We are excited to announce the release of two reports highlighting the wide-ranging economic, social and cultural impacts of the humanities, arts and social sciences in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The humanities, arts and social sciences deliver direct economic benefit to the Australian and New Zealand economies and bring with them huge social benefits.
In Australia, 90 per cent of humanities, culture and social sciences graduates are in full-time employment three years after graduating and their salary is on par with other graduates at $82,000. Employers also have a 91 per cent rate of satisfaction with graduates’ foundational skills.
In New Zealand, half of all current Ministers have an arts degree and five of the last 10 Prime Ministers studied arts degrees. Some arts graduates in New Zealand will earn well in excess of $1 million more than people with no degree over their lifetime.
Graduates of arts degrees also go into a long list of exciting and diverse careers, all of which have an important role to play in a healthy, happy, and well-informed democracy. Top occupations include:
- Graphic and web design
- Advertising and marketing
- Journalism
- Intelligence and policy analysis
- Teaching
- Performing arts
- Visual arts
- Communications
- Film, television, radio and stage
- Galleries and museums
Billions of dollars are generated by arts-related industries and many thousands of jobs are created. In 2019-20, cultural and creative arts activity contributed $122.3 billion to the Australian economy or 6.2 per cent of GDP, while in New Zealand the screen industry generated $3.5 billion in revenue in 2017 and provided jobs for 16,200 people.
The reports are accompanied by two fact sheets which summarise the key findings from each report. These resources will help you dispel common myths about the humanities, arts and social sciences and can be shared with students and parents at orientation and open days.
See here to access these resources and read more about the impact of our disciplines.