For hundreds of years, the liberal arts were the pillars of a well-rounded education. History, philosophy and literature were the foundations of any university.
Liberal arts education began in ancient Greek and Roman societies, and created the idea that there were certain fields of knowledge of which every student should have a command. The importance was not simply in knowing things, but about promoting certain characteristics of the mind necessary for engaging with the world.
But in today’s fast-moving society, increasingly career-focused students are not buying the idea that a liberal arts education is of any value to them.
Preparing students for a job market that values skilled professional degrees should become the main focus for higher education institutions in the United States.
Many small liberal arts colleges have struggled over the years, and the need to adjust to the changing career market is accelerating that adjustment. For a 21st century degree, a liberal arts education is no longer necessary.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, participation in liberal arts classes has decreased at colleges and universities across the country over a decade. Students now are seeking a degree in majors that they hope will launch them into skill-specific careers, like medicine or engineering.
With technical advances in sciences and the changing demographic of the workforce — from one of laborers to one of skilled professionals, students today should seek majors outside the liberal arts.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates that jobs for engineers are expected to grow by about 11 percent through 2018, and positions in medicine are expected to grow between nine and 19 percent. Humanities and the liberal arts now account for less than 10 percent of all majors — a huge decline from three decades ago.
Recently, Florida Governor Rick Scott proposed that public universities and colleges charge more for degrees in subjects like history, literature and anthropology, which he thinks are less economically valid in Florida than medical, science or engineering degrees.
While the idea of charging someone more for certain types of degrees isn’t uncommon in education, it would be unfair to liberal arts majors. Instead liberal arts courses should be less available and propertied to each institution’s enrollment.
Today, student enrollment shows that universities are shifting spending away from the liberal arts and putting the money into science, technology, engineering and math — the so-called STEM fields — because that’s where most of the job growth is.
It is also no coincidence that career-focused schools, such as the Florida Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, have seen enrollment skyrocket in recent years.
Furthermore, the creation of Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland demonstrates that schools are catering more to the STEM fields and less to the liberal arts.
Whether right or wrong, the college campus has become a careerist playground. Success in the professional world is narrowly defined in terms of market rewards. Colleges look less like wide-open spectrums of educational options and more like vertical ladders to reach our employment goals in a tough economy.
