Why a geography degree is no joke
Despite being a long-standing subject of derision, its graduates may still have the last laugh, writes Cara Mcgoogan
So, you’ve decided to study geography at university. Are you ready to be derided for taking the “colouring in” degree? To be forced to navigate without Google Maps? To be quizzed on capital cities of obscure countries? And to swan through higher education with four hours of lectures a week?
Geographers have long suffered for their course of choice, often dogged by jokes years after completing their degree – just look at Theresa May. This week, another piece of ammunition was added to the arsenal of those who enjoy mocking geographers: the course has replaced classics as the “posh” degree. Just 12 students from underprivileged backgrounds, out of 204, are studying the subject at Oxford this year, according to newly released figures. And more than half of the remaining 192 students hail from private schools.
Long viewed as an easy degree, the discipline was axed by Harvard in 1948, after the emergence of its human side led it to be derided as a social science. But geography may be no laughing matter, if the success its students reap after university is anything to go by. Within six months of graduating, more than 90 per cent of geography students have found work or proceeded into further education, according to the UK’S Higher Education Statistics Agency, making geography graduates the least likely to be unemployed.
Tom Colthorpe, 23, graduated from Oxford University with a first-class geography degree in 2015. Despite the jibes, he is a strong advocate for the course.
“Geography has a bit of a reputation with those that don’t know it well as being all about volcanoes and oxbow lakes,” he says. “But there’s a lot more to it.”
At GCSE, admittedly, he found the study of volcanic eruptions and rock formations “quite boring”. But at A-level and university, it opened up to become a diverse and challenging subject. “Geography draws a lot on other disciplines and brings together different points of view,” he says. “It allows a much more nuanced understanding of the world.” After his degree, Colthorpe pursued a masters in social policy before securing his first and current job at think-tank Centre for London, which assesses issues in the capital such as housing, transport, pollution and employment. “For me, geography has been a really useful degree,” he says. “It’s more about the transferable skills than knowledge.”
Although Colthorpe’s masters focused his interests and was more relevant to his career, he doesn’t think all geographers need to get a postgraduate qualification.
“Geography arms you with skills that would be applicable in the workplace,” he says. “The critical thinking and analytical elements are really helpful across career paths, as well as personal working.”
To many, a geography degree may look like a one-way ticket to becoming a teacher. Mother Teresa taught the subject alongside history at St Mary’s High School in Calcutta. But students of the subject actually enter a wide range of professions, according to the annual Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey. Around 20 per cent of graduates enter corporate careers, such as finance or human resources, with another 10 per cent going into communications roles including marketing and public relations.
Using their degree in the workplace, geographers are also known to go into town planning, environmental consulting and surveying.
Some, like Colthorpe, join nongovernmental organisations that specialise in development and climate change. Others, such as the Duke of Cambridge, fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, sportsman James Cracknell and comedian Hugh Dennis, appear to have left their subject behind them.
“Geographers go on to do random careers, which is emblematic of the diversity of what you study,” says Colthorpe.
“My peers have gone into everything from law to sustainability consulting. Some are studying for Phds, and others to become maths teachers with Teach First.”
Perhaps, then, geography should no longer be seen as the colouring-in degree, but a rounded route into the jobs market.
That said, no matter how far geography improves its reputation, its scholars are unlikely to ever fully escape the stereotypes.
“I went for a walk in the countryside a couple of weeks ago and someone asked if I could explain how this hill was formed or what type of cloud that was,” says Colthorpe.
“It’s also expected that we know bits of trivia, like capital cities of obscure countries, and so would always do well in a world section of the pub quiz. Often not the case!”