Are the sciences and the arts a false dichotomy?

In late 2014, the Secretary of State for Education declared that the days when arts and humanities subjects could be relied on as useful were behind us, and that STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) were the way to go. For all of her subsequent backpedaling on this point, it remains pretty clear that arts and humanities are considered soft and irrelevant by this government.

STEM subjects are vital, of course, and I welcome the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of a government push on maths, science and technology in schools, and a new national college for digital skills and coding. Nonetheless, I remain concerned about this instinct to promote STEM subjects at the expense of a wider education. It needn’t be a zero sum game.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that people invested in the arts should come out in their defence when they see them threatened. I – and Bedales – fall into this category: we are alarmed that the arts and humanities have been effectively banished to the margins of the national curriculum. Interestingly, however, scientists and standard bearers of technological innovation have encouraged more nuanced views on the subject.The late Steve Jobs, for example, saw artistic sensibilities as central to Apple’s business. Perhaps more dramatically, Albert Einstein was convinced that music was a guiding principle in the search for important results in theoretical physics.

Various researchers have also found a positive relationship between participation in arts and crafts and success in scientific and technological careers. In 2008 a study of large numbers of scientists found that the most eminent were significantly more likely to spend some of their time in productive arts and crafts pursuits, with the resulting skills being of direct professional benefit.