This book presents an extensive analysis of the multifaceted benefits that higher education in the humanities offers individuals and society, as explored in the context of Hong Kong. Using both quantitative graduate employment survey data and qualitative data from interviews with past humanities graduates and with leading humanities scholars, the study provides an objective picture of the “value” of humanities degrees in relation to the economic needs and growth of Hong Kong, together with an in-depth exploration of their value and use in the eyes of humanities graduates and practitioners. Therefore, although it is hardly the only book on the value and status quo of the humanities worldwide, it nonetheless stands out in this crowded field as one of the very few extended studies that draws on empirical data.
The book will appeal to both an academic and a wider audience, including members of the general public, non-academic educators, and government administrators interested in the status quo of humanities education, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere. The report also includes a wealth of text taken directly from interviews with humanities graduates, who share their compelling life stories and views on the value of their humanities education.
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1 Interviews with Humanities Graduates |
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1 | (60) |
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2 | (5) |
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1.1.1 Background of the Interviewees |
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2 | (1) |
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2 | (2) |
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4 | (2) |
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6 | (1) |
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1.2 Results: Graduate Interviews |
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7 | (46) |
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1.2.1 Individual Benefits |
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9 | (16) |
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1.2.2 Characteristics of Career Development Narratives |
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25 | (9) |
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1.2.3 Characteristics of Humanities Pedagogy |
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34 | (2) |
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1.2.4 Characteristics of Humanities Education Narratives |
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36 | (4) |
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1.2.5 The Essential Contributions of Humanities Education to Hong Kong Society |
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40 | (13) |
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53 | (6) |
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1.3.1 Recommendations on Pedagogical Interventions Based on the Graduate Interviews |
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54 | (3) |
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1.3.2 Hong Kong's Economic Conditions |
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57 | (2) |
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59 | (2) |
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2 Graduate Employment Survey Data |
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61 | (20) |
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62 | (4) |
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2.2 Results: Graduate Survey Data |
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66 | (7) |
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2.2.1 GDP by Government-Defined Sectors |
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66 | (1) |
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67 | (6) |
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73 | (6) |
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79 | (2) |
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3 Conversations with Senior Humanities Scholars |
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81 | (18) |
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3.1 The Humanities as Both Broadly and Personally Defined |
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82 | (3) |
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3.2 The Humanities as Engaging with and Contributing to (Hong Kong) Society |
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85 | (7) |
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3.3 The Current State of the Humanities in Hong Kong Universities |
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92 | (4) |
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96 | (2) |
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98 | (1) |
| A Final Brief Summary |
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99 | (2) |
| Appendix |
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101 | (4) |
| Works Cited |
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105 | |
Evelyn Tsz Yan Chan is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her background is in English Literature, but she also holds a Masters degree in Educational and Social Research, and has published on academic subject identity based on interviews with students. She is chiefly interested in the application of qualitative methods to understand peoples construction of learner and work values. Flora Ka Yu Mak is a Ph.D. candidate in English (Literary Studies) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include Romantic poetry and the notion of impersonality. Her previous education-related research has addressed trade and investment in higher education services in Hong Kong. Thomas Siu-Ho Yau is a postgraduate student at the Department of English, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His main research interests are in second language acquisition and cognitive linguistics. He has also pursued research on language and society, language policy, curriculum and education policy, and vocational education in Hong Kong, employing technology enhanced learning and learning analytics to do so. Yutong Hu received her M.Phil. in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017 and subsequently worked for the Department of English at the same university as a Research Assistant. She will begin her Ph.D. studies in Sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong this fall. Her research interests include the sociology of education, social stratification and mobility, and quantitative methods. Michael OSullivan is an Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He works in the fields of comparative literature, literature and philosophy, and education studies. Recent relevant publications include The Humanities and the Irish University (MUP 2014), The Humanities inContemporary Chinese Contexts (with Evelyn Chan) (Springer 2016), Academic Barbarism, Universities, and Inequality (Palgrave 2016) and Educational inequalities in higher education in Hong Kong in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (2015) (with Michael Yat-him Tsang). Eddie Tay is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His most recent publication, Anything You Can Get Away With: Creative Practices, is a critical-creative work featuring street photography in Hong Kong and Singapore. He is also the author of four poetry collections and a book on the colonial and postcolonial literatures of Singapore and Malaysia.
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