What kind of jobs do "liberal studies" graduates get?

[Anonymous]

My DC is at Notre Dame and is currently a neuroscience/behavior major...had a bit of an existential crisis on the couch last night as we watched a Christmas movie and tearfully said she hates STEM classes, only is pursuing it because she long talked about becoming a doctor and everyone was all "OMG, you're so smart and would be a great doctor" (which is true) but now that she's actually doing it in college she HATES her classes like general chemistry and biology and admits that she's always liked the humanities subjects way better than her STEM classes and that's really where her passion lies. Her best friend is in the Program of Liberal Studies at Notre Dame and that's what she wants to switch into...it's basically their version of a Great Books program (I've heard the one at St. John's mentioned here a few times).

Anyone's kid graduate from a program like this? What did they go on to do? Of course Notre Dame has a bunch of alumni profiles on their PLS website but not sure if these are "typical" or they're just highlighting the few who majorly succeeded.

[Anonymous]

Notre Dame is prestigious and has a strong alumni network so she'll do fine. From most non-reputable schools, a liberal studies degree can seriously hurt job prospects. To note, none of the top 25 liberal art colleges even offer a "liberal studies" or "liberal arts" major explicitly- they require students to specialize in something.

[Anonymous]

Any degree that teaches your daughter to write, research, analyze, and think critically and creatively is going to make her a great employee in many fields.

Here are some articles to peruse about the use of liberal arts degrees:

https://www.fastcompany.com/40440952/why-this-tech-ceo-keeps-hiring-humanities-majors

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emsi/2016/10/19/what-can-you-do-with-that-useless-liberal-arts-degree/#bd8322c41b89

https://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2016/06/01/why-i-was-wrong-about-liberal-arts-majors/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/08/26/tech-companies-are-hiring-more-liberal-arts-majors-than-you-think/?utm_term=.cc7f3bee325a

https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/#5e8a5ab0745d

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP, most top liberal arts schools don’t have a major in liberal studies. A friend did a masters in liberal studies and she’s a private middle school dean (after teaching for many years). It was a summer (several summers) masters designed for teachers.

[Anonymous]

Starbucks?

[Anonymous]

Huge difference between a liberal arts field (Philosophy, English, Bio, Math, etc) and a liberal arts degree (where you just take a bunch of courses in various disciplines without much rhyme or rhythm). The liberal arts field majors at the Ivies, top SLACS, etc are fine. But those schools don't have a general liberal arts degree.

[Anonymous]

All sorts of things. But probably a masters after a couple years out of undergrad in something specific. Grant writing, administration, contracts, business. A school with a good network helps to get that first or second job and summer work before that.

[Anonymous]

Does she have a specific career path she is interested in? I think these degrees can work out IF the student knows what they want out of it (e.g. I want to work in grant writing for a non-profit, I want to do public relations for a large company, I want to use this as prep for law school, etc). That way they can leverage contacts to get internships in the summer and the first job after college. If it's just a "well, I like these classes but IDK what I actually want to do for a career"...that generally won't work out so well. This "major" is not career death sentence by any means, but it's definitely a course of study that will require a lot of planning and go-getting if she wants to enter a stable career upon graduation.

I am a Notre Dame alum and their academic advising is excellent. Have your daughter talk to an adviser about specific paths she can take and they'll help her set up job shadows, talk to alums who work in specific careers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Probably not much different from other humanities fields like philosophy, English, and history that emphasize strong analytical skills, lots of writing, discussion, etc. - non-profits, education, public policy, marketing/advertising/public relations, law...

[Anonymous]

The Liberal Studies program at Notre Dame is a rather prestigious one. I have a few friends who are college professors who graduated from this program. It's supposed to be an excellent education!

[Anonymous]

Article in NYTimes which I cant link because I am in europe right now posting from my crappy phone.

Go to the Ed section and you will find it - says MANY lib arts degree grads are just as successful, including financially, as many engineering grads etc.. its just popular perception is that you must persue science and non Arts degrees not to end up a barista