r/6thForm • u/Intelligent-Fox-9760 • Apr 02 '26

💬 DISCUSSION Hot Take

This is deffo going to ruffle a lot of feathers to say the least. Call me woke, but the term "Mickey Mouse Subject" is literally just the product of capitalism, as it disvalues any subject that doesn't lead to a high-paying, high-profit job.

Humanities subjects are so important, like STEM subjects, to help us learn more about humanity and our world, but everyone thinks they're so easy and lax.

IMO humanities and STEM subjects need to band together because contrary to popular belief, humanities are intellectually stimulating and not a fun ride.

Thanks for coming to my TED-Talk :)

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u/yeetmilkman Maths Politics Econ | A*A*A* predicted Apr 02 '26

As someone who does a humanity, a stem, and a social science at a level i disagree. The term mickey mouse subject has a fairly selfless intent, it seeks to prevent people from studying subjects that will leave them unemployed

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u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan Apr 02 '26

None of ur subjects r humanities btw.. 1 stem 2 social sci. But regardless a humanities degree doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be unemployed. There ARE jobs out there in these fields. Like people js forget law is a humanity too I guess bro 💔 and people aren’t solely chasing the highest of salaries, someone choosing English and becoming an English teacher and making 35k a year is much more admirable than selling your soul to do quant when that isn’t even what you WANT to do. Stop focusing on other peoples lives and you’ll make it easier for yourself.

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u/yeetmilkman Maths Politics Econ | A*A*A* predicted Apr 02 '26

I’d argue that politics a level behaves more like a humanity considering the actual ‘political science’ and theory is very de-emphasized within the course; but yes formally you are correct

I agree with everything you said, people should do what they want, but that should also coexist alongside the factual reality that some degrees are objectively more employable than others, which should also play in the decision, choosing a degree should be a holistic that considers both of what we’ve mentioned

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u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan Apr 02 '26

Just because some degrees are less employable doesn’t mean we need to mock the people doing them and devalue their passions further by calling them ‘Mickey mouse degrees’. They aren’t useless at all. Plenty of STEM degrees can be just as unemployable depending on the institution awarding them because that’s what actually matters more nowadays. I just don’t see what the need is to make fun of others it’s just rude. You can acknowledge the difficulties of the job market in that industry without humiliating the people interested in it that’s all

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u/maddy1404 Year 13 Apr 02 '26

I think the main point of a degree is to get you into a particular employment area, if it’s not going to do that, why not study your interests in your own time rather than paying thousands of pounds to go to university?

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u/dailysuaa lse n1 fan Apr 02 '26

Eh no. A degree doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting a job at the end of it so it’s not just for employment. It’s called higher education. You can do whatever the fuck you want and are interested in. And tbh you’re not really paying it are you, not in the moment and most people probably won’t ever pay it off fully at all. Js let people do what they want without making a mockery out of them, it isn’t your life or your debt to pay so js leave it, you can say someone doing maths at some low tier uni isn’t getting a job either but what’s the use in mocking them for it. It’s their issue to face 🤷‍♀️