But despite the bad rep, Humanities degrees are more important than most people think. Who writes the instruction manuals for the products that STEM students create? Who creates the copyright papers for those products, and who sues people when those products are compromised? Who writes the films that STEM majors watch when they go home and who paints the canvases that hang up on their walls? Who teaches their children in schools? Humanities students might not be immediately drawn towards subjects that are highly recognised and coveted, but their jobs can still be just as important towards society. In order for a society to function they also need entertainment, which is what the Humanities provides. Just because Humanities jobs are often paid less doesn’t make them any less important.
So perhaps instead of dissuading students from taking Arts and Humanities subjects, we should be encouraging them to go out and pursue their passions. Humanities students are 5x more likely to go into service work than Science students, which means it's in our best interests to keep them in education. Maybe one day, when you run into a problem that can only be solved by a teacher or a lawyer or a civil servant, you’ll remember to thank them. After all the slack they’ve been given, they probably need it.
