It’s important to see the value of a liberal arts degree


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It is a common trope in the era of big tech and STEM that a humanities degree is essentially worthless. What can a graduate do with a degree in history, sociology or medieval Spanish literature? In our fast-paced world and  with the on-demand culture that permeates millennial lives, it is easy to understand why a high-paying job right out of college is attractive. Yet, liberal arts degrees transcend monetary value and teach students to think analytically of past and present issues instead of relying on instant gratification. 

The decline in popularity of liberal arts degrees is multi-layered. At the nuclear family level, it is common for parents to believe STEM is synonymous with success, resulting in parents pressuring their child to undertake a degree in that field. The making of the humanities into a punchline has been paralleled at the government level by leaders such as former President Barack Obama. On the world stage, the Chinese government has unveiled plans to turn 42 universities into schools of science and technology. Similarly, the United Kingdom’s focus on STEM has led to a 20% drop in students taking advanced classes in English literature and a further decline of 15% in the number of students studying the arts. 

While most students are drawn to a career in STEM because of promises of a big paycheck, STEM degrees do not always guarantee a higher salary, particularly for women. The job website Glassdoor reported an 18% pay gap within mathematics with men earning a median base salary of $60,000 in the first few years after college, as opposed to $49,182 for women. This is not meant to purport the fantasy that a liberal arts degree pays more or more equally but rather that a STEM degree has its drawbacks. 

In today’s fast-paced world, interest, innovation and inspiration are not traits that need to be tamed. Indeed, without these traits, a monotonous hum of low-level digital connectivity is created. As a result, society is on a course to tangle itself into the abyss and blind spots of big data. As we lose ourselves in the digital age, more human judgment is essential to sort out the problems that technology cannot compute alone. 

Companies are becoming increasingly concerned with the communication and analytical skills of their employees — two skills that are taught through a humanist education. A study found that the rapidly expanding opportunities in the United States require more than just the STEM-based skills they acquire. 

Two Microsoft executives further elaborated on the need for liberal arts degrees: “As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, psychology and human development courses can teach critical, philosophical and ethics-based skills that will be instrumental in the development and management of AI solutions.” 

Having a liberal arts degree truly does open the mind to possibilities of learning. The humanities expose individuals to what it truly means to be human by studying great subjects and figures. Painters such as Ernie Barnes, Diego Rivera and Claude Monet demonstrate the breadth of creativity and beauty within the human spirit. Philosophers and writers such as Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant provide questions no one had ever thought of asking. 

The humanities play a crucial role in allowing and training our minds to think and learn the complex story of our human existence. 

Christopher Aranda contributed to this opinion.