Posted on 11/03/2013 1:42:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
....she was a little nervous when her son told her he wanted to major in music in college.
She knew that was his passion. But as a mom, she was hoping he’d pick something a little more…practical.
That may explain why Hardy, a professor of classics at Carleton College, is so sympathetic to a new program designed to help her own students find a career that pays the bills.
This fall, Carleton launched an interactive website, called Pathways,as a “one-stop” shop for those who wonder how to turn a history or philosophy degree into a meaningful career.
At the same time, it’s asking professors who teach subjects from French to women’s studies to Shakespeare to take on a new role:advising students to start career planning as soon as they arrive on campus.
“When I got here 20 years ago, I know I would have found it almost offensive,” Hardy said. “But there’s been a culture shift.”
At today’s prices, even elite schools like Carleton, in Northfield,are feeling the pressure to justify the value of a liberal arts education. “[It’s]a hot-button issue,” said...associate dean and a professor of religious studies. Especially among parents.
“They’re spending all this money on a college education; they want their students to have something marketable when they finish,”he said.
Paths to ‘Life after Carleton’
Carleton, one of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the country, has no shortage of customers. In the past year,it had 14 applicants for every spot in its current freshman class of 527. It’s also the priciest college in Minnesota,at $58,000 a year for tuition, room and board.
.......The centerpiece of the site is the “career path visualization,”an interactive chart that shows where grads from individual majors ended up. Click on history majors,for example, and it shows them spread across the professions,from business,law and education to museum curators and actors....
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
We went a more mainstream route w/ Davidson College for my daughter. She majored in biology and has a job in an aquarium looking after the little fishies. :-)
a really smart kid or family would just take the $60K a year and come up with a financial plan for the kid to live independently, get a degree, work and invest
If I was 18 again and knew what I know now- $240K in 4 years- would set me up for life!
My daughter studied music and turned it into a very well-paying career. It all depends on your skill set, your intelligence, and most importantly of all, your motivation level. People on the upper scale with all those attributes tend to succeed no matter what they do. It's the middling ones who lose out. Better a practical career path for them.
Bump. Although a real Liberal Arts degree ironically would push one to be more conservative.
Most 18-22 year olds don't have the perspective to absorb a true liberal arts.
Sigh.
Also, I think a 4 year intensive reading list would likely be of more use, and practically free.
Reading is fundamental and I cannot agree with you more. Being self-educated by reading is undervalued, IMO.
I would never hire someone I or a trusted colleague didn’t know. Resumes, recommendations, degrees, even interviews — they’re only good for hiring temps.
Personal networking is the way good jobs are got.
Since it hasn’t been mentioned, Carleton is where Wellstone taught prior to running for Senate. I grew up in Northfield and graduated with his son, David. Northfield is also home to St. Olaf college. They are both beautiful campasses, and very liberal.
This is the part where if he doesn't have a fully paid scholarship, dad is supposed to step in and say "THE HELL I'M PAYING FOR THIS - GET A REAL DEGREE AND MINOR IN MUSIC!"
WTF?!?!? That's enough to start up a small business and sustain it for a short term which would be long enough for a REAL EDUCATION...
Unreal - what a bunch of suckers these fools are.
A student graduates from college with an Accounting degree, gets his first job and asks, “How can we make it cheaper?”
A student graduates from college with an Engineering degree, gets his first job and asks, “How can we make it better?”
A student graduates from college with an Liberal Arts degree, gets his first job and asks, “Do you want fries with that?”
“People who have the ability to communicate can compose effective business proposals, develop marketing campaigns, develop advertising materials and fill many other valuable niches. “
All Persuaders, not producers.
Hollywood & the media glorify Persuaders, not Producers (well, except for producers of ‘fluff’ - artists, actors, musicians...).
Engineers, machinists, farmers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, fabricators keep things going for all the non-productive members of society who think so highly of themselves.
““The value of the liberal arts education is that it trains you very broadly to think and write and express yourself and analyze problems,” he said. That, he said, is why most students choose a school like Carleton”
I love this old saw. Somehow this presumes that, say, a degree in Electrical Engineering neglected to get to the point of thinking and solving problems.
In the end, it’s intelligence, creativity, and adaptability that matters long-term for success.
intelligence, creativity, and adaptability is more readily found in majors that require students to exercise, hone and develop those traits - and exclude those who do not have those innate aptitudes.
Usually those lacking the requisite innate aptitudes for generalized success end up in Liberal Arts programs - where it’s easier to pretend (up until graduation) that a student is intelligent, creative, and adaptable.
Start laying off liberal professors. My engineering, math or physical science were ALL either conservative (when their politics were knowable), or apolitical. They stuck to the subject matter. I only encountered liberal proselytizers in the humanities departments. And, to be fair, most were apolitical or did not use their lectures to espouse their views. However, there were a few......
I have no idea how it is today in the University. That was 40 years ago. :)
...you can whine for the rest of your life.
I would have to say MOST bachelors degrees, if they’re not in a specific professional program that is science or math based (nursing, engineering etc) are no better or worse. Years ago I noticed, that when I hired undergraduates with “business” degrees, they could not write coherent reports or conduct research.
English and history majors were quite versatile, and very adaptable when working on marketing projects.
First, you are correct.
Second, from the source article, it appears that the overwhelming majority of Carlton College grads in the past went to graduate or professional school, e.g., Law, Medicine, MBA; so that their u/g education was not the end of their education.
Third, the most popular u/g degree at elite privates is economics. The u/g degree in economics is a very good degree for Law or an MBA. An u/g degree in mathematics is a very good degree for any number of career paths (applied math) as well as a solid foundation to pursue graduate studies in the social sciences. An u/g degree in science is a solid foundation to pursue the MD.
Fourth, engineering is a very good bachelors degree. So is accounting. But, you won’t find those programs at a liberal arts school like Carleton.
Fifth, if I were running a corporate business, and had to hire from among college grads whom I had to train in management training programs, I’d be inclined to hire students who were involved in team competitive sports, or who actually mastered a skill such as a conservatory student, than a student who took introspective, navel-gazing courses such as ethnic studies
Yes, let’s not confuse the value of a liberal arts degree with what the progressives have done to it. Hillsdale College is a perfect example. A genuine liberal arts degree teaches students how to think, not what to think.
The baccalaureate with a concentration in one of the liberal arts is intended to make one a better person. That is its purpose, its reason for being.
I was an English major (before the fall of English), and there is not one day in my life as a physician that I don’t constructively use something I didn’t know before I went to college.
However, if anyone thinks that getting a bachelor’s degree in one of the liberal arts will lead to getting a job or making money, then they are too stupid to go to college in the first place.
A classical education is still valuable if done right. If you major in English or foreign language for instance. But I do think you should prepare to get a teaching certificate if you study these things.
Post of the day!
Be well prepared to fill out a welfare application form.
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