There’s a running joke in the English department that in spite of all our reading assignments, exams and papers, most of us are going to end up working as baristas at Starbucks. While this is in jest, there is a kernel of truth buried at the heart of this particular punchline. The reality is that many students who major in the humanities do not go on to work in their chosen field but use the skills they learned in college to obtain other positions.
Majoring in the humanities is beneficial because it generally teaches skills that will be useful in any professional setting, such as communication, research or collaboration. This pairs very well with a liberal arts school, where the goal is already to prepare students to adapt in an ever-changing professional climate. But the major itself shouldn’t get lost amongst the worries about these constantly-shifting professional needs. A study from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences found that “approximately 40% [of humanities graduates] indicated that they would not choose the same major again, while a similar share reported they did not believe that their undergraduate institution prepared them for life.” There seems to be some disconnect between the classroom and the workplace.
One of the problems is that humanities students graduate without understanding how to translate the skills they’ve acquired into an actual career. According to an article from Inside Higher Ed, part of the problem is “students not having a clear idea of the career paths a degree in a humanities field, such as history, literature or anthropology, can lead to.” Their study found that the majority of students who graduate with a degree in the humanities end up working in education, sales or management, and not in the field they studied in college. The problem is not necessarily with the humanities itself as an area of study. The issue is that there is not a clear connection formed in our minds on how to connect the degree with a career.
One possible fix to this would be more focus on practical skills. In English in colleges and universities across the country, for example, much of the focus is on fiction and poetry, which are both genres that graduates are not likely to work with professionally. There are many more employment opportunities in areas such as copywriting or technical writing. We could, and perhaps we should, dedicate more courses to such specialized skills. Of course, this would likely require adding faculty.
No matter what, the fact remains that the gap between college and careers must be bridged. And this responsibility is on both the professor and the student. For advisors, it is an intentionality to make sure we are in constant conversation about goals and careers and life beyond the four walls of a university classroom. For the students, it is taking the initiative and taking advantage of resources such as professors’ office hours. There needs to be an intentionality on both ends, along with incorporating non-class lectures, conferences and specialized classes as resources will allow. By working together to address concerns and consciously plan for the transition from the classroom to the workplace, students will be better prepared for success.
We all have different passions and visions for the future, and while one institution cannot possibly be expected to cater to them all, universities and students alike should place their focus on meeting long-term goals and pursuing success, whatever that may look like. Because I’m sure I speak for countless others when I say I don’t want to end up just another barista with a bachelor’s degree.
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