The man has a degree in music (5)
I believe the answer is:
samba
'music' is the definition.
(samba is a kind of music)
'the man has a degree' is the wordplay.
'the man' becomes 'sam' (**).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'a degree' becomes 'ba' (BA is an example).
'sam'+'ba'='SAMBA'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for samba that I've seen before include "moves from Brazil" , "Brazilian dance" , "Latin dance" , "Dance music" , "This ambassador's > brisk steps" .)