JOBS FOR ARTS GRADUATES
SIR,—Whilst sympathising with the difficulties experienced by the writer of Dead End ? I cannot help thinking that she is allowing the natural impatience and despair of youth to darken her outlook unduly. Surely it is rare for men or women in artistic and intellectual walks of life to jump straight away into perfect jobs ? There must be a period of trig and gaining experience, perhaps even of drudgery.
I know of women Arts graduates at a South African university who have been told that a knowledge of shorthand and typing is essential to obtain the kind of positions they hoped for. Apparently they are far from feeling frustrated or dismayed by this. And they are prepared to accept some dull work at first, until they can get their feet on the rungs of the ladder leading to higher posts. At the same time they realise this, although shorthand and typing may be necessary adjuncts, the jobs they desire in historical or literary research, journalism, broadcasting, the highest kinds of secretaryships, or whatever may be their ambition, would be unobtainable without a degree. Shorthand and typing alone would get them nowhere.
I hope that in good time Miss Houston will find that, not only has the Arts degree brought her congeniid work, but also that it has enriched and broadened her personal life to an enviable extent—Yours faithfully,
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