What (kind of) good is Religious Studies?

In highlighting common themes among the articles from the panel, this essay focuses especially on two related movements in higher education: an apparently global emphasis on education as preparation for employment and the application of administrative models derived from business to universities and colleges. In critically interrogating both movements, it suggests that there need not always be a high degree of correlation between what a person studies at university and his or her later occupation, and further, that a managerial administrative vision tends to neglect the 'positive externalities' that derive from subjects that do not lead directly to employment for a large number of students. Thus, the results of both movements are disadvantageous not only for the study of religions but also for society at large.