Catalan philology is getting sexy: enrollment has grown by 80% in ten years.

When Pau Roger was in primary school, he dreamed of being a school teacher. When he entered secondary school and high school, he switched to being a high school teacher. Today, he's 19 and hasn't looked back. In fact, it's one of the reasons that led him to enroll in a Catalan Philology degree at the University of Barcelona (UB) last year. "I want to teach teenagers that Catalan is much more than grammar and spelling rules: it's a vehicle for transmitting ideas, just as important as Spanish," he explains to ARA. He's part of a new wave of students who, in recent years, have revived the statistics for Catalan Philology degrees: enrollment has soared 80% in ten years. While in the 2015-2016 academic year there were 106 students enrolled at the five universities in the country that offered the degree, last year the number reached 190, according to data from Unportal. At the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), the number also shot up: from 88 to 173. How can this increase be explained?

"Ever since the beginning, first the bachelor's degree and now the Catalan Philology degree, there have always been, with some fluctuations, young people interested in pursuing these studies," says Neus Nogué, a professor of Catalan linguistics at the UB, one of the universities that has offered it for the longest time. "Ten or twelve years ago was the time when the number of students was lowest, but since then, the number has actually increased significantly," she continues. She attributes this to two reasons. The first is growing institutional support, in the form of communication campaigns. "It has become known that there is a lack of professionals in Catalan language and literature," she notes. Daniel Garcia, a substitute professor for the Catalan Philology degree at the same university, agrees. "It has been said for years that more graduates are needed, and I suppose that, finally, word has gotten around that this degree guarantees you a job," he says.

High job placement

Specifically, the lack of graduates and the high demand for professionals have made teaching Catalan language and literature the third discipline in the humanities with the highest employment rate: 9 out of 10 graduates are employed, according to data from the Agency for Quality of the University System of Catalonia. "Teaching is one of the main opportunities for this degree, but there are many more," Garcia emphasizes. Graduates can pursue careers in the publishing world; work in the field of linguistic consulting for media outlets and organizations; become language facilitators; manage literary heritage; or dedicate themselves to more social cohesion and intercultural issues.

These data dispel one of the specters that, years ago, had shaken enrollment rates. "Before, it was common for both some secondary school teachers and some parents to try to discourage young people, especially good students, from pursuing humanities studies, including Catalan Philology," explains Nogué. Now, the indicators show that this is all a thing of the past.

More attractive degrees

Another reason for the revival of the Catalan Philology degree has been the changes in the degree's name, according to Unportal. The Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), for example, has renamed its degree in Catalan Language and Literature Catalan Philology: Studies in Literature and Linguistics. At the University of Lleida (UdL), the name has changed from Estudis Catalans i Occitans to Filologia Catalana y Estudis Occitans.

The recent decision to integrate Catalan Philology into the dual degree program has also played an important role. This is, in fact, the strategy adopted by the University of Girona (UdG), which offers courses in Catalan Philology and Hispanic Philology together. The UdL has also done so, combining it with the degree in Applied Languages and Translation.

All of this makes universities optimistic about the future of the degree. "The need for new professionals in Catalan language and literature will continue, and I hope this means the number of students enrolling in Catalan Philology doesn't decline," Nogué ventures. "And, above all, that all young people who want to can pursue these studies and no one tries to dissuade them from doing so," he concludes. Garcia hammers home the point: "The degree doesn't make me suffer: what makes me suffer is the language," he asserts.