By Mark Addis, Professor of Philosophy at the School of English, Birmingham City University

Employability is an increasingly significant demand in higher education especially in the wake of the Browne review. Greater attention has been paid to how humanities subjects including philosophy prepare students for the world of work. Many recent government statements about employability effectively frame it in STEM terms. For example:

We will give new priority to the programmes that meet the need for high level skills … This will mean enhanced support for the ‘STEM’ subjects – degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics …

Higher Ambitions: The Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2009: 12)

In contrast to this the evidence indicates that humanities graduates are uniquely well placed to meet the needs of the current and future labour market. They bring distinctive skills and attributes to the workforce which should be prized and cultivated.

As part of exploring the unique qualities and benefits of studying philosophy on 15 September 2011 a conference Valuing Philosophy Degrees: Employability in Higher Education is being held at Birmingham City University. It has been jointly organised by the Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds (sadly to close at the end of year) and myself. The event will offer a mix of academic reflection on employability and practical advice on enhancing the employability of philosophy graduates in ways which do justice to the particular character of the subject. Philosophy has much to offer the employability agenda in terms of developing critical thinking and learning how to learn as well as inculcating valuable attitudes such as persistence in the face of difficulty. However, the discipline has to become better at communicating the benefits its study brings and this reflects the general problem philosophy needs improve its public engagement. Many questions of practice and policy can be informed by philosophical reflection but philosophers should do more to articulate the relevance of their work to a wider audience. Inevitably a good deal of work in philosophy is highly technical but this should not prevent important ideas and arguments being expressed in such a way that makes them accessible to thoughtful people.