Careers and Pathways

  • Everyone wants to know what kind of career their university study will open up to them. Monash Arts graduates with Literary Studies as a speciality are literate, flexible and persuasive; they communicate well, know how to do research, think independently and critically; they are very employable. But you might be surprised at just how many different kinds of jobs our graduates do.

    Just how relevant is Literary Studies today – surely it would have to be one of the more non-vocational disciplines? Not necessarily. The Graduate Careers Australia surveys show that amongst the things that employers most want to see in graduates are:

    • critical reasoning and analytical skills (problem-solving, lateral thinking), 15%
    • teamwork skills, 15.7%
    • leadership skills 18%
    • work experience, 27.6%
    • academic qualifications, 35.4%
    • interpersonal and communications skills (written and oral), 57.5%

    Literary Studies is a broad discipline which depends on the development of advanced writing skills and is a discipline which places strong emphasis on students being able to argue a point of view verbally.

    It is uniquely placed to deliver effectively what is clearly far and away what employers want most – interpersonal and communication skills.

    Graduate Destinations

    • Teaching
    • Business
    • Editing
    • Script writing
    • Publishing
    • Marketing
    • Creative writing
    • Local government

    Course Models

    Model A: Literary Studies Studies major in BA/LLB double degree

    Casey is thinking of specialising in copyright law and working in a solicitor’s office dealing with publishers. She decides to combine Law with a major in Literary Studies (International Literatures).


    Model B: Literary Studies major in the BA degree

    The BA is so flexible that Ryan can complete a Literary Studies (Creative Writing) major and use his remaining points to study a second major (possibly in a non-Arts discipline), develop other Arts minors and/or study non-Arts units. Ryan complements his Literary Studies major with Politics units because he wants to pursue a career in political speech-writing.

    Model C: BA + GradDipEd

    Seth wants to be a teacher and chooses a Literary Studies (Literatures in English) minor as one of his teaching specialisms. Once he completes his BA he plans to enrol in a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary)Model C: BA + GradDipEd.