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The British Academy's Skills project has sought to articulate and celebrate the skills gained through studying arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS), and to lead a high-level debate about the value of these skills to the individual, to society and to the economy. Based on the argument that demand is growing for individuals to be equipped with higher level skills which they can deploy in different contexts, whether in a career which may cross many sectors of employment or within a research community which is increasingly interdisciplinary, the Academy believes the arts, humanities and social sciences provide a rich context for the development of higher level skills and lifelong learning that will allow the workforce of the future to cope, adapt and thrive. The report looks at how these skills are taught, learned and applied in society, drawing on existing evidence and generating new evidence through commissioned research. It includes recommendations of areas for further action which will set the agenda for the Academy's programme of work on skills to 2020, but also create a context for developing new partnerships with policy makers, organisations and businesses across the sector.

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This report argues that the future of employment, skills and growth is uncertain, with demand being driven not only by technology and automation, but also by how we live within our local and global environment, political uncertainty and demographic change. Accordingly, the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS) will be vital in building the society we want to live in, with individuals able to tackle the challenges we face and shape the future. These subjects give us the tools to examine and explain human behaviour, understand how society functions, learn from the past and apply those lessons to the present, and analyse the drivers and implications of a changing world and how different countries, places and cultures interact.

This second analysis report [the first is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 131.584] provides evidence for the tangible benefits of skills developed in AHSS to the UK workforce, economy and society, not only now but in the future. The report further unpicks graduate salary and subject, confirming that except for STEM graduates in highly paid professions (e.g. medicine), there is a limited earnings gap between STEM and AHSS graduates. This further analysis also confirmed that the choice of industry is a major factor in graduate outcome as AHSS and STEM graduates in socially valuable professions (such as education) have the same wage, which is below that of other sectors. Finally the report also demonstrates that some significant changes in professional roles when comparing AHSS and STEM graduates are due to classification changes within the Labour Force Survey.

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