When I was studying at university, my undergrad programme allowed me to undertake quite a few elective subjects - from memory, at least one a semester - to make up the requisite credits for my degree. It was an opportunity I took full advantage of, and decide to do courses from a selection of my interests, including German, drama, screenplay writing, the philosophy of religion and, for my final ever course, the philosophy of time travel.

While I'm sure you can see some practicality in most of the courses I listed, for example, my job does require me to write in a few different styles, and I have spent a lot of time onstage for QS conferences, the last two stick out. Two philosophy courses focused way outside my area of work.

Yet, those are the two electives that remain with me the most. Both asked me to develop logic and thinking processes to see how a possible solution to a problem may play out. For example, in the time travel course, we were asked to consider whether a society that had developed time travel would be a paradise. The answers and their justifications were truly fascinating, referencing seemingly unrelated topics such as militarisation, social equity, fast food and television. How often have we made decisions in our own work lives that end up scuppered by an outside force we'd never considered?

It's easy, and too often tempting, to make judgement calls on disciplines of education. It's so easy that there's a trope in film and television about how seemingly low value a Bachelor of Arts is, to the point that a BA has become shorthand for a waste of time. It's a dangerous mindset.

Aside from the occasional crude remarks, and far removed from the concerns around ROI which continue to grow regardless of discipline, the idea that some things are good to study and some things are bad, can have a very real impact at a policy level. A few short years ago, Australia implemented a policy to increase the student-paid cost of some courses, primarily in the arts, because of the perception that they were less likely to produce job-ready graduates.