1a. Literary Studies, Publishing Studies and Employment (in English)

By Suman Gupta

Because the study of literature engages with texts and reading it seems natural to assume that Literary Studies university-programmes prepare students well for a career in publishing. Some aspects of the discipline are close to the concerns of publishers, such as text editing, analytical bibliography, cultures of reading, book and publishing history. A significant number of academics with backgrounds in Literary Studies are employed to teach and do research in university centres and departments of Publishing Studies. Such institutional spaces often have a close working relationship with their literary counterparts, and are occasionally formally affiliated. It seems possible that a background in Literary Studies, especially of its material dimensions, could readily inform the applied business of publishing. This presentation pauses on the presumed affinities between Literary Studies and publishing, and considers whether grounding in Literary Studies does realistically open doors to the enterprise of and livelihoods from publishing.

I focus here on the British context – a reasonable context to focus on here. According to the October 2014 International Publishers Association (IPA) annual report, Britain is the 5^th largest book market in the world, with a market value of 3875 million Euros in 2013 (after USA, China, Germany and Japan – Brazil incidentally is the 10^th, with a value of 2239 million Euros). Further, Britain publishes the most titles per capita in the world (2875 new titles per million inhabitants in 2013 – Brazil published 104 new titles per million inhabitants that year). The UK is also the second largest exporter of books after the USA. So, if employment in the publishing sector is sought Britain seems a good place to seek it. It is therefore unsurprising that undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Publishing Studies now have a significant presence in British universities and compete with Literary Studies and other discipline-specific programmes.

Publishing Studies university-programmes have a short history compared to most areas of Literary Studies. The first full-time publishing programme offered in British higher education was the three-year Diploma in Publishing at the Oxford College of Technology from 1961; the first undergraduate degree course in publishing began at Oxford Polytechnic in 1982 and the first postgraduate diploma in 1988; the Oxford Polytechnic became the Oxford Brookes University in 1994, and its International Centre for Publishing Studies offered BA and MA Publishing degrees from 1997. Similar centres and postgraduate programmes in Publishing Studies appeared at the City University London and in University College London (UCL) from the mid to late 1990s. Some of the programmes at undergraduate (Bachelor’s) and postgraduate (Master’s) levels currently offered in public universities in the UK are:

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) puts out figures on the scale of uptake of Publishing Studies programmes in British universities (within the category Publishing, Media, and Information Management). These give a sense of the current standing of such programmes; to put the figures of total enrolment in that area into a comparative perspective I also quote the corresponding figures for the category Languages (which includes Literary Studies) – for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes:

That Publishing Studies university-programmes compete with those devoted to Literary Studies immediately seems a bit of a problem insofar as exploiting affinities for developing careers go. This suggests that Literary Studies and Publishing Studies are parallel educational pathways leading into the same employment market. That is certainly more the case insofar as undergraduate (Bachelor’s) programmes are concerned than for postgraduate (Master’s) – it is possible to move from an undergraduate Literary Studies programme to a postgraduate one in Publishing Studies and make the best of the apparent affinities. As suggested by the list above, Master’s programmes in Publishing Studies are seemingly more widely offered, by a larger number of institutions in the UK, perhaps precisely for that reason. Arguably, it is desirable for those entering the publishing business to not only have a good understanding of the relevant production processes but also interest in some areas of the content that are published – to the extent covered by a first degree. Of course, such interests in content could be from any disciplinary background, and affinities between Publishing and Literary Studies give no significant advantage except in the confined area of literary publishing. It is actually quite difficult to see how, insofar as university programmes go, any affinity between Literary Studies and Publishing Studies can meaningfully bear upon employment prospects in the publishing business.  Perhaps those affinities can be explored at a curricular level within both Literary Studies and Publishing Studies programmes; at present that happens unevenly if at all. It can equally strongly be urged that similar affinities are found with other disciplines – media and culture studies, sociology, communications, economics and politics, etc. – and that the presumed affinities with Literary Studies are a small part of the picture.

Insofar as the affinities between (some areas of) Literary Studies and Publishing Studies are reflected in university programmes, usually at postgraduate level, they appear to drift in a direction away from employment advantages. Postgraduate Publishing Studies programmes could take two directions: emphasising the inculcation of employable skills for the publishing industry or emphasising in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry which could lead towards further research. The latter portends employment in academia or policy development rather than directly in the publishing industry (or related creative industries), or, at best, might appeal to those already employed in the publishing business rather than seeking entry. The affinities between Literary Studies and Publishing Studies – through text editing, analytical bibliography, cultures of reading, book and publishing history, etc. – are precisely in areas to do with knowledge rather than skills. Most postgraduate programmes in publishing studies offer a combination of both directions in the hope of capturing differently inclined students, and keeping all options open. That gives the impression that those with a Literature Studies background may have some edge in finding their way into the publishing business. In some instances, though, the two directions are distinctively marked in separate programmes. In the several Master’s level offerings of the Oxford Brooke’s Publishing Studies programmes listed above, for instance, the MA in Book History and Publishing Culture is more obviously knowledge-driven rather than skills-based, and gestures towards a future in academic work rather than in the publishing industry. The distinction is most clearly marked in the two kinds of Master’s-level Publishing Studies programmes offered by the University of Stirling – the M.Res. and the M.Litt. The respective outlines of these on the university website make the distinction clearly:  

These programmes are designed to appeal to students with different plans for their futures.

Despite the obvious calculations regarding employability that go into designing university programmes, and concordant claims made in their publicity materials, it isn’t necessarily  clear that a Publishing Studies degree offers a definite advantage over a Literary Studies degree – or for that matter any other degree -- for finding employment in the publishing industry.  I have been scanning advertisements for entry-level employment in the publishing industry in Britain for a while, and am yet to come across one that specifically prefers a degree in Publishing Studies. Most publishers arrange in-house training or training courses for their employees (several are offered by the Publishers Association). UCAS figures for employment destinations of those qualifying with postgraduate degrees in Publishing etc. and Languages in 2013/14 give a complex, and in some ways unexpected, picture:

Such figures are, however, only very vaguely indicative: note, to begin with, that the two samples (of 7625 and 1970 respondents respectively) are of vastly different scales, and moreover that they represent very different percentages of the cohorts in question (in 2013/14, 7825 students in Publishing etc. represented 78% of the total number of students, while 1970 students in Languages represented 12.6% of the total number of students).  

Behind the calculations that go into university programme design and the indications of employment destinations of their graduates there lies a larger question: is the publishing industry in general a promising area for seeking employment?   

This question is difficult to answer, partly because policy documents in this regard assume a habitually upbeat tone and partly because the statistical indications are even more vague than usual. The overall picture of the state of the industry between 2012 and 2015 is most succinctly summarised in the following tables presented in the British Publishers Association 2015 report, drawn from Office for National Statistics data:

Different factors play in these figures (such as acquisitions and mergers), but overall the state of the industry seems reasonably stable through this period, with very slight growth in both overall turnover and overall employment size.

Such general stability is however not necessarily good news for employment prospects, i.e. for opening new positions in the industry.  They show that employment opportunities are growing slowly (i.e. the employment needs of the sector are limited), whereas the number of qualified employment seekers (all those new graduates from Publishing and Literary Studies each year) are growing much faster. Some indication of the broader needs of the employment market for different sectors is provided in annual reports by Highflyers Research Limited – the 2015 report presents the following indicative estimates:

Publishing features mainly in the Media sector, which has the largest dip in recruitment targets for 2015 relative to 2014. This suggests that the sector already employs more people than it needs and may in fact seek to reduce its workforce.

Given that the sector seems stable in terms of turnover and workforce, the possibility of coming redundancies seems a bit paradoxical. At least one of the factors that explain it has to do with significant technological changes in the sector – which has a particular effect on the publishing industry. The big news of the last couple of decades has been the very gradual shift from print to digital publication, and development of facilities for electronic distribution and retailing (where open-access publication forms an outer horizon). In brief, this means that the costs for producing and distributing books in the digital environment are negligible compared to that of print, and can be delivered with a fraction of the workforce that is there now. The logic of capitalism demands a necessary transition from print to digital processes in the publishing industry, whereby production and distribution will remain constant or increase with considerably smaller outlays in materials and labour – ensuring growing profit-margins and general economic growth of the sector. This transition is now underway; a sea change in the industry is taking place.   

How university programmes which attract students with the promise of employment in this sector, such as Publishing Studies and Literary Studies, will respond to these changes is a current topic for debate. This debate needs to be informed by research about the implications of these changes. The knowledge-base of Literary Studies, especially where it has affinities with the scholarly aspects of Publishing Studies, is well-placed to undertake that research, and the enterprising literary researcher may have something to gain from doing so.

Sources

Highfliers Research Limited (2016). The Graduate Market in 2016: Annual Review of Graduate Vacancies and Starting Salaries at Britain’s Leading Employers
International Publishers Association (IPA) (2014). Annual Report, October 2013-October 2014.
Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies (website), Oxford Brookes University.
The Publishers Association, UK (2015). UK Book Industry Statistics.
Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication (website), University of Stirling. 
UCL Centre for Publishing (website), University College London.
Universities and Colleges Admission Services (UCAS) website.