STEM is important, but politicians should stop dissing the liberal arts

March 29, 2015

Politicians across the political spectrum have been promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education at the expense of the humanities. Now, observers have taken to the generally conservative and generally liberal, respectively, opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post to offer rebuttals.

In the Wall Street Journal, Christopher J. Scalia, an associate professor of English at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, writes, “Dismissing the liberal arts seems to have become a litmus test for conservative politicians…. This is an unfortunate trend. Conservatives should be among the strongest defenders of the liberal arts, for at least two reasons: one economic, the other philosophical and political.”

He cites a recent study showing that unemployment rates for recent liberal-arts graduates (8.4%) aren’t significantly higher than for recent computer-science, statistics, and math graduates (8.3%). Further, he says, “…humanities and social-sciences majors earn more right after college than students majoring in physical sciences, natural sciences, and math.” (He concedes that science and math majors will out-earn their humanities counterparts as they progress through their careers.)

Scalia doesn’t go into the reasons for this relative income and employment parity, but I have commented before on the need for English majors with good storytelling skills even in high-tech companies. Steve Jobs was adamant about this: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing….”

Writing in the Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria sums this up nicely: “Twenty years ago, tech companies might have survived simply as product manufacturers. Now they have to be on the cutting edge of design, marketing, and social networking. You can make a sneaker equally well in many parts of the world, but you can’t sell it for $300 unless you’ve built a story around it. The same is true for cars, clothes, and coffee. The value added is in the brand—how it is imagined, presented, sold, and sustained…. All of this requires skills far beyond the offerings of a narrow STEM curriculum.”

Both Zakaria in the Post and Scalia in the Journal emphasize the benefits of a humanities education apart from direct income and employment issues. Writes Zakaria, “For most of human history, all education was skills-based. Hunters, farmers, and warriors taught their young to hunt, farm, and fight. But about 2,500 years ago, that changed in Greece, which began to experiment with a new form of government: democracy. This innovation in government required an innovation in education. Basic skills for sustenance were no longer sufficient. Citizens also had to learn how to manage their own societies and practice self-government. They still do.”

Scalia fast-forwards to the 18th century and quotes Thomas Jefferson to the effect that a broad education defends against tyranny and ensures the survival of democracy. Scalia writes, “The liberal arts, Jefferson recognized, have a practical value that has nothing to do with direct economic benefits: They are linked to the vitality of a commonwealth and the survival of a free people…. Jefferson encouraged a general education for ‘the people at large’ to protect themselves from politicians.”

Perhaps that’s why politicians left and right have been denigrating the liberal arts. I suggest following Jefferson’s advice.

About the Author

Rick Nelson | Contributing Editor

Rick is currently Contributing Technical Editor. He was Executive Editor for EE in 2011-2018. Previously he served on several publications, including EDN and Vision Systems Design, and has received awards for signed editorials from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. He began as a design engineer at General Electric and Litton Industries and earned a BSEE degree from Penn State.

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