independent research, a skill that we particularly foster in our undergraduate degree programme.
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