Studying geography at

university
Simon Oakes

Studying geography at university

Presentation outline
Key facts about geography degrees
Fairly famous geographers quiz
The T-shaped geographer
The geography knowledge base
The geography skills base
Geography career snapshots

Geography degree pathways

Studying geography at university

Key facts

Geography-related degrees are offered by 80 UK universities.

30,000 people study geography at university (full or part-time).

Nearly 3,000 people study geography at postgraduate level.

Geography graduates are less likely to be unemployed after their degree

course than those studying any other social science subject including
economics.

The Labour Force Survey reports geography graduates earing an aboveaverage starting salary compared with all graduates.
Source: RGS-IBG website

Studying geography at university

Fairly famous geographers quiz

A wellknown TV
presenter
and plate
tectonics
expert

Home
secretary
and
possible
future
prime
pinister

IAIN
STEWART

THERESA
MAY

A modern
landscape

poet
(ask an
English
teacher)

A 1990s
current
affairs
comedian

SIMON
ARMITAGE

HUGH
DENNIS

Briefly discuss how the study of geography supports these roles.

Studying geography at university

Geography is a broad discipline

Natural
science

Environmental
management

(including
applied
chemistry,
physics,
biology)

(e.g. climate
change,
biodiversity,
hazard risk &
resilience)

Societies
and their
governance
(in applied
global, national,
urban and rural
contexts)

(e.g. cultural
geography,
historical
geography)

Most geography degrees include a core of environmental management and

human geography (societies and governance).

Place, culture
and meaning

Optional specialist areas are shown to the far left and right.

Studying geography at university

The geography knowledge base

From an employers perspective, geography students are well-informed

about a range of contemporary topics.

Geography students know what the big issues and challenges are for
societies and businesses and are well-equipped to help manage an
organisation.

The next slide shows a Wordle analysis of the top news stories that featured

in the Financial Times newspaper in 2014. What geography topics can you
see? What does this tell you about the usefulness of geography?

Studying geography at university

Content analysis of Financial Times 18 December 2018

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/cf2036b8-86e6-11e4-8a51-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3TP3D64KL

Studying geography at university

The geography skills base

Information handling (working quickly with new information)

Analytical prowess (making use of graphs and statistics)

Critical thinking and decision making (management contexts)

Structuring arguments (from extended essay writing)

Cultural agility (having experience of fieldwork in different settings and

contexts)

Team work (during fieldwork investigations)

Technology skills (using GIS and a range of software apps)

Project management (individual dissertation at university)

Studying geography at university

The T-shaped geographer

A geography graduate has T-shaped

capabilities.

You'll have strong analytical skills, knowing how

to interpret conceptual and data-based
information. In a rapidly changing world your
understanding of how human environments
function globally and locally is highly marketable.
A knowledge of how to read future socioeconomic

trends and use computer modelling tools will be

of interest to many employers. (Geography
Review Vol. 28, No. 4)

Find out more about T-shaped people here

Studying geography at university

Is he talking about geographers?

The ability to take data to be able to understand it, to process
it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it
thats going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades...
Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous
data. So the scarce factor is the ability to understand that data
and extract value from it. I do think those skillsof being able
to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get
from data analysis are going to be extremely important.
Managers need to be able to access and understand the data
themselves.

Googles chief economist, Hal Varian

Studying geography at university

Career snapshot 1

Many well-paid geographers work in finance, banking and insurance.

These industries rely on applied understanding of the geographical concepts of

connectivity and risk.

See Globalisation: a risky business (Geography Review Vol. 25, No. 4).

Studying geography at university

Career snapshot 2

Geography graduates occupy

managerial positions with companies,

NGOs and government departments

that havesocial or environmental foci.

Geography graduates bring a valuable

Student perspective

Tom gained a BSc in geography

from Oxford Brookes University and
an MSc in environmental science
from Kings College London.
In 2010, Tom joined Thames Water
on its graduate scheme. Today, he
leads its Commercial Metering
programme. Tom says:

mixture of knowledge and skills to the

role.

See: What can you do with a

geography degree (Geography
Review Vol. 28, No. 4).

Having the skill to concisely

present complex situations
into bite-size nuggets of
knowledge that you can
pass over to an audience in a
digestible manner will
set you out from the crowd.
My geography degree focused
on getting this right.

Studying geography at university

Plenty of possibilities
Sectors

Job titles

Advertising and arts

Civil service
Energy
Environment
Finance and insurance
Law
Leisure and tourism
Marketing and media
Overseas development
Planning or public service
Recruitment
Voluntary sector
Water resource management

Aid worker
Cartographer
Climate-change officer
Commercial surveyor
Emergency manager
Fundraiser
GIS analyst
Hazard modeller
Management consultant
Market researcher
Nature conservation officer
Technician
Town or transport planner

Studying geography at university

Geography degree pathways to work

Employment

Conversion
course for
law or
accountancy

Geography
degree
(BA, BSc)

Higher Education
provides several
pathways towards
work: which might
you consider?

Postgraduate
degree in
geography
(MA, PhD)

Studying geography at university

Further links
More about the employment rate for geography graduates:
http://www.hecsu.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/wdgd_soc
ial_science_2014.pdf
An amusing look at life as a geographer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/24/whygeography-best-subject-study-university_n_5020334.html
A newspapers view:
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/jun/19/humangeography-graduate-careers

Studying geography at university

This resource is part of Geography Review, a magazine written for A-level students by
subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go
to: http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/geographyreview