Job market for Humanities majors is inhumane
Higher education isn’t immune to the laws of supply and demand.
Francesca Donner of the Wall Street Journal reports.
Are Humanities Degrees Doomed? Experts Weigh In.
Humanities majors at Harvard are becoming harder to find.
Students, worried about landing a job post-graduation, fear humanities degrees don’t hold the value they once did in a rapidly changing job market, the Journal reports.
Humanities majors at Harvard fell to 20% in 2012 from 36% in 1954. And the trends are similar at colleges across the country. Meanwhile, more incoming freshman are opting out of so-called softer subjects, placing their bets on STEM (science-technology-engineering-math) majors instead.
Harvard sophomore Shannon Lytle considered majoring in history but will opt for computer science instead. “We do have to worry about living after graduation. I don’t want to be doing what I love and be homeless,” he told the Journal.
But is his fear warranted?
Certainly the numbers aren’t encouraging. Among recent college graduates nationwide, who majored in English, the unemployment rate was 9.8%. By comparison, recent chemistry graduates were unemployed at a rate of just 5.8%, according to a June report from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute which used data from 2010 and 2011.
Still, Homi Bhabha, director of the Humanities Center at Harvard, points out that plenty of humanities majors are accepted into law and medical schools and are in high demand in the business world.
So, what’s a student to study? Should they pursue a passion for Classics even if it might not guarantee returns in the job market? With soaring student debt, that’s a hard argument to swallow. On the other hand, a major in history or philosophy might provide a solid backbone in critical thinking and communication.
Are Humanities Degrees Doomed? Experts Weigh In. (The Wall Street Journal)
Comments
[…] HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Job market for Humanities majors is inhumane. […]
At one time college was intended for the education of the wealthy elite, who had the wherewithal to pursue a “classical” curriculum. by the nature of thier socio-economic stratum they were employable somewhere, doing something worthwhile (perhaps not worthwhile to society at large, but certainly worthwhile within their social community).
These days a college degree has become a glorified vocational certification – and thereby a requirement for any paying job. A classical education has little real; value outside the wealthy elite – but then it never did before, either.
Written by a 1977 BA English Languiage and Literature, who then auto-didacted advanced mathematics and became an Endowment Consultant.
This is a wholly self-inflicted injury by the universities. The content of humanities degrees has been so etiolated by decades of Leftist dogma that it is little wonder so many graduates leave with few or no marketable skills. Add in the huge oversupply of undergraduates in general and this simply represents a long-overdue correction. Absent the propping up of worthless courses, instructors and institutions through too-easy access to student loans, this situation would have righted itself years ago.
I don’t know what the solution is in the long term, but I think it’s safe to say that 19 out of 20 arts faculties in US institutes of higher education could shut their doors tomorrow without any appreciable detriment to society.
“a major in history or philosophy might provide a solid backbone in critical thinking and communication”
Coming out of these universities? HA!
They’re too busy teaching PC, hate-the-West-while-enjoying-its-liberties, and discrimination against males. >:-(