Contributing Writer

According to a 2012 analysis by the Associated Press, approximately half of recent college graduates are either unemployed or working a job that does not require their bachelor’s degree. Daunting statistics about the current job market, along with the monetary investment of earning a degree, rest heavily on students’ minds when they decide on a major. The recent push by the Obama administration for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education suggests that STEM degree-holders have the upper hand in this tough job market, where the fields of software programming, allied medical professions and engineering are expected to grow.

Should this discourage interested students from majoring in the humanities?  Studies in English, philosophy, religion or history do not offer the same training geared specifically for jobs as the STEM fields, yet there has been an enrollment bump in the arts and humanities at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Professor J. Patrick Hornbeck II, chair of the theology department, estimates that the number of theology majors and minors has more than doubled in the last four years.

What can humanities majors look forward to after graduation?  Aside from pursuing graduate study, humanities degree holders can find success in applying for professional school. Philosophy and English majors earn top scores on the LSAT and the verbal portion of the MCAT.  Also, a major in humanities offers a wide arsenal of skills in critical reading and problem solving.

“It is largely a myth that majoring in the humanities is a detriment to students’ chances in the job market,” said Hornbeck. “More and more corporations are coming to recognize the value of the significant skills that humanities students acquire through their academic training: the abilities to understand a complex text, to empathize with yet still be critical of differing points of view, to understand and appreciate cultural difference, to think precisely and critically. In many cases, the abilities that students acquire through the humanities are more flexible and adaptable than technical or business skills.”

For example, a 2008 survey of Silicon Valley CEOs revealed that less than half of them had STEM degrees, with the majority holding liberal arts degrees.

Hornbeck quotes Bracken Darrell, the CEO of Logitech, who actively seeks out English and other humanities majors: “The older I get, the more I realize the power of words and the power of words in making you think … the best CEOs and leaders are extremely good writers and have this ability to articulate and verbalize what they’re thinking.”

Furthermore, an undergraduate STEM degree does not guarantee employment after graduation.   While 20 percent of American jobs are in STEM fields, about half of those jobs do not require a four-year degree, instead drawing employees from vocational schools and community colleges.  The rest of the STEM job market is at the graduate level.

“I’ve never thought about studying philosophy in terms of specific career aspirations,” said Andres Durán Rueda, FCRH ’13 and a philosophy major. “Philosophy is just what I love, what I’m passionate about, and I plan on continuing to engage with it in the future. Traditional career paths are becoming more and more difficult to settle into, and our generation has been forced to forge new and unexpected ways of making a living around what we’re actually passionate about. The advantage of the humanities in this is that it’s easy to awaken that passion.”

Ultimately, your choice in major does not matter in terms of job security.  With a variety of alternatives to higher education, such as vocational and technical degrees, pursuing a bachelor’s degree is not the most direct path to employment.  With this in mind, the decision to pick a major becomes easier.

Katherine Valles, FCRH ’15, is a biology major from Woodside, N.Y