What job can I get with a Bachelor of Arts?

Over 67% of ASX200 CEOs* and 44% of world leaders**  have a social science degree.

A Bachelor of Arts is the most common degree among non-executive directors of Australia's 100 biggest public companies, and two thirds of Australia‘s workforce have studied humanities and social sciences.#

And, in 2020 the British Academy reported that ‘those taking arts, humanities and social science degrees end up in jobs in eight of the 10 fastest-growing sectors of the economy more often than their STEM graduate counterparts’##.

_{^{*ASX100 Board of Directors 2020 Report, **DASSH 2018 Report, #The Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, ##The Guardian, September 2020}}

So... what job can I get with a Bachelor of Arts?

The National Skills Commission have projected that by 2026 jobs for Arts Professionals will grow by 8.8% or 61,000 new positions will be created.

Plus, the beauty of the BA is that a lot of the jobs that students who are currently studying will have a career in, don’t even exist yet.

Potential job opportunities include:

Academic 

Actuary 

Advertising account manager

Anthropologist 

Archivist 

Art conservator 

Art dealer 

Art director 

Art gallery manager 

Art historian 

Author 

Banker 

Bio linguist 

Blogger

Book publicist 

Career counsellor 

Cartographer 

Communications manager 

Conservationist 

Consultant 

Content producer

Content writer 

Copywriter 

Creative writer 

Cultural consultant 

Cultural program director 

Data analyst  

Digital art curator 

Diplomat  

Director of development 

Editor 

Education policy consultant 

Educator 

English littérateur 

Environmental economist 

Environmentalist 

Ethics board director 

Evolutionary linguist 

Fundraising coordinator 

Government administrator 

Grant writer 

Health economist 

Heritage officer 

Historian 

Historical linguist 

Humanitarian 

Immigration officer 

Interpreter 

Journalist

Labour economist 

Legislative aide 

Librarian 

Library director 

Library technician 

Lobbyist 

Local government association of SA project officer

Marketing and communications strategist

Marketing manager 

Media buyer

Media correspondent 

Media manager 

Mediator 

Ministerial and parliamentary liaison adviser 

Museologist 

Museum curator 

Non-profit organisation director 

Paralegal  

Policy and planning manager 

Political advisor 

Political analyst 

Political economist 

Program coordinator 

Proposal manager   

Publisher 

Public affairs and policy expert

Public relations manager

Regulatory officer 

Scriptwriter 

Social media specialist

Social service worker 

Sociologist 

Speech writer 

State public service

Technical writer 

Tour guide 

Translator 

Travel agent 

UN representative 

University tutor 

Urban planner

Majors and minors in the BA

Where are Flinders alumni working?

Aboriginal Workforce Support & Development 

ACEOpen 

Adelaide City Council 

AMP 

Anglicare SA 

Austrade 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation 

Australian Public Service (Foreign Affairs & Trade; Defence; Prime Minister & Cabinet)

Australian Senate 

Bank of Melbourne 

BT Financial Group 

Business SA 

Court Services Victoria 

Deloitte Australia 

Department for Environment and Heritage 

Department of Educaiton and Children Services 

District Court of South Australia 

Elders 

Federal Government 

Glenunga International High School 

Hackney University Technical College 

Hamleys of London 

Henkel South Africa 

Inclusive Sport SA 

Infinity Community Solutions 

International Development Agencies 

Junction and Women’s Housing 

Laura Murray Public Relations 

Loreto College 

National Australia Bank 

National Centre for Education & Training on Addication 

News Corp Australia 

News Ltd 

Northern Territory Government 

Open Colleges Australia 

Praxis Artspace 

Rising Sun Pictures 

SA Ambulance Service 

SA Water 

SafeWork SA 

Santos 

Seaford R-12 School 

South Australia Police 

South Australian Olympic Council 

STA Travel 

State Theatre Company 

Sun Newspaper 

SWEAT 

Temple Christian College 

The Murray Valley Standard 

UN World Food Programme 

Universidad Sergio Arboleda  

VavaVoom Productions  

Weber Shandwick Australia 

WOMADelaide 

Majors and minors in the BA

Join a world of leaders

The range of careers available for Bachelor of Arts graduates is amazing. Bachelor of Arts graduates are leaders, founders and entrepreneurs. Change makers. People like Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba or Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal. CEOs and former CEOs of companies like YouTube, Disney and Starbucks. Creative minds like Natalie Portman, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese, Amy Poehler and Emma Watson.

Bachelor of Arts graduates include former Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian; Former PMs Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Malcom Turnbull; Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Bachelor of Arts alumni

The only thing that’s true about the statement “there are no jobs in the Arts”, is that it’s an outdated stereotype. Flinders Bachelor of Arts alumni have well proven that a degree in the Arts can take you far in life.

Take, for example, Renae Leith-Manos. She is the perfect example of how diverse your career can be with a Bachelor of Arts. Having worked in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and digital media, Renae is regularly called upon as a commentator, media consultant and journalist. Nowadays, she divides her time 50/50 between her two homes in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Sydney.

Or Ryan Manhire, who went from high school drop-out to BA to PhD to the world with a postdoc at one of Europe’s leading ethical centres in the Czech Republic.

Or Sara Siami who worked her way up to Human Resources Director at global fitness company SWEAT, the brainchild of Tobi Pearce and Kayla Itsines, and has since founded her own P&C business, The People Plugin.

Or James Currie, who won the Australian Screen Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 for his work in the screen industry.

And these are just some of the stories of Flinders Bachelor of Arts students who have gone on to have incredible jobs in the Arts in a variety of industries.

"In the BA I am majoring in Drama and International Relations. The degree allows me to study the subjects I am interested in and surrounds me with mentors, teachers, and peers who support and challenge me to achieve my best. The degree has provided me with a close cohort of friends who share similar interests. As a part of my degree, I will be going on exchange to Canada to further my studies."

Jamila Main (Bachelor of Arts)

"Flinders took me from a ratbag 20 something to a confident, rational human being. I learned how to think, and was provided with a robust foundation upon which I was able to build my career. It was a solid base which over 40 years later I still I constantly reference and augment... In the year following graduation, I was head-hunted by the South Australian Film Corporation which had just been formed by Premier Donald Dunstan and film producer Gil Brearley in 1972."

James Currie (BA Hons '75)
Winner of the Australian Screen Sound Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015

No. 1 in Australia
in Humanities, Culture and Social Sciences for overall quality of educational experience

The Good Universities Guide 2021 (postgraduate)

No.1 in SA
in Communications for overall educational experience, skills development, student support and teaching quality.

(The Good Universities Guide 2023 (undergraduate), public SA-founded universities only)

No.1 in SA
in Humanities, Culture & Social Sciences for median graduate income, overall educational experience and skills development.

(The Good Universities Guide 2023 (undergraduate), public SA-founded universities only)

No.1 in SA
in Humanities, Culture & Social Sciences for full-time employment, median graduate income, overall educational experience, skills development, student support and teaching quality.

(The Good Universities Guide 2023 (postgraduate), public SA-founded universities only)

Study options

Flinders’ Bachelor of Arts is for the change-makers.

Those who look to the future. Who understand that to thrive in tomorrow’s workplace, you must learn to be flexible, to navigate the digital age, to think both critically and creatively, and to develop the skills and knowledge to adapt and take advantage of new opportunities.

That’s what we teach you. To think. To analyse. To be adaptable. To communicate. To be creative.

To develop world-changing, future-proof skills in a world that’s changing fast. And that’s just the beginning.

Majors and minors in the Bachelor of Arts