Reply to Parents who don't allow their kids to major in liberal arts

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Quite frankly, and I am speaking as manager who has been involved in hiring college graduates for many years, we prefer those who have a STEM degree for the most part.

Now if a liberal arts major is from a top notch school, that would be a positive. The only reasonably assured path for someone with a liberal arts degree is to then go to grad school, law school or the medical field or a field where there are decent employment prospects.

I am not impressed with examples of people who went to a liberal arts school and then did very well whether they majored in philosophy, etc. There was a time through the nineties when that was a viable route to well paying jobs. But the economy has changed and what worked several decades ago does not do so any longer.

Yes, there may be exceptions even today, but with the cost of college being what it is today it would be foolhardy to ignore the realities of today's economy.[/quote]

You're assuming liberal arts people want to work for you.  I think what you're seeing here is many who decide to take the unconventional path and major in liberal arts also take unconventional paths when it comes to career and find a way to make it work for them.  And I'm going to bet for many liberal arts majors the idea of toiling away in an office is not super high on the desires list, hence pursuing jobs that allow for creativity. [/quote]

I am not arguing that it is impossible to be successful with a liberal arts degree. What I am saying is that the odds are decidedly against a person with this background in today's economy.

We have hundreds of applicants from liberal arts colleges - some with commendable academic records - and they don't even get an interview. I am telling you the reality of what the situation is today. It is not a knock on liberal arts colleges or those who graduate from those colleges. It is a changing environment and one must adapt or essentially be unemployable when it comes to the better paying jobs.

There is a viable route but then it involves additional study but even that has challenges. For example, it is difficult to get into a good MBA program at the better schools without several years of work experience at a suitable level. How does one go about getting that experience if one cannot get a decent job?

Let me repeat: I am not knocking liberal arts schools but I am saying that it is foolish - and does a young man or woman a real disservice not to make them aware of what awaits them after spending over $100K getting an undergraduate degree that has limited job prospects.[/quote]

The plural of anecdote is not data.  The data show that liberal arts majors do achieve gainful employment in a variety of fields.

https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/nchems.pdf

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/22/see-how-liberal-arts-grads-really-fare-report-examines-long-term-data

http://www.augusta.edu/provost/documents/38-how_liberal_arts_and_science_majors_fare_in_employment.pdf

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