Bright futures for Welsh graduates

A panel of public and private sector managers and leaders are in agreement that the opportunities available to graduates with a degree in Welsh are increasing the professional workplace.

Cardiff University’s School of Welsh launched a new single honours programme with an invited panel of representatives from various fields and in front of an audience of staff and students on 15 November 2017.

The new degree, BA Welsh and the Professional Workplace, combines first-class academic provision with practical and professional experience. The ambition of this exciting, contemporary and varied degree is to prepare graduates for a range of potential careers where there is a demand for advanced language skills and the ability to work professionally and creatively through the medium of Welsh.

The panel included Janet Davies, Founder and Managing Director of the translation company Prysg, Eryl Jones, Founder and Managing Director of public relations agency Equinox, Dr Eleri James, Senior Infrastructure and Research Officer with the Office of the Welsh Language Commissioner, and Manon Humphreys, Welsh Coordinator with the National Museum Wales.

The informal discussion, on creating the professional Wales and the role graduates can play, was led by Dr Angharad Naylor, Admissions Tutor at the School of Welsh.

Dr Naylor said: “We are very proud to be able to offer this new programme for Entry 2018 and are very grateful to the panel for their support at the launch.

“It was an interesting, amusing and inspirational discussion with incredibly valuable personal and professional contributions. It was particularly pleasing to hear the panel members discuss their experiences of working through the medium of Welsh and employing graduates with a degree in Welsh. It became evident that robust language and communications skills are very important to the workplace, and that a degree in Welsh can open many doors to a variety of professional opportunities and potential career paths.”

The discussion was wide-ranging and it was noted that this is a particularly exciting time for graduates with a degree in Welsh due to the increase in demand for a Welsh-speaking workforce.

Eryl Jones spoke about the difficulties he has encountered in recruiting graduates who can use Welsh confidently and creatively. He believes that a degree in Welsh can be a strong foundation in the communications and marketing industry. Eleri James was in agreement that it is a broad-based degree which offers the essential academic tuition for students to develop and refine both their written skills and understanding of different types of content which are highly valuable skills in the workplace.

Manon Humphreys suggested that the environment and expectations of the contemporary workplace were rapidly changing and there were distinct opportunities for graduates with a degree in Welsh to combine their academic skills with their interests in order to enrich the workplace where there is a demand for Welsh.

It is a period of great change for the Welsh language and the discussion emphasised the contribution future graduates can make and the important role they can play in developing the Welsh-language workforce. Janet Davies agreed that workplaces face many changes, particularly with the introduction of the new Welsh language standards, which means that Welsh skills and experience of applying and employing those skills would be valuable to workplaces across Wales.

The School of Welsh’s academic programmes offer students valuable opportunities to develop their academic and practical skills in the fields of linguistics, literature and Welsh culture.

Dr Dylan Foster Evans, Head of the School of Welsh, commented: “I would like to thank the panel for joining us and for their astute and inspirational contributions about the role graduates with a degree in Welsh can play in many different sectors across Wales.

“As a School, we are keen to support and promote out students employability skills and professional experience and are very proud that 100% of 2016’s graduates were in employment or further study six months after graduating. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of students to the School next year.”

Read more about the BA Welsh and the Professional Workplace, which is open for applications for Entry 2018.

Watch a video from the launch.