“What are you going to do with that?” Music students’ perceptions of the value(s) of their degree

Thesis

The terms “Mickey Mouse”; “low-value”; and “rip-off” have all featured in UK media headlines such as Forbes (Morrison, 2023), The Telegraph (Corfe, 2024) and Evening Standard (Cockerell, 2024) to refer to the Arts subjects, which according to the Office for Students’ (OfS) consultation paper, are not ‘strategic priorities’ (OfS, 2021). Following the rapid expansion of higher education in the UK in the 1990s whereby ‘market mechanisms’ were introduced by Conservative governments at the time, the focus has been on producing a highly skilled labour force with the Dearing Report (1997) ensuring that employability be placed on the policy agenda. To reduce the risk of graduate un/under-employment, OfS proposed to slash funding to the Arts subjects by 50% to thus reduce the number of students enrolling on courses that supposedly provide low economic returns for both society and the individual. The value of higher education in the arts and humanities, has long been a subject of debate among educators, students, and policymakers. In recent years, with the rising costs of tuition and the emphasis on graduate employability, this question has become even more pressing, particularly regarding music degrees. Music graduates follow a diverse range of career paths both inside and outside of music and this dissertation seeks to explore and understand the perspective of those who choose to invest in a music degree despite the stereotypes and criticisms the subject has faced. In many societies, the arts are simultaneously praised in terms of culture yet often put into doubt surrounding practicality. For music students, this dichotomy presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities as they must navigate the rigorous demands of their discipline in addition to the social perceptions and economic realities that are attached to this field of study [Continues in file.]

Authors: Chung, E

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-nym4a1gvk
• Type of award: Mst taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: HE; value of arts and humanities; music degrees; qualitative research methods; HE2024; semi structured interviews; institutional case study
• Subjects: Humanities; Education; Art; Case studies; Qualitative research; Music; Interviews