Why would someone major in Liberal Arts?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I have a liberal arts degree for the reasons people have already identified. I was interested in the material and knew I could get any number of decent jobs with that degree because, in addition to the degree, I am a good worker and can spell. In addition, both of my parents had liberal arts degrees and both had work they enjoyed.

With my liberal arts degree, I handily got into any number of graduate programs in another liberal arts field. After that master’s degree, I was able to teach in private schools and universities.

I then went into a “practical” graduate degree (though still in the liberal arts if that’s where you put psychology), where my liberal arts background helped me to do well on wide-ranging entrance exams. I worked as a mental health counselor in a number of hospitals and universities. My liberal arts background (including publications of poetry and short stories) was often identified by employers as part of why they hired me–breadth of learning, and some facility with a number of languages, and ability to integrate information and methods from a variety of fields. Even before I finished the counseling psychology master’s degree, I was paid more, and my time could be billed at a higher rate, because I had a master’s degree (even though it was in an unrelated liberal arts field).

When I decided to go on for a doctorate, again my liberal arts background was identified as something that made me a desirable candidate. I’m now a faculty member, and some terms I teach classes to community college, undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students. Each of their programs has a different focus and draws from a different literature base, but they also have a number of commonalities. My liberal arts training emphasized the skills that are necessary to pull off going from class to class and switching gears in this way while still identifying similarities. I love my work and it pays well; I could be paid more if I wanted to move, but I don’t, and my job more than meets my needs for money, interesting days, flexibility, and creativity. That was what I hoped for when I chose a liberal arts major, and that’s what I got.

22

High tech, finance, accounting, engineering, whoever’s hiring. I guess I always assume people pick a subject that interests them and try to work in that field after graduation. You like finance or accounting, study finance or accounting. You want to be a psychologist, study social sciences or psych. Obviously that’s not always the case as I’ve done jack shit with my civil engineering degree.

It’s good advice not studying things you hate, as it is much easier to get stuck in a career you hate if your academically prepare yourself for that career.
How do liberal arts majors sell themselves to potential employers? What kind of jobs do they look for?

23

[slight hijack]
If you do go for an advanced degree, what area would you like to specialize in? Me, it’s medieval European history.
[/sh]

Like others have said, money is not terribly important to me, but doing something I enjoy is. I fully intend to do something in the history field, whether it’s teaching (although I am SO SICK of people, upon hearing my major, automatically saying, “What are you going to do with that? Teach?”), writing books, working in a museum, or being a silly tour guide in a funny costume at the Tower of London or something. History’s important, ya bastards, I apologize if you don’t like it.

And even if I decide to change career paths later, the history degree has prepared me for a vast number of employment opportunities. I can think critically, I kick ass at writing, I can read and analyze large amounts of information, I enjoy dissecting minute aspects of events and putting it all together to see the big picture. Sure, someone who majored in business may be able to do all those things, too, but many will not. Liberal arts courses, by and large, do teach you those skills. A history degree is not, in any way, about reciting a bunch of dates and memorizing the accomplishments of famous people. In fact, some professors allow you to use your books on exams, because you’re expected to write at least one (though usually 2 or 3) fully developed essays arguing some point or other in 3 hours, and fully defend your position and cite your sources. I may not be able to tell you the exact dates the Council of Trent met (in fact, I know I can’t) but I sure as hell can tell you the effects they had on the Catholic church and European society, because that’s what matters.

For my sociology class, I had to write a paper on careers in sociology (along with 5 other papers), and the research I did for that basically echoes what many have said in this thread. The skills learned in sociology (or other liberal arts disciplines) such as critical thinking and communication skills, are useful in anything from journalism to PR.

Even if I didn’t want to pursue a career in academia, I’d still want to major in something fun. That’s right, fun. Why? Because one single class in my Women and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe course is more entertaining and interesting than an entire semester of business courses.

24

The degree I went for had the potential for a civil service job. Also, at the time, and I have no idea if it’s true now or not, newspapers were still taking on cadets with degrees outside journalism. This was so you came in with no bad habits and they could break you to their will, though it was assumed you’d start with a shitty beat that had nothing to do with your degree, at a paper in the back of beyond. So those were the jobs I vaguely had in mind.

But in the end it was the fluency of bullshit I learned to spin, the familiarity with the concept and uses of hyperlinking ( :rolleyes: ), ability to research and locate information quickly, and ability to learn new material and apply it to the task at hand that got me a surprisingly lucrative career. It’s in a field totally unrelated to the subject matter I studied, but it still uses the skills I honed. And they let me write the newsletter. :dubious:

25

Santa Fe or Annapolis? I had several friende go to Annapolis, and their Classical Greek was much better than mine.

26

My jobs during and shortly after college (which blurs into my first graduate school) included tutor, alumni reunion registrar, classroom assistant and residential counselor for a residential state summer school program, newspaper proofreader, K-8 guidance counselor, 6-12 English and Creative Writing instructor, writer in residence, manual writer, and book reviewer.

27

A Liberal Arts program is supposed to mold you into being an intellectually well-rounded person. The program at Boston College does a very good job of doing just that, so put that in your pipe and smoke it :wink:

28

The same way any newb does, and any kind they want. What is this alternate universe you live in, where people actually *care * what your undergrad major was?

Maybe it’s a regional thing, but in Boston, it’s about as relevant as your high school GPA. It’s considered a minimal requirement for an entry level position, period. Doesn’t matter if it’s in economics or basket-weaving. In fact, given that it’s only an undergrad degree, you might be better off with the basket-weaving. Economics majors are considered more likely get uppity when you ask them to make coffee. :smiley:

29

I’m an example of this-- I majored in anthro, but at the same time I minored in computer science and had several related summer jobs. On graduation in 2001 I got a job with a major defense contractor as a software engineer; anthro is great fun, but I like the engineering side of things as well, and it certainly pays better right out of college. The anthro degree certainly didn’t hurt me then, as I got hired before most of the actual CS majors in my graduating class (as the dot-com boom was winding down, a lot of my classmates were having a difficult time finding entry-level positions).

I now work for an FFRDC (Federally-Funded Research & Development Center), and the anthro degree played a big part in that: I’ve been doing work (and graduate study) in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and the human perspective is a critical part of that field. I was directly told by all of my interviewers (the same people I’ve ended up working with on a day-to-day basis) that the social science major was a definite plus. (Many of my coworkers fall in the same category: we have quite a few people with doctorates in CS/engineering and/or the social sciences, including several computational linguists and conceptual data modeling experts.) It’s an incredibly rewarding job and I’ve never been happier, as I’m actually getting to feed my interest in anthropology as well as work with some of the smartest people out there in similar fields.

I see it this way: CS, engineering, and the like can be ends in themselves, but they are primarily tools, to be used within whatever domain they are necessary for-- so for someone interested in both engineering and the liberal arts/social sciences, it doesn’t automatically have to be an “either-or” decision.

30

msmith537 writes:

> So other than a handfull of exceptions like Architecture, why do people major in
> subjects like History, Goverment, Theater (unless you’re attending Julliard)
> which are garanteed to get a from employers once they enter the real world?

You’re misusing the term “liberal arts,” I think. The usual definition of the term as used for majors in college includes natural sciences (math, chemistry, physics, biology, etc), social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc), and humanities (English, foreign languages, history, etc.):

It does not include degrees in education (primary and high school teaching, that is), engineering, architecture, nursing, business, agriculture, etc.

According to figures I saw a few years ago, the proportion of undergraduate degrees in liberal arts subjects in the U.S. is now quite a bit lower now than it used to be. As recently as the 1960’s, most college degrees in the U.S. were still in liberal arts subjects. Now only 36% of them are. Indeed, the main growth in the number of college degrees in the U.S. is in non-liberal arts subjects. Except in psychology and maybe biology, there are no more liberal arts degrees given in the U.S. than there were forty years ago.

31

If you can read, understand and cogently summarise Immanual Kant’s central argument in Kritik der reinen Vernunft you are well placed to cope with the herculean task of dealing with governmental policy documents.

If you can argue for a anarcho-feminist interpretation of Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four you will have few problems explaining why this month’s poor data figures are in fact representative of positive improvement.

If you can write a report using clear, direct and persuasive language you will have no problems getting your project proposal approved.

All these skills are required for Liberal Arts. Many engineers / techies / programmers would have benefitted from a few LA courses.

32

For the purpose of this discussion, I’m referring to non-business, non-engineering and non-career specific (architecture, etc) majors. At my college, Architecture was part of the School of Arts & Sciences (disparagingly refered to as the School of Arts and Crafts by bus and eng majors), not the School of Engineering so I think of it as “liberal arts”.

Well, many of the investment banks and consulting firms here in New York ask you for your SAT scores , so how’s that for relevant to a 28 year old MBA grad?

I’m not sure what jobs where you’re working where entry level people fetch you coffee though. Wish I could get my interns to get me coffee.

Maybe he meant because hiring managers tend to throw Anthropology resumes in the trashcan? :smiley:

33

I majored in Liberal Arts (English Literature) because I enjoy studying literature. That’s what I went to college and grad school for - to study. Not as some kind of career prep school. I’m currently earning my bread by teaching at a community college, and while it’s not the best paying job in the world I’m reasonably happy where I am.

My peers don’t seem to be having a particularly difficult time getting jobs. They work in publishing companies, museums, libraries, theater companies - as well as standard 9 to 5 office jobs (one of my friends, a theology major, used to work for Morgan Stanley). What we learn as liberal arts majors seems to be pretty flexible.

34

I majored in Film Studies the first time around, I never bothered to finish.

I got out of college and got an administrative position, which turned into systems operations, which turned into a consulting job, which turned into consulting practice management, which turned into a global strategy and operations job for a Fortune 500, which turned into a Six Sigma Blackbelt, which turned into a program management position.

A few years ago I decided to go back and finish my B.A., but I’d major in something useful - Accounting. Unless I’m willing to go put in five years at E&Y and get an MBA and go the management consulting route, I’ll never make as much money as an accountant or auditor as I am currently making as a Program Manager. However, its a backup plan (and I actually enjoy it).

I have friends with liberal arts degrees similarly well employed. And I have friends with liberal arts degrees that have struggled. I also know an MBA managing a coffee shop because it was the best job she could find, and an attorney that lives in his mother’s basement because he can’t find a job.

The first few jobs can be a bitch to get with the liberal arts degree in hand. But evenutally people in corporations don’t care what you got your degree in, only that you can do the job at hand. Investment banking and management consulting are different, that’s like trying to become a doctor without going to medical school. But in the corporate world, I’ve never seen a liberal arts degree hold anyone back once the foot is in the door - not in your average middle management job. And I’ve seen liberal arts majors outperform business majors and computer science majors, fairly consistantly (and since a lot of hiring managers are liberal arts majors, I think there is as much as a hiring bias for liberal arts as against it - I’ve noticed that people with liberal arts degrees are often very proud of them - even if they add the MBA later - they appreciate the value). My business degree is not teaching me how to think, and my classmates aren’t being taught anything about how to get outside the box - in fact, they are being rewarded for knowing the inside of the box very well. Where my previous course of study required living outside the box in order to do well. Business degrees aren’t very analytical (at least at the undergrad level) - the answers in the case studies are bloody obvious and everything is spoon fed to you and process driven (do a marketing plan, identify your target market, do a SWOT, etc. or do a risk analysis of the case study, here is the COBT model with risks spelled out for you) - very different than Freudian Feminist analysis of Ida Lupino films.

Brainiac4 has an Anthropology degree and has a Senior Manager title with a Fortune 100 - he was recruited in purposely by a hiring manager who courted him and gave him a bonus and stock options.

We’ve both done very well with liberal arts degrees. We’ve been lucky - we’ve never been laid off, both make good incomes, both have been actively recruited into our current jobs. Both have headhunters calling us.

35

Amen, brother. Especially the last line. I make good money re-writing their interfaces, straightening out their tangled logic and describing the functionality of their poorly-conceived products. I also make good money re-writing documents from the sales, marketing and professional services people who try to sell and implement the “solutions” dreamed up by the engineers. It’s very obvious to me that no one at my current company ever had to research, organize and write a logical, consistent, persuasive essay.

That said, I don’t make much compared to the engineers, techies and sales people. If I wanted to, however, I could quite easily invade their territory and really start to tear things up.

36

Why I majored in Liberal Arts to start with - I thought I wanted to make films - actually television commericals. I discovered I was really bad at it and didn’t like it - the production side. But by that time I was two years into the degree and wanted to graduate in four years.

I did, by the way, help make two television commericals that had national airtime as the client side production coordinator. And two industrial videos. Then I left for the seductive and higher paying world of IT. So I did briefly work in the field in which I’d been trained. In fact, I didn’t graduate because I got a job offer in my field and those were rare enough that I didn’t want to turn down my one opportunity - I figured I’d finish up night school - but then decided I hated what I did and fell into better paying corporate jobs without a degree. My last HR manager, when hiring me said “you really should finish that degree” - then looked at the salary he was about to hand me and said “or maybe you don’t need to.”

37

I’m really puzzled what you think the problem is. Even if you study finance, no college graduate is prepared to be a stock broker. A classmate of mine studied English and went on to work on Wall Street, mostly because the firm he was hired by for an entry-level position wanted to teach him the “right” way to do things, not the “college book learnin’” way of doing things.

I’ve interviewed quite a few people for entry-level positions in the federal government, and what they studied in school never entered the equation for me. Poli sci majors had no advantage, in my mind, over English majors, or engineering majors, etc. Their demonstration of critical skills (ability to write coherently, positive attitude, knowing how to make copies, ability to dress themselves so they don’t look like they want to work at a video store, etc) was always far, far more important than what their major was.

Internships and work experience were also very important. I don’t know why any college student would want to graduate without having at least one internship in a field that interests them.

38

Someone here (it was either Crunchy Frog or Fretful Porpentine, and I am very sorry that I don’t remember which) made a post years and years and years ago about how a libral arts education wasn’t so much for the 8 hours you were at work every day as it was for the 8 hours you were at home and not asleep: her point was that a wider, deeper understanding of the context of your world makes your life fuller and richer and more meaningful. Now, I am not going to deny that there are many ways to get that fuller and richer and more meaningful experience, but there is no doubt that that is what a liberal arts education did for me–it made me wise. It made me a better friend and a better wife and a better citizen. I seriously think I have a better marriage than almost anyone I know, and I attibute that to us both being liberal arts majors–we know how to talk to each other. I mean, everyone can talk, but we talk like a surgeon cuts or an engineer builds. And that’s given me more security and happiness and comfort than any job I might have gotton.

As far as I, personally, am concerned, I did it to teach. Teaching is my whole life. But when I am making my class “relevant”, I don’t tell my kids “you need this class so you can write reports and ask for a raise”. I say 'You need this class because some day your mother is going to die, and you are going to have to write the eulogy, and put into words what she meant to you and to everyone, and do it in such a way that everyone understands and remembers."

Another thing that it’s important to remember is that there are a lot of lousy liberal arts majors out there. While I will argue that top-level liberal arts work is every bit as rigorous and intellectually challenging as any field out there, I will cop to the fact that “D” quality liberal arts work is probably shoddier than “D” quality engineering work. So there are people out there with indifferent work habits, mediocre intelligence, and poor imagination who end up liberal arts majors. Then they graduate and when they can’t get a job, they complain that it’s the degree. It ain’t.

39

Santa Fe. Annapolis does tend to do be more rigorous with their Greek problem than Santa Fe, I think.

Amen. My father is a techy engineering type with two masters degrees in technological fields. He’s also one of the worst writers in the world. I asked him about that once (while proofreading something for him, in fact) and he said that beyond a basic freshman comp course, he never had to take anything that would require him to use written word. It shows.

40

Well according to my diploma, the purpose of granting a degree in the Liberal Arts is to distinguish me from “those of more common learning” – yeah it really says that, in Latin. (It also certifies me as “upright and wellborn.” Ah, William & Mary, you are slightly hilarious.)

Anyhoo, I have an undergrad degree in Anthropology. I worked for years in Public Relations and Marketing, till I got sick of it and went back to law school. That’s where I am now.

Liberal Arts graduates have flexible, adaptable skills. Their skills such as writing, evaluating, observing, and placing in context do not become obsolete.

There’s a whole world of jobs for which this is the preferred skillset: sales, marketing, advertising, publishing, journalism (print, televised, radio & internet), technical writing, corporate communications (annual reports, corporate newsletters, press releases, website content), copyediting, ghost writing, public relations, press relations, speechwriting, public office… gosh, I could go on and on… not to mention the significant category of jobs where people help other people who aren’t good at writing do various tasks like presentations, resume writing, etc.