When parents and students come to my office for their first few college planning sessions, we discuss current coursework content, what the student is reading in their English class (and hopefully reading for fun as well), and a roadmap for classes for junior and senior years.
As we get closer to the actual college selection process, we have more pointed conversations about courses of study. In recent years, a disproportionate number of my students have expressed an interest in three areas: engineering, computer science, and business, even if their predilection is not in any of those. If a student is interested in the liberal arts, the academic interest invariably tends to be in economics or psychology. Even if a student’s favorite academic class is a world language or social studies, a “practical” major is de rigeur. This is when the parent vociferously chimes in, and the student
becomes passive.
I get variations of this same litany from parents: “I’m going to be paying over $250,000 for an education and we [yes, we!] want a return on our investment.” While I understand this concern, I don’t want parents to view a four-year university as an employment agency (even though some schools I’ve visited seem that way).
As a parent, I understand their anxiety. I recently visited a well-respected liberal arts college. My tour guide was a graduating senior. When I asked the student about post-graduation plans, the response was a bit disconcerting: “I plan to move to another city and maybe work in a bookstore or coffee shop.” It’s not something a parent wants to hear from a senior.
In our accomplishment- and goal-oriented society, it seems as though majoring in something other than a “practical” major foretells doom. Parents envision a life where a student becomes a barista or works in a bookstore in another city following graduation.
I wanted to understand the need for and applicability of liberal arts through lenses other than career services. I spoke with an attorney-turned-admissions-officer and a seasoned HR professional to get their viewpoints. Both were advocates for a liberal arts-based education.
The Academic’s Perspective
Ben Baum is the vice president of enrollment at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. His academic background, majoring in history and European studies at Amherst College, led him to graduate school and law school. Baum practiced law for several years but found his passion in admissions, initially at Tufts University.
Baum feels that having a non-liberal arts education in a skill-based world is common, but flawed, thinking. If you look at the CEOs of the largest companies in the U.S., you do not see a consistent story in their trajectory. However, you do see people who are liberal arts educated. The study of “big ideas” helps makes great leaders. Their ability to communicate, write, and think across disciplines is the key to their success.
To Baum, the question that needs addressing is, “How do you bring those liberal arts skills to the ‘real world’?” His responses were illuminating. They are what students—and parents—need to think about as they go through the college search process and should ask admission officers (and career service professionals) as they go on college tours.
For example, computer science encourages students to learn coding, a vital skill. However, artificial intelligence will replace coders over time. To that end, what skills will be important in this field? Although the narrow technical skills are important, they will become obsolete very quickly. Computer languages change very rapidly these days. Having top-notch writing and communication skills and understanding the nature of language will render any computer science major permanently marketable.
Employers will require job candidates to speak fluently about many different subjects and understand the interconnectedness among different areas of a company. How a prospective employee can interact and communicate effectively with professionals in other disciplines across an organization is applicable to any job. The liberal arts set a student up for that vital skill set. Skills, not facts, are unique to a liberal arts setting.
The HR Professional’s Perspective
Mallory Anhouse is a principal at Knickerbocker Talent, an HR consultancy specializing in advertising, media, startup, and entertainment industries. Her background includes extensive work in talent acquisition and in running college recruiting programs. She believes that a liberal arts education allows a student to pursue many different opportunities and does not pigeonhole the student.
To Anhouse, the liberal arts ensure that students know how to think, write, and speak critically. It helps students with “connecting the dots,” enabling them to understand a concept and take it further.
She feels that a business school-based education is too narrow-minded. Specializing at such a young age is not the way to go. Anhouse cites companies like EY and Deloitte, which are no longer recruiting at undergraduate business schools. These companies have found that many business school students have not been able to master the arts of critical thinking and writing, something intrinsic to a liberal arts education.
What was marketable 20 years ago is probably not a marketable skill today. The big question is ensuring longevity in the workplace. Students who can think critically, regardless of college major, will be at an advantage. Technical skills can be taught and acquired.
My Perspective
At the goading of my parents, I did pursue a “practical” major: mathematics. I made sure that I had courses that complemented my degree, such as economics, statistics, and operations research. My ability to think quantitatively and my basic coding skills helped me land a well-paying job several months before graduating.
However, I indulged my penchant for the liberal arts by minoring in French. While I never discussed Proust in the office or had to conjugate in the past imperfect, I did work for a French company for several years. I was invited to France to attend a conference and had to present in French. Because my college had an open curriculum, I did not take as many liberal arts courses, something I now regret. I think that the intellectual framework of those courses, as well as the amount of critical writing that would have been required, would have forced me to think more broadly as I entered the real world. It is something I urge my students to consider as I combat the short-term practicality of certain courses of study.
As an endnote, I know of someone who majored in religious studies at Harvard. He did not become a rabbi or a priest. He acquired a PhD in physics and is presently a computational physicist at a Tier 1 research university. So, if your student’s parents are concerned about the applicability of a liberal arts degree, you can always present this as a counterargument.
By Alan J. Sheptin, MBA, CEP, IECA Professional (NY)