Hello! My name is Tiana and, like many other Year 11s in our area, I recently completed my GCSEs and am fortunate enough to be going off to boarding school to study STEM subjects. By now, many of us will have made our post-16 decisions and started college, sixth form, or other pathways. However, choosing what to study is a challenging decision for people my age. For the first time, we are in complete control of our subject choices, with no obligation to continue with the compulsory mix of GCSEs.
For some students, future aspirations such as careers in medicine or engineering make these decisions relatively straightforward. But for many others, who may still be unsure of what their future holds, the choice is more often guided by passion and interest.
This leads me to the term ‘Mickey Mouse subjects’. If you haven’t heard it before, it’s a condescending phrase used to dismiss certain subjects as “less valuable” or “not worthy of respect”. Typically, it’s directed at students choosing humanities, arts, or vocational pathways instead of STEM subjects.
The danger of using this label is significant. It doesn’t just undermine the diversity of academic pursuits; it also threatens the very purpose of post-16 and higher education: to give people the opportunity to study what they are passionate about. As someone who will be studying STEM subjects, while still appreciating the value of humanities, I find it discouraging when these areas are portrayed as “less respectable”.
The reality is that we live in a society where having a degree alone is no longer enough to guarantee success. What matters more are qualities like drive, creativity, and the ability to make connections, qualities that can be nurtured in any subject. Labelling certain fields as “Mickey Mouse” doesn’t just discourage students; it narrows our collective understanding of what education should be. Every subject has value, and every pathway has potential. At the end of the day, respect for learning should not depend on whether it comes from a lab, a classroom, or a workshop.
By Tiana Brobbey, local teen
