Do you think doing a geography degree is a good choice

[GingerKittenTail]

Very bright child
doing v well in Pretty much all subjects

bit particually enjoys geography and wants to continue to study this area further

Can be. A friend of mine went into geology degree off the back of geography a levels and is now one of 4 worldwide experts in certain rare Earth minerals. He’s globe trotting and minted (plus loves his job).

Any career ideas in the ring at this point? Although obviously the degree subject doesn't matter for lots of professions. They always say to do what you are good at, and what you enjoy!

With the aim of ...?

Is there a career interest in teaching geography/working in mapping/ geodemographics or other related field?

Going with an interest is great as a start point but how that interest can be applied in the real world is worth some consideration (worked in insurance, flood mapping and sociodemographic mapping (eg theft patterns) all relevant skills)

Highest rate of employment after law. KPMG type places like a geographer as they have loads of transferable skills and usually have a bit of common sense. They don’t have to be a geography teacher and it’s not all ox-bow lakes!

Yes, for a bright child who particularly enjoys geography, a geography degree is a good choice. Picking a degree subject because you think it's right from a career point of view when your heart lies elsewhere is a recipe for unhappiness.

Geography provides loads of transferable skills! My peers have pursued a wide range of careers: town planner, teacher, vicar, meteorologist, civil servant, health professional, lecturer, conservationist. Students generally study both physical and human geography in their first year and focus on one or the other.

A brilliant degree. Academic, versatile and well respected.

DH is a lecturer in Geography and is always citing employability stats which show Geog grads do very well on that front.

Town planner degree maybe?

Geography bridges arts and sciences and grads come out both numerate and literate. This makes them attractive to lots of employers. Subject is very broad too so combines well with others for a join degree too.

Yes! (and I say that as a Geologist!)

I work with, and line manage geography grads. I work for The Environment Agency in flood risk management. We have geography grads gworking on GIS, project management, asset management**, flood risk management, water quality, flood modelling, environmental law enforcement, (water) abstraction and discharge licensing, town planning, contaminated land and groundwater regulation. Those are just the ones I can think of at 3am!

Apart from the fact that digital mapping seems to have done away with the ability to take a grid reference off a paper map, the geographers I know are all well skilled, well employed people.

*project managing schemes to repair/replace flood defences eg embankments, walls, barriers, pumping stations; to develop flood models to provide evidence for where to invest;

** the assets being flood defences

It got at least one person to Prime Minister, not the best ever but probably the last one with any integrity.

When I did geography I think all of my cohort went on to do a postgrad to make us employable.

I would agree that the range of skills would probably make you a good candidate for milk round careers (and my uni produced a lot of people like that, but not in our department 😆.)

We went on to be researchers, GIS consultants, teachers, town planners...

But that was 20 yrs ago so who knows what it's like now!

Came back to say that depending on her interests an environmental science degree might be good for working in sustainability - there are some universities offering joint honours with geography. Maybe worth exploring?

Yes, agree with all PP. Geography is a type of science, which is always good and with transferable skills. In my 40s, and I wish geography had been taught in a better way at my school - I absolutely HATED it. And yet now, a lot of the things I'm interested in have at least some connection to geography - town planning, sustainability etc.