����Ӱҵ

Strengthening ����Ӱҵ College’s postgraduate opportunities in History is the aim of a new postgraduate studentship fund which is seeking donations.

Caius is hoping to raise funds to cover tuition fees and maintenance for a Master’s student in History. If £700,000 can be raised for an endowed studentship, it can be awarded in perpetuity.

“We want to make sure the best students get the chance, regardless of their resources, to do postgraduate degrees,” says Fellow Professor Peter Mandler, the Bailey College Lecturer in History. 

“Firstly, we would be able to use the studentship to be able to ensure more people who might not have the resources are willing to apply. Secondly, if they get accepted by the History Faculty, more of them will get funded and therefore be able to come to Caius.”

Government funding of postgraduate studentships is in decline, particularly in arts and humanities, where Master’s studentships are not funded centrally, but are a requirement to move on to a funded PhD.

“We’ve got this hole,” Professor Mandler says. “You can’t do a PhD without a Master’s. It’s an essential building block. 

“All we want is parity with the other subjects. A lot of science undergraduates are doing a Master’s, but they don’t have to fund a Master’s separately, because they’re built into an undergraduate degree. One of the Cambridge ways of doing that is to do Part III, which is just like a Master’s but it’s eligible for undergraduate funding. We don’t have that in History; History of Science does, interestingly.”

Professor Mandler says the success of undergraduate widening participation schemes can be replicated at postgraduate level, allowing those with the academic potential to continue their studies or research, and it does not necessarily mean a career in academia. There are presently three or four Master’s students in History a year at Caius, with 150 across the University of Cambridge.

Continues below...

Linda Hanssler, Deputy Director of Development, on the fundraising appeal, which will last until Autumn 2025, initially:

“Raising £700,000 for an endowed postgraduate studentship is an ambitious goal. Any funds raised will be welcome and if we do not reach the endowed level, gifts will add up towards an expendable fund. The fund would allow Caius to welcome a postgraduate as soon as possible, for as long as funds last. A donation to this fund is a gift of opportunity, and one that will strengthen History at Caius.”

For more information, please contact Linda by email and to support Caius, visit the website page: Support Caius | ����Ӱҵ

Professor Mandler, who is retiring at the end of this academic year, after more than 20 years teaching at Caius, adds: “Of graduate jobs, 85% do not mention a degree subject. They’re looking at how well trained you are and where you went, what class of degree you got… Candidates with Master’s degrees now have an advantage and it works well as a standalone qualification.”

Professor Mandler’s teaching and research experience, specifically his research on Britain’s transition to mass education since the Second World War, plus policy advisory work, make him well placed to comment on the reported swing to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and LEM (Law, Economics and Management).

Professor Mandler has written a paper for The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) entitled . He exposes some theories as myths, pointing out there has also been a lot of convergence in the last 10 to 15 years.

“What makes young people choose the subjects that they choose and how things change over time?” he asks.

“It’s a much more complicated calculus than you would guess. There are assumptions in general culture – what’s going to get you a job and make you a living, but also what you’re good at and enjoy.

“It’s neither cyclical nor random. What are the specific circumstances applying now? I'm just trying to provide – it may be fruitless – a kind of antidote to a lot of myth making, which I think is both exaggerated the response of universities to the relative decline of arts and humanities, but also exacerbated young people’s rather panicky reactions over the last 10 or 15 years to what they see as a very hostile economic environment.

“The people who say, ‘oh, well, you've got to try to predict what the job of the future is going to be because it hasn't been invented yet. It must be something to do with AI or computer science or…’ 

“Well, no. The fastest growing occupational category is an ancient one – care work.  The likelihood is that not that many jobs will be created in advanced technology areas, but we don't know anyway, so why make decisions in the present on that basis? I say just focus on the basics and do what you like and do what you're good at.”