Student Tribune
Dean Jacobs publishes Op-Ed "Looking for career preparation? Consider the liberal arts" in Rochester Beacon
On April 5, 2019, Dean Michael Jacobs published an Op-Ed in Rochester
Beacon titled, "Looking for career preparation? Consider the liberal
arts."
https://rochesterbeacon.com/2019/04/05/looking-for-caree
r-preparation-consider-the-liberal-arts/
In 1954, Albert Einstein wrote, "The great moral teachers of humanity were,
in a way, artistic geniuses in the art of living."
We find these exemplars in areas like philosophy, history, literature and
the arts. These disciplines--each housed in the liberal arts--teach a way of
"seeing" human experience that Einstein celebrates. Ironically, in an effort to
strengthen students' prospects for success, particularly in the fields of
science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the trend in higher
education has been to marginalize the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
This marginalization has been discussed in higher ed circles for decades.
Last year the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point announced that it would
cut
13 majors (primarily in the liberal arts), including American studies, art,
English, French, German, history, music literature, philosophy, political
science, sociology and Spanish, although it has since walked that number back
to six. Its goal? To mitigate a $4.5 million deficit and make room for 16 new
programs "in areas with high-demand career paths."
There are countless reasons to study the liberal arts that have nothing to
do with career preparation. We embrace their disciplines because they enhance
our capacity to think critically, cultivate a deeper understanding of the human
condition, enrich our collective culture and understand the social forces that
shape our democracy. Still, we must not ignore or undervalue the profound
connections between these areas of study and workforce development,
particularly as they apply to jobs in STEM.
In a March 21, 2018, Washington
Post op-ed, Paula Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language
Association, argues that UWSP's decision represents our culture's ongoing
attempts to "segregate higher education into the haves and have nots."
As a community college dean of liberal arts, I find Krebs' argument
compelling. Community colleges are access-oriented institutions that excel at
educating nontraditional, underserved, and underrepresented student populations
that have struggled historically to succeed at universities and liberal arts
colleges. Given their myriad challenges, which often include limited financial
resources, such students consistently receive the message that to achieve
professional and personal success they should major in career-oriented academic
programs, those with clear connections to labor market demands. We have seen as
much in the exponential growth of STEM and health studies majors since the
Great Recession.
In the context of workforce development, liberal arts programs and courses
are often overlooked except for their capacity to instill students with the
"soft skills" related to effective communication, analytical thought, and
adaptability. I am reminded of this each time I encounter students at a college
open house event and learn that, despite their passion for photography,
languages, or social justice, they've decided to forgo majoring in a liberal
arts discipline for fear that it will not lead to gainful employment in the
current, tech-driven labor market. And yet, the modern tech boom is replete
with stories of startup founders, presidents and CEOs who studied the liberal
arts--from LinkedIn founder Reid
Hoffman, who completed a master's degree in philosophy at Oxford, to Ben
Silbermann, who earned a degree in political science before earning
billions as the founder of Pinterest.
Rochester's labor market has been largely defined by the science and tech
industry for well over a century, most recently within in the areas of medical
science and health care. At Monroe Community College, we have forged
partnerships that bring together our STEM and health science faculty and
students with regional employers in these fields, and rightly so.
The logical next step is to articulate more thoroughly to such employers
both the intrinsic and instrumental value of the liberal arts. Of the more than
38,000 jobs at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Rochester
Regional Health, many require less medical or technical training than they do
the capacity for close reading and textual analysis, effective written and
verbal communication, problem solving, empathy and cultural competence. And for
those positions that do necessitate medical and/or technical training, be it
locally or among the many thousands of open STEM jobs throughout the state we
want them filled by individuals who possess these abilities, lest our doctors,
engineers, environmental scientists, and pharmacologists influence our world
with a very limited understanding of the human condition. As educators, we
therefore have a responsibility to ensure that our future STEM and health care
workers have meaningful engagement with the liberal arts during and after their
college careers.
On May 1, the MCC Institute
for the Humanities will bring together a panel of experts from higher
education and the tech industry to raise the profile of the liberal arts by
demonstrating the various ways they intersect with STEM education and industry.
Please register online for this event.
Now, more than ever, it is vital that liberal arts educators engage our
communities' employers, parents, and students--as well as our colleagues in
STEM--in meaningful conversation. With any luck, we just might hear one
another.
Michael Jacobs is dean of humanities and social sciences, and director of
the Institute for the Humanities, at Monroe Community College.
Jacobs, Michael
Anthrop/History/Poli. Science/Sociology; ESOL/TRS
04/11/2019