The Soft Sell

Judging from their new education white paper, the ConDems have discovered yet another front on which to continue their assault on the UK’s cultural sector. Having already mooted the end of public funding for many arts-led higher education institutions, the white paper takes the ideological fight to state education by disincentivising the teaching and learning of ‘soft’ subjects (read: the arts and humanities) while bigging-up Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, better known by the collective acronym, STEM.

I quite like STEM subjects: at school, I was rather good at them, particularly maths. In this context, were I a secondary school pupil right now, my future would be all but secured. I would get into the best universities, make scads of money, solve the world’s problems, and get all the great chicks (ok, maybe not that last bit). But this was also true when I actually was in school, all those many years ago: STEM talent has always been a fast track to a certain kind of success.

And yet, the benefits of pursuing a STEM path weren’t enough to steer me away from a life of relative penury in the arts and humanities. I was fortunate enough to be schooled in a system that encouraged us to make these decisions for ourselves, and which offered plenty of prisms through which to view possible futures.

This is worth considering in the context of Michael Gove’s ideological kettling. At best, this may produce joyless legions of reluctant STEM-ers whose only consolation will be their relatively strong ability to pay back their massive university debt. At worst, the government may actually drive interested, even talented, students away from STEM subjects, as some critics have already suggested. Neither scenario will do much for the PM’s proposed happiness index.

The government’s STEM sell is another manifestation of its neo-Victorian fetishism, which finds the ConDems in thrall to the belief that if the UK can somehow generate more people who can invent stuff and build things, it’s only a matter of time before Empire returns (Oy Vey!). Misguided nostalgia is one thing; wilful ignorance is very much another. The white paper is further evidence that the ConDems continue to dismiss the cultural sector as a powerful driver of Britain’s economy and global reputation, while at the same time showing no recognition that other countries are actually investing more in creativity-led (which is often arts-led) education right now, precisely because they see this as key to future economic prosperity.

As someone who works a lot in schools, I can say with some confidence that if kids don’t pursue STEM subjects, it’s usually because they think they’re boring. The arts could contribute much to changing that perception. But as long as the government puts ideology ahead of all else, society is likely to remain on the losing end of a bad equation.