Sociology or PPE?

I think this is interesting - and its very relevant for sociology students looking at education - the issues of meritocracy and the role on education in general. You may not have heard of PPE. It refers to Politics, Philosophy and Economics, which, as the linked article explains is a very fashionable degree course run by Oxford University. But what is education for? Does any particular subject provide the best preparation for life and work? And what sort of graduates do we want to reach elite positions - assuming we must have elite positions?

PPE has fans and critics. I can see that it can be a very powerful combination of disciplines; it would be nice though to see some sociology in there somewhere - and of course, sociologists can benefit from a bit of economics and philosophy and indeed political science.

I don’t know about you though, but I can’t agree with journalist and PPE graduate Nick Cohen’s judgement that in fact what we need in Britain is more engineers and scientists in positions of power. In my experience they are often technocrats with an impoverished understanding of politics and social issues. But maybe I’ve been unlucky; unrepresentative samples and all that.

But in general, the idea that graduates from any particular subject should become the ‘philosopher kings’ in a society strikes me as a bit distasteful, not to say foolhardy. Over-specialisation can be just as much a problem at degree level as it is said to be at A level. Surely we need graduates with a broad range of skills and knowledge of the world? Of course, as a sociology graduate I would like to see a much wider recognition of the value and benefits of a higher education which includes a substantial component of sociology. But I’m not a ‘sociological imperialist’; maybe we should reflect on the potential merits of the US system, where students take a combination of ‘majors’ and ‘minors’ to make up their degree.