Pioneer LogLewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

The liberal arts have failed to prepare me for the world outside school

March 19, 2010

by Tom Meath

Now nearing the end of my Lewis & Clark career, I feel qualified to make the following judgment: My liberal arts education wasn’t quite worth the $180,000 dollars that it cost. Don’t get me wrong: The liberal arts have plenty to offer, but at the end I’m left feeling a bit ill-equipped for life outside the ivory tower. I wouldn’t want to lose the benefits of the liberal arts experience, but damn do I wish I had a few technical skills.

There’s not much to put on a resume when I add up the sum of my four years. My tangible skills include: the ability to tell the minute differences in the urine-like flavors of bargain beers, the ability to churn out a three- to five-page essay in APA format within thirty minutes at 6 a.m., the ability to write an intelligible journalistic article (thank you, Pioneer Log), the ability to fiddle my way through simple statistics on SPSS and, most ​importantly, the ability to sound like a pompous ass about a broad spectrum of topics.

Yes, while the liberal arts prepare one to be a versatile conversationalist at a cocktail party, they do not necessarily prepare one to impress employers. A study has shown that students from liberal arts colleges go on to be more successful in business. Whoop-dee-doo. Businesses aren’t exactly lining up because “one day I’ll be a great employee!” Employers are looking for people with experience and skills that are applicable to the position. Worse yet, the seething mass of newly unemployed professionals is lowering the demand for newcomers with a twinkle of hope in their eyes.

In reality, the liberal arts prepare students to go back to school. More students from liberal arts schools than from technical schools go on to graduate school, law school and medical school. But getting into graduate school is hard, application rates are rising and many will not get in on their first, or even second, attempt. Most of us are going to have to enter the workforce after graduation.

I will not deny that there is much more to the liberal arts than how well it can land you high-paying employment. Having an understanding of a wide variety of topics allows liberal arts students to connect different ideas and cultivate a richer understanding of the world. This is the sort of thing that helps make a life meaningful, and I wouldn’t trade that for a bucket full of technical skills.

The trade-off, however, is symptomatic of a false dichotomy between the liberal arts and technical skills. The two need not be mutually exclusive. I want to take my broad swath of classes from every and any department, but I also want some of my classes to give me tangible skills I can wow employers with. I want the skills to get my foot in the door and the critical thinking to excel once I get in.

So how about it, who else would love to take Marketing 101 or Accounting 204?