# Does your Liberal Arts Degree directly apply to your current profession? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2021, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-liberal-arts-degree-directly-apply-to-your-current-profession/950860 "2021-09-18T07:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-liberal-arts-degree-directly-apply-to-your-current-profession/950860/81 "2021-10-01T17:39:13Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ha! One of my fellow teachers _(at a trade school)_ claims, the first day of class, “ **You’ll never pass this welding class if you can’t articulate at least three causes of the French Revolution**!” Ha indeed. I have a liberal arts degree (in History no less) and I’m not sure I can articulate three causes of the French Revolution. Something about not liking cake, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-liberal-arts-degree-directly-apply-to-your-current-profession/950860/82 "2021-10-01T18:07:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ve got a doctorate in math, and for the past 20+ years, I’ve been a mathematical statistician with the U.S. government. My area of research was graph theory, which has been totally irrelevant to the work I do. And similarly to you, I can go for years without needing any math I didn’t learn in high school or earlier. But occasionally we need to make sure what we’re doing is in keeping with the body of theory that supports it, so once every several years, I find myself actually doing some college-level mathematical statistics. I have a BA in math (could never figure that one out - Math was in the school of Sciences, but the degree was a Bachelor of Arts); worked 20 years as an Actuary; currently work in data analytics. I used more advanced mathematics in the actuarial exams than I did in the job. What the math major really did for me was teach me how to think, how to reason, how to know when the answer was wrong. I currently do a lot of “This looks reasonable; this looks reasonable; hey, this dropped by 30% - why? Let’s dig into that!” Yeah, that’s a skill that might come from experience, but there’s a whole lot of people out there doing my job (or similar) that don’t do that. The other parts of my degree from a Liberal Arts college made me a more rounded individual - made me appreciate the arts, improved my writing (which always helps in a business environment!), helped pique my curiosity in a number of areas. Wouldn’t swap it for the world. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-liberal-arts-degree-directly-apply-to-your-current-profession/950860/83 "2021-10-03T12:56:04Z")
I have a BA in Physical Anthropology and an MA in Anthropology. I have never made a dime working in either discipline. BUT…I got them both from prestigious universities and most potential employers don’t even look beyond the name of the university to see what the degree is. They see I’m a YYYY graduate (with honors) and skip on to the next question. The field I’ve worked in for the last 45 years is, however, a direct result of the financial-aid package student job I had as an undergraduate. (No, I don’t clean student dining room tables.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-liberal-arts-degree-directly-apply-to-your-current-profession/950860.md?page=4)