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Don't diss those Liberal Arts degrees


AURex

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A recent article in the NY Times reports on research that examined the salaries and long term earnings of Liberals Arts majors vs those in STEM (sciences, technology, engineering and maths, including computer science areas). What the researchers discovered was that, although STEM graduates frequently earn higher salaries in their first job compared to Liberal Arts majors, the income balances out after awhile and eventually the salaries of Liberal Arts majors surpass those of STEM majors.

It's not because poetry pays more as poets age. The researchers suggest a couple of reasons why this happens. First, the knowledge and skills of STEM graduates becomes dated over time due to advances, and second, Liberal Arts majors often move up the ladder in management or into professions like law. What they do not mention is that there is an "ageism" bias in STEM professions that is less prevalent in the social sciences, law and management realm.

They are not dissing STEM degrees, but rather pointing to research evidence that indicates that Liberal Arts degrees should not be snubbed. Why? " A liberal arts education fosters valuable “soft skills” like problem-solving, critical thinking and adaptability. Such skills are hard to quantify, and they don’t create clean pathways to high-paying first jobs. But they have long-run value in a wide variety of careers."

As a proud graduate of Auburn who majored in Philosophy, I can affirm that by age 45 I was earning much more than people in IT, CS, engineering, etc. Is that true for everyone? Of course not, but then not all STEM grads earn lots of money either.

The original article appeared in NY Times here. But if you have a hard time accessing NYT content, one of the authors re-posted it on his university website here.

 

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And here is another article, this one from business-oriented Bloomberg, that discusses the same issue. The author provides examples of businesses actively recruiting liberal arts grads while noting the decline of students majoring in those fields.

And, Beryl Lieff Benderly, a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, penned an article that points out the glut of STEM grads, the incursion of foreign cheap labor, and the shortage of Liberal Arts grads.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

And yet another article, this one about economists wishing there were more students majoring in history or taking courses in history and other liberal arts. Nobel Prize winner in economics explains how he learned more about the economics of the Great Depression from history courses than all the economics courses.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/19/worlds-top-economists-just-made-case-why-we-still-need-english-majors/

 

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