The value and purpose of a Media Production degree from the perspective of mid-career graduates

Debate about the value and purpose of studying media at Higher Education has been dominated in the UK by the notion of ‘employability’, often defined in narrow terms. In this article we examine the perspectives of a sample of a single cohort of media graduates more than two decades after they left university. We explore how these graduates understand the purpose and value of their undergraduate education, with the benefit of hindsight. The themes that emerge coalesce around five broad areas: the integrated nature of the university experience; the value of ‘practical’ approaches to teaching and learning; the importance attributed to relationships with others; the place of autonomy and initiative-taking; and the role of work experience. We conclude by discussing the implication of our findings both for policy and for programme design and delivery