By Sheldon Greaves
It’s something we all heard in graduate school, those of us who were in some kind of humanities or liberal arts program: employers love liberal arts graduates. They are looking for people who can communicate, express themselves clearly, who know how to think, and how to think for themselves.
Yeah, right.
The latest such paean to the humanities is a piece in The Daily Beast (“In a High-Tech World, Humanities and Other Liberal Arts Are More Essential Than Ever”) that gushes over how Silicon Valley is simply aching to hire more liberal arts graduates:
Our politics are more fractured and divisive—corrosive really—than ever. Our economy is a roller-coaster. And our place in the world is unsettled. We need to think about how to deal with this mess and, at the same time, to education a new generation that is resourceful, engaged and adaptable. Fortunately, there is a path forward and that path involves a reimagination of the arts and sciences. You know, the liberal arts.
To be fair, the article does acknowledge that there is a lot of liberal arts bashing going on, quite a lot of it coming from political figures despite the fact that many of them have liberal arts degrees. Of course, it needs hardly be said that the arts in general are about as popular as cholera with politicos of the conservative persuasion, given how much they try to cut government funding for such things, and view the arts (with some justification) as a liberal hotbed.
But the sad thing is, the article is correct that the liberal arts does in fact equip a person to do all those wonderful things, especially how to ask questions you would never have thought to ask before. It also gives you the tools to at least start answering them. The Daily Beast article also lists a number of Silicon Valley CEOs who have degrees in the liberal arts; it’s an impressive list. Steve Jobs made no secret of how liberal arts classes he took directly influenced the unique look and feel of the first Macintosh computers, setting standard for today’s machines. Liberal arts also provide you with tools that are applicable in just about any career you’re likely to have, regardless of the field.
The article’s thesis that high tech is hungry for liberal arts expertise would be more believable if there was any reality to back it up. From 2009 through 2016 I tried to find a job in Silicon Valley with my Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies and a demonstrable mastery of all those skills the techies wanted so badly. Nope. Didn’t happen. My background was literally a liability, something the more forthright people I spoke to admitted up front.
More proof comes in the form of this article from Forbes, “The Ten Worst College Majors“. Here they are:
- Anthropology and Archaeology
- Film, Video, and Photographic Arts
- Fine Arts
- Philosophy and Religious Studies
- Liberal Arts
- Music
- Physical Fitness and Parks Recreation
- Commercial Art and Graphic Design
- History
- English Language and Literature
So, if liberal arts are in such demand, why isn’t anyone hiring people with those skills? The thought occurs that knowing how to ask penetrating questions is not actually welcome in corporate America, especially at the entry level. Maybe an education that seeks for meaning might create friction in a corporate black hole of meaninglessness. What good is cultivating your soul when everyone around you is in a race to sell theirs? But maybe that’s just me.
I am fortunate, in this regard, because I eventually found a corporate employer that does in fact value people with this kind of training; they walk that talk. They are also quite successful, so I offer that example to corporations who don’t see the value of right-brain knowledge workers.
It’s interesting to recall that the “liberal” in liberal arts refers not to a particular ideology or band on the political spectrum, but the liberty enjoyed by a free person. The liberal arts are, literally, the practice of freedom both in the sense of living in a society that respects the freedom of the individual, and the freedom to think your own thoughts and express them with clarity and power. They encompass writing, speaking, logic, rhetoric, a knowledge of the past and insights into the human condition. In other words, they are the tools of effective politics.
And, apparently, that’s a problem.