Scholarships and the Lost Opportunities of the Arts

“Have you ever noticed why there are so many scholarships for engineering or science, while those who wish to study specialised fields in the arts such as film, music, philosophy, or literature find very few in comparison?”

In Thailand, scholarships are a key tool for developing human resources. Yet, the distribution of scholarships is strikingly unbalanced. The majority are allocated to STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or disciplines aligned with the country’s economic strategies such as smart industries, biotechnology, and digital technology. By contrast, students in the arts such as music, film, literature, or philosophy have very little opportunity to access financial support, especially from the public sector.

This imbalance is not because people “fail to see the value” of the arts. Rather, it reflects a system designed to respond to specialised labour market needs, which sometimes leads to overlooking the social, cultural, and creative value of the arts.

The Matilda Foundation would therefore like to invite reflection on the causes of this imbalance.

Demand, Supply, and Risks

• Funding bodies have specific objectives

A large proportion of scholarships are provided by the government or state enterprises, such as the Civil Service Commission scholarships, NSTDA scholarships, or those from large organisations such as PTT and the Bank of Thailand. These have a clear objective: “to train personnel in line with the organisation’s requirements”. Recipients are often obliged to return and work in designated fields. As a result, disciplines outside the organisation’s needs or outside the “mainstream pathway” such as the various branches of the arts are rarely included in scholarship plans.

• National policy and industrial trends

Economic policies such as Thailand 4.0 and support for S-Curve industries focus on promoting sectors capable of generating high added value such as smart robotics, logistics, or biotechnology. Scholarship provision is therefore directed towards producing skilled workers in these fields. With limited resources, other fields are inadvertently neglected.

• Career risk and measuring success

Careers in STEM have clear career paths, with success measurable through job positions, income, or tangible output. In contrast, many artistic professions such as musicians, visual artists, actors, or film directors may require years of experience and reputation-building, with success not easily measured in numbers alone. This can be seen as a risk factor when awarding scholarships.

How do other countries address this?

Countries with diverse scholarship systems often treat the arts and humanities with the same importance as science or STEM. For example, Germany offers DAAD scholarships for music, art, film, and performing arts, as well as Artist-in-Residence programmes to support creative work. The United Kingdom, a top study-abroad destination for students worldwide including those from Thailand, also provides scholarships for people across many professions. There are numerous funding bodies such as the Arts Council, and most universities offer support for study and research. Government scholarships such as Chevening cover a wide range of disciplines, not limited to STEM. Similarly, EU scholarships like Erasmus provide extensive programme options. Elsewhere, Japan offers MEXT (Monbukagakusho) scholarships, while France has the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) International Selection, open to both science and arts students.

Matilda Foundation: Bridging the Gap Inclusively

The Matilda Foundation was established on the belief that everyone’s dreams are equally valuable. We do not consider it wrong to fund mainstream fields such as engineering or medicine, nor do we wish to limit their numbers. Rather, we aim to create “another pathway” that ensures those who choose a creative path also have fair access to scholarships. Our standpoint is clear: scholarships are about opportunity, not a tool to restrict dreams. We therefore provide student loans free of interests without limiting the field of study and without binding recipients to return and work for us. The goal is to remove barriers that might force people in the arts to give up their aspirations due to lack of support.

We believe that having a diverse ecosystem of scholarships will help Thai society grow in balance, both economically and culturally. The world is not driven by technology alone. It also needs stories, music, images, and creativity to nurture people’s spirits.

Scholarships should open the door to every dream

In a rapidly changing world that demands innovation, focusing only on “what the market needs now” risks overlooking talents that may generate future value. A good scholarship system should be like a door, opening opportunities for everyone to pursue the path they love, whether it is a well-defined one such as data science, or a creative one such as poetry or music.

Opportunities should not depend on the field of study you choose, but on the individual’s commitment and potential. This is why we must continue to support students of all disciplines equally.