Why pursue an American Liberal Arts Education?
A recent United States Department of Labor report projects that 80% of the children beginning kindergarten today will eventually enter jobs that do not exist today. At first glance, this projection might seem startling and preposterous. But if one were to consider the metamorphosis of the workplace, where technology has made significant inroads into every aspect of office life, one begins to realize the realities of this modern age. Over the last two decades, modern technologies and modes of communications have completely changed not only the way we live, but also, the way we perform our jobs.
Today, many of us simply cannot imagine life without e-mail or cell phones and many workplace duties simply cannot be performed without the internet. We can be sure that these technological advances will continue to alter the workplace. But if such radical changes continue, how do we prepare the next generation with the tools necessary for them to be productive citizens when it is finally time for them to enter the workforce? One thing is for sure. Increasingly, the skills required for entry level positions in China and abroad are quickly evolving towards higher-lever skill sets. Skills such as analytical thinking and problem solving, communication and presentation, working in teams, are becoming more important with each passing year. Hence, to be successful in the workplace of today and especially in that of the future, students and individuals will require more than just a narrow body of knowledge and technical expertise. The essential building block of the American undergraduate experience, which is often referred to as liberal arts education, is and will remain to be the best form of academic preparation for lifelong employment. A liberal arts education allows the individual to adapt quickly to changes, both in the workplace and in society at large, because the education endows upon the individual with an enhanced ability to think laterally and independently.
Every year, as students from all over the world make their way to the United States to embark on their university education, many students are initially bewildered as to the wide range of general education courses they must complete in order to graduate. Why would someone who is studying to be an economist or an architect need to study literature, history, philosophy or political science? Does it make sense to study subjects outside the scope of your major? Why would you take a course that would seem to have no relation to the job you intend to pursue after graduation?
(I) A Liberal Arts Education will teach you how to think
(i) Develop an independent mode of thinking: From a Liberal Arts Education, an individual will gain a wide and varied range of knowledge. Coupled with the analytical skills that the student develops through his coursework, an individual who has benefited from such an educational experience will have the ability to develop his own opinions and beliefs. He is no longer a recipient of information but rather, is transformed into an active contributor to the body of knowledge. No longer would the individual have to depend on the authority of professors, peers, or the media, to formulate his opinion. His opinions and beliefs will reflect his own experiences and his own knowledge, and not the experience and knowledge of others.
(ii) An ordered mind: Thinking and knowledge has its own language and is own structure. Many subjects that a student will be exposed to during the course of a Liberal Arts Education will help the student develop his ability to reason systematically and form logical mental arguments. Through certain courses, the student will develop a more systematic and cogent approach to processing information, and will become more adapt at formulating arguments and drawing conclusions based on this information. For instance, a careful study of philosophy or computer engineering will create in the student the habit of organized thinking and of rational analysis. Once such good thinking habits become part of your personality, you will be able to perform better at any job and at any task.
(II) A Liberal Arts Education will teach you how to learn
(i) Learning how to learn better: By the time you are in university, you would have had many years of primary and secondary education, and would have undoubtedly developed the ability to absorb and process knowledge. However, a Liberal Arts Education can improve on this ability. It is a known truth that knowledge builds upon knowledge so when you learn something new, your brain is programmed to remember how it learnt it and it sets up new pathways or categories to make future learning easier, faster and more efficient. And because a Liberal Arts Education requires that the student be constantly exposed to new courses and subjects, more pathways and categories will be added, thereby enhancing the student’s ability to learn. An analogy is often drawn between this aspect of the Liberal Arts Education and athletics. Athletes of different sports would undoubtedly have some sort of weight training in their training regimen. However, no one would question why a baseball player or basketball player or even a table tennis player should engage in weight training. That is because it is clear to everyone that such exercises allow the athletes to build muscles, dexterity, and reflexes, which allow for better performance on the field, regardless of what sport it might be.
(ii) Greater General Knowledge allows for Greater Creativity: Very often, when we are searching for a solution to a problem, after much thinking, we make sudden realizations that seem to come out of nowhere. But in reality, every conclusion that we draw, every realization that we make, is premised upon information and knowledge that we have stored in our minds. If an individual has a wide and deep range of knowledge, his mind will be able to create synergies between different bodies of stored knowledge and formulate solutions to perplexing problems. Hence, the greater the body of knowledge, the greater the chances of finding an ingenious solution to a problem.
(III) A Liberal Arts Education will give you a more holistic understanding of the world you operate in.
(i) The workplace is not divided into majors and specialties: Almost every job today requires knowledge of more than one field. Many people ignore this simple fact and pay the price for it- the talented chef who does not know how to market his restaurant and does not get any patrons, the intelligent manager who has a poor understanding of human psychology and hence overlooks the need to motivate the company’s employee to bring out the best in them.
(ii) A well-rounded education provides the context for the constituent bodies of knowledge gained: Every field of study only gives us a partial glimpse of the world and of man. It is imperative that one understands that all knowledge is one, that different fields of study are all part of this universal body of knowledge. So when one puts too much emphasis on one area of study in his approach towards life’s problems, his perception of the reality of the situation will be biased and distorted.
In conclusion, when it comes to securing a job, technical skills are certainly needed because it is with these skills that you would get your foot in the door. But it is a Liberal Arts Education that will provide you with the tools needed for job sustainability, serving as the basis for both career and personal development. When viewed this way, a Liberal Arts Education is actually the most practical type of education in that it will equip one with not only the knowledge base, but more importantly the adaptability to function effectively in this ever changing world. It is the best investment that a parent can make in a child’s future.