Women, Subject Choice and Employment

Abstract

As a BA (Ed) Art course leader, I have frequently noted through informal remarks and surprised responses to the BA (Ed) Art students’ high quality work (both written and practical) that both non-BA (Ed) students and lecturers view BA (Ed) trainees as less academically able than single subject or PGCE students. I assumed that this view largely related to the BA (Ed) students’ choice of a vocational degree rather than a single subject non-vocational degree, which is likely to be considered a more rigorous approach to ‘learning for learning’s sake’, unrestricted by vocational concerns. The view that BA (Ed) trainees are less academically able than single subject or PGCE students may also be influenced by the fact that BA (Ed) Art students who I work with are studying the (largely perceived) non-academic subject of art and destined to become primary school teachers — although, with the general downturn in the availability of suitable employment for both school and university leavers, the desirability of a vocational course such as (primary) teaching is on the increase. I suspect that the view of BA (Ed) Art students as less academically able than other students also has to do with the fact that a significant number of the students are dyslexic and may have experienced, in varying degrees throughout their school years, difficulty in reading, writing, managing time and processing information.