Possible Careers with a Degree in Theology and Religion?

[stormywhethers321]

For background: I have full custody of a relative. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to her here as DR. Her biological parents are no longer in contact, and I am the one she comes to for advice on things like subject choices and uni. She will start A-levels this autumn.

DR is an incredibly bright, inquisitive human being. She genuinely loves to study and learn. Her teachers have suggested she would be a strong candidate for Oxbridge, and until recently she intended to apply for history. However, in the last few months she has been talking about making a change and doing a theology and religion degree.

Her reasoning behind this is that it combines all of her favorite subjects: sociology, history, literature and languages. DR feels understanding religion and people's relationships to it is key to understanding the way people think and have thought throughout history and therefore understanding the state of the world today.

I understand her thinking, but I'm worried the degree might be too narrow and may cut off some possible career fields. I'm also woriied that propective employers would see her CV and assume that she's a particularly religious person and attach some positive or negative value to that erroneously; she actually isn't religious at all. DR isn't sure what she would like to do after uni, but is thinking about a career in diplomacy, maybe doing a law conversion or possibly continuing on in academia. She's also very creative and sometimes thinks about careers in media.

Would opting for theology and religion over history shut doors for her in the future? It's ultimately her choice and I'll support her, but it isn't a field of study I've ever thought much about and I don't want to give bad advice.

I suspect the only place worth studying this degree is at Oxford or Cambridge. Because she can pretty much write her own ticket thereafter (with a few exceptions ). My DH went to Oxford and considered this subject as a degree, but he did something else in the end. He had a strange mixture of sciences and humanities.

With this degree there's lots of options, aside from the Pastor / Social worker angle - Journalist, Lawyer, Civil Servant, Teacher, Professor, Writer. Lots of options

A significant number of graduate jobs don't specify a degree subject. It's about the skills developed and the classification.

Most graduate schemes don't care about your degree subje t so I can't see how it would close any door compared to History. Law, Accounting, etc will all be open to her. Much better to do a subject that you are interested in and passionate about.

I have a degree in theology and religious studies (and teach it now to A-level!). Among my peers / people I’ve taught, people with that degree are:

teacher
lawyer
civil servant
social worker
tv producer
vicar
journalist
actress
zoo keeper (that is a random one but they love it!)

I think it's quite a similar degree to History. One advantage to doing Religion and Theology might be that it tends to be a small degree, so it would be easier to get to know tutors and fellow students than on a History degree, which would have a large cohort in many places.

No career that welcomes a history degree would turn down a theology degree. It will open doors to entry graduate employer looking for writing/ analytical/ comparative skills, and the (many, many) graduate jobs that just want a 2.1 and don’t look past that.

If an employer doesn’t want someone in case they’re religious, she’s dodged a bullet of working for someone small minded and ill informed.

She’s right about the mix of disciplines it would cover and how interesting it might be.

The only person I know who did this was in politics for a while and is now a journalist.

That's quite a range, and I'm fascinated about the zookeeper's career journey! Can I ask about your experience with the course? Where did you study? Were your peers largely people of faith, or was it more of a mixed bag?

A degree is a degree.

Unless you want to do something specialist, any degree will get you into most jobs.

OP, your DR might find prospects ac.uk useful. I have linked the relevant page below.

More generally, a theology degree would be no better or worse than a history degree. There was a recent thread on this forum 'Can a history degree actually lead to a good job?' which might also be useful for your DR to scan also as some of the points raised would relate to theology also.

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/theology-and-religious-studies

That prospects page is very helpful! I can see many of the career streams that interest DR the most listed as possibilities there. I've forwarded it to her and will suggest looking over the post you mention as well.

Thank you very much!

The theology student I know best is a close friend. She became a corporate lawyer. I have to say her dad was a lawyer...

If she's looking at Cambridge has she had a look at the HSPS course?

My friend who did theology at Cambridge is now freelance in advertising and earns well.

The stand-up comedian Kathy Brand did theology at Oxford so you can add that to the list of possibilities

I did the theology for the first year of my degree then switched. I found the other theology students very difficult. Lots of them were very religious Christians. They had a lot of knowledge of the bible and Christianity - which I didn't. The lectures assumed a huge about of bible knowledge. A number of the students were incredibly closed minded, rude and discriminatory when learning about other religions. The majority planned to be RS teachers, with several who wanted to be vicars. They were not a fun crowd.
I switched subjects at the end of the year.

@thinkfast no offense, but that wasn't at Oxford or Cambs was it?

I have a Theology Degree (from St Andrews - 40 odd years ago). I then did a one year postgrad diploma in IT and have worked in IT ever since. It's never done me any harm 😁.

OP, Theology is probably a less popular course choice than History and so offers, even at high tariff unis, may be lower than for History; a strategic point worth your DR considering also.

You do not say whether she is planning to take Religious Studies (or variants thereof) at A level. No need to say on this thread but she can use Uniguide to see the most usual A levels taken and grades achieved by course (eg google: 'Uniguide Theology Durham' to get to the relevant institute's page quickly - answer for Durham is RS, History and EngLit).

I cannot imagine the absence of RS at A level is a show stopper but perhaps will mean more emphasis required in the personal statement (or new format that replaces it in due course) on why a Theology degree is the chosen path.

Just additional thoughts; hope they help.

No offence taken! It wasn't oxbridge but it was a RG uni.

All the theology students I've ever known have been on the atheistic side of things but are fascinated by religion from a sociological point of view. I don't think this degree will disadvantage your student in the slightest.

That is a good description of me.

It won't limit her any more than a history degree would. It teaches very similar skills.

I would say its similar to a history degree.

I did religious studies and sociology joint hons at Cardiff. Didn't study any theology (though it was an option if I had wanted to). Of course there were religious people on the course (not just Christian) but it certainly wasn't the norm I wouldn't say and most of the modules I did were a range of different religions so you couldn't possibly have belonged to all of them!

I teach RS now but there are loads of options with RS - police, law, politics, journalism - basically anything that involves trying to understand and communicate with other people it is good for

@stormywhethers321 Where else would she apply? Oxford applications need to back up with other unis? Would the degree be as good elsewhere? Not so sure. I would check out other unis and courses. However no career is out but the degree might not be what she wants at other unis