The Great Debate: Arts or Commerce for Your Next Step?

BA vs BCom: Finding Out What’s The Debate About

Hello Readers! When was the last time you were told, “Arts and Commerce are just a backup! What’s the real plan?” Today, arts and commerce are the driving forces of the education industry. Choosing between the two streams is like picking between two Bollywood blockbusters. Each has its charm. A BA degree is like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara—it encourages you to explore creativity, society, and the human psyche. You can enter new territories, welcome new ideas, or find your calling with a creative piece.

On the other hand, BCom is more like the Guru of your educational decision. It allows you to explore business acumen, financial knowledge, calculated risks, and decisions. This is where your vision meets your passion and gives you a successful strategy. If given a choice, what would you pick? The choice here is about something other than right or wrong. It is about which story you wish your life to speak. Are you a more free-spirited dreamer or a meticulous planner? Let us understand this through a comparison of BA vs BCom.

Also Read: Online BA Economics Course in 2024: Your Comprehensive Guide

BA vs BCom: The Battle Between Creativity And Calculations

Here are some key comparisons between BA and Bcom to know which is better. While both degrees are competent in their ways, let us find out based on different parameters to select the right choice:

1. Curriculum Framework

The BA and BCom curriculums are poles apart. Moreover, the subjects are unique and have a hint of practical implementation. Here are the examples of BA vs BCom curriculum framework:

BA: A Bachelor of Arts degree offers more flexibility. It comes with a variety of electives and specialisations, such as:

• Psychology

• Political Science

• Literature

• Economics

• History

• Legal Studies

Exposure to these subjects offers you more freedom to explore different career prospects with that degree. Additionally, the skill set you develop is not restricted to any one academic domain. You learn multiple and unique skills from each subject. This way, your learning is tailored to suit your educational and career needs perfectly. You get an insight into human society, creative areas, and even political and historical studies.

BCom: A Bachelor of Commerce degree is focused more on building specific skill sets, such as:

• Business

• Commerce

• Economics

With the rise of the fintech industry, commerce has also included tech-oriented topics such as data analysis. This field suits you if you find finance, accounting, and marketing fascinating. It offers a variety smaller than BA but focuses in depth on what it promises to offer. The curriculum of BCom is also more rigid than that of BA.

Also Read: Top 5 Online/Distance MBA Colleges In Ajmer: 2024

2. Career Prospects

Both BA and BCom have a good range of job roles available; however, you would need to decide based on long-term career security.

BA: With the diversity in specialisations and electives, you also benefit from diversity in careers. As a BA graduate, you can explore the following careers:

Source: Ambition Box

After this, you can also specialise in these fields to gain better experience and a higher qualification. The core skills you develop during your BA degree, irrespective of the specialisation, would also apply to all the other career prospects.

BCom: If you find business, economics, or finance interesting, BCom can be more rewarding. Here are some career prospects that you can explore as a BCom graduate:

Source: Ambition Box

Apart from the freedom to specialise in any of these, you also get to explore the job market after BCom. If you want to take a break from academics, the job market after BCom offers steady career growth. With the rise of the finance sector, you can be sure of career opportunities and a high pay scale.

Also Read: 9 Best Courses After BCom for a Successful Career in 2024

3. Skill Development And Enhancement

BA and BCom offer unique skill development opportunities. Both are important in building long-term skill sets. Check out the BA and BCom skill development examples relevant to the latest job market requirements.

BA: A Bachelor of Arts focuses more on skills such as:

• Critical Thinking

• Creativity and Innovation

• Effective Communication

• Imaginative Thinking

• Creative Writing

The academic structure and projects are designed so that they prepare you to think in different and creative ways. You develop the skills that are necessary for interpreting information or text from different points of view. This way, your soft skills are also enhanced. This learning often blends well with your personal life. For example, you learn in-depth about empathy through subjects such as psychology. This essential soft skill prepares you for a broad career prospect. Some of these fields are:

• Content Creation

• Advertising

• Public Relations

• Teaching

You can apply these skills to enhance your performance in whichever industry you choose.

BCom: Bachelor of Commerce as a degree is more streamlined or narrow. It focuses in-depth on skills that concern business and the commerce sector. These skills include:

• Data Analysis

• Financial Reporting

• Economic Theory

• Financial Analysis

• Accountancy

In a way, these are some hard skills compared to the soft skills you develop with a BA. With these skills, you can work easily with large financial records and data sets and understand complex business laws and dynamic market trends. These hard skills are essential in every industry, and they require you to pay attention to detail and derive meaningful results from a large data set.

Also Read: 9 Best Courses After BCom for a Successful Career in 2024

4. Flexibility With Studies

When selecting a degree, we need to consider its flexibility due to work-life balance. Moreover, being able to commute, manage studies, meals, health, and more can be a hassle. Make sure you select a degree that fits your schedule and pocket.

BA: A Bachelor of Arts degree is flexible. You can specialise or change your field later without any hassle. If you discover that your interest lies in law after completing your psychology degree, you can also choose to shift to law. BA is just an undergraduate degree that lays a common base for many career prospects. Even if you want to change your field to management or any other unrelated field, a BA degree can help you transition easily.

BCom: A Bachelor of Commerce degree is more specific to subjects that are related to finance and business. You can pursue your career in chartered accountancy, CMA or CS, or even an MBA. While even a BCom allows you to switch flexibly, your academic curriculum is more inclined towards business and commerce skills. Therefore, your performance will improve if you choose business administration, finance, law, or accounting. BCom would prepare you for fewer career prospects than BA.

5. Return On Investment

Degrees bring us good wealth, careers, and reputation. However, don’t pick a degree at the expense of losing bags of money and sleeping over it. Here is how you can see which one works best for you:

BA: You may think that a BA degree offers fewer career prospects; however, it offers a high ROI in the long term. Suppose you choose a career path that involves creativity and communication. This is because you can spend time developing a diverse skill set, and you can meet the changing demands to adapt yourself. If you switch your industry to further studies, even then, this degree is worth the investment.

BCom: If you choose a BCom, the return on investment is faster and more direct compared to a BA. This is particularly true with finance, accounting, and business management. Here, you can expect higher pay compared to BA, which offers opportunities for further growth. Additionally, if you pursue a course like CA, CFA, or MBA, the return rate is higher, and you will likely progress faster. In simple words, if you aim for a faster return on investment or financial security early, BCom is a better choice than BA.

5-Step Decision-Making Rule To Ace Any Career Decision

Decision-making is relatively easy if you know what parameters to consider. Here are some ways you can decide which is a better degree between a BA and a BCom:

• Understand your academic strengths and weaknesses

• Calculate the market value of skills

• Look for specialisations of your choice

• Costs involved—what is easier on the pocket?

• The future of these degrees and the jobs branching out from them

Conclusion: The Final Call

While choosing your undergraduate degree, try to pick something more flexible if you are unsure which career to choose. This is the prime time for you to explore multiple avenues. Both BA and BCom offer enough career prospects. However, BA is more flexible, while BCom offers better initial growth. Usually, after a BCom degree, you qualify for many well-paying entry-level jobs. However, with a BA, you often don’t qualify for jobs due to insufficient qualifications. Therefore, you must apply for further education and at least hold a master’s degree. The best way to make a decision is to keep your interests at the top and then decide which degree aligns with them.