What are the job benefits?
2006-09-22 08:52:45 · 8 answers · asked by Bud King 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
I have to disagree with the disparaging comments posted about a liberal arts degree.
After reading that, I am sure you are not surprised to learn that I went to a liberal arts college. If you are interested in a biased, insider opinion, my take is that "liberal arts" currently includes a lot of cross-disciplinary study, with a focus on how to gather and use information.
I graduated with a degree in French Literature. That might sound like one of those "fries-with-that?" kinds of diplomas, but I firmly believe that a liberal arts degree was extremely valuable in developing my ability to appreciate the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated information, as well as developing the skills to analyze and synthesize across the disciplines. Rather than directing all my energy to a single career goal, I learned how to think, and how to apply that ability to all the facets of my life. My opportunities have always been limited only by my willingness to take a risk, never by my inability to think outside the box.
Studies have repeatedly shown that the average college graduate will change careers (not jobs - careers!) multiple times in his or her lifetime. The best way to be prepared for those changes is to be mentally flexible, a good learner, and a clear thinker. In my opinion, those are the hallmarks of a liberal arts education.
So, what does this liberal arts graduate do for a living? I work in the computer industry as a Systems Administrator for a multi-national corporation.
Oh, and one of my best friends in college got her under-graduate degree in philosophy, then went on to become a doctor, graduating near the top of her class. Another was a math-bio major, and now works as a scientist. Liberal Arts does not limit your job possibilities. In my opinion, it enhances them.
2006-09-22 09:41:08 · answer #1 · answered by rainbow_doe 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A liberal arts degree is a college degree which emphasizes academic pursuits in traditional knowledge (history, literature, philosophy, etc.) rather than something like bio-engineering. The job benefits are that if you are a person who likes to think a lot, appreciates life and the world and all its complexities, this kind of degree willl probably serendipitously disqualify you from the kind of job and lifestyle that would otherwise make you miserable. It's like going camping because you don't want to be in a hotel in Las Vegas. Not as fancy, but you do it because you like it, and who cares if you don't get pretty towels.
2006-09-22 09:01:14 · answer #2 · answered by uncle 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Liberal Arts used to be quite specific. There was the Trivium, not to be confused with trivial, although some have made the connection, to be studied: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. With that you had to know how to read, know how to speak, and know how to think. (Literacy, btw, in those days meant you could read Latin, and maybe your local language.) Then there was the Quadrivium: arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
These days, a Liberal Arts education means you aren't an engineer, scientist, businessman, or medical doctor. It primarily qualifies you to live off the interest of daddy's money, or at your employment ask such questions as, "Do you want fries with that?".
2006-09-22 09:06:39 · answer #3 · answered by Rabbit 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
In my experience, most liberal arts majors want to be a teacher or enter the educaiton field in some way. It is meant to give you a broad scope of all educational disciplines. There is very little vocational training, like maybe how a marketing major would learn how to write marketing proposals, but instead is designed to make you a well rounded thinker.
2006-09-22 10:25:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just as it suggests. Liberal. Arts. A person with one of these degrees could get a good job at McDonalds, Walmart. or even a nice convient store. If they are extremely lucky they may get a nice cushey job in the Corporate world. The possibilities are very extensive.
2006-09-22 13:42:38 · answer #5 · answered by bro_ken128 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I have one, studied Italian, English lit, history, philosophy, linguistics.
No job benefits, but I'm a Level 6 Answerer!
2006-09-22 10:05:33 · answer #6 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Liberal arts includes music, theater, language, literature, philosophy, etc. Benefits - great for teaching careers.
2006-09-22 08:55:44 · answer #7 · answered by pknutson_sws 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
An obscure bestowment whose value barely, if at all, exceeds that of the steaming pile left on the ground behind your average male bovine.
2006-09-22 09:00:34 · answer #8 · answered by Trollbuster 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋