Why do so many people think liberal arts majors are worthless?

Question

This really drives me crazy! On this site, whenever someone asks what they can do with a liberal arts major (history, psychology, etc.), the majority of the responses always say things like "flip burgers at a fast food joint, retail Wal-Mart jobs..." blah blah blah.

That is such b.s.! Not everyone with a business degree ends up making bank, while that philosphy major next to you might ultimately become a millionaire!

Do what you love, and more often than not, the money will follow.

Answer 1

You're absolute right!! Liberal Arts majors are not worthless by a longshot. Granted they might not be the most popular right now, but their value is definitely related to today's world.

For example, having a history degree by itself won't qualify you to work in business, but that doesn't mean you can't take some business classes on top of your history. Why would a business hire someone with that history degree? Because it demonstrates an ability to research events and put things into perspective, which both valuable business skills!

Perfect example, I had earned my B.A. in Economics from the liberal arts college instead of the business school because I wanted to add more liberal arts classes to my background. In fact, I was the ONLY one in my anatomy and phisolophy class who wasn't a nursing or pre-med major.

But I can tell you that having had classes in areas like philosophy, psychology, sociology, anatomy, and art history has made me a better person. Plus it has helped me succeed in thw business world because it has given me a different way of looking at things. And a perspective often overlooked or even ignored by those without that liberal arts background.

And FYI, with a psychology degree, many of these people wind-up working in human resources because they have training in the "reading of people."

Bottom-line, liberal arts majors might not be the most popular right now, but the value of taking liberal arts classes is definitely worth it!

Answer 2

It is not easier but it is also worthless Say you both spend four years in college. The engineer will make 50,000+ The liberal arts major will be lucky to make 25 -30,000 We do it because we like the classes and don't look ahead at how practical it is. We don't think about money. Some are okay with making little because they like what they do. Some find out too late about the low pay. Some stay in school to make more. Math and Science get more respect because people are intimidated by the subjects

Answer 3

Our society--and our educational system--are overfocused on "getting a job/acquiring job skills," etc. Consequently the majority of people evaluate higher education essentially as a job-training program. The ones who do, BTW, rarely excel as undergraduates.

So when you ask about a liberal arts degree (mine are in history/sociology) they don't see the relevance--in their value system. But higher education is only partly about learning job skills. It is also about gaining perspective on the world from one standpoint or another--and mostly about learning how to learn, how to think critically.

These objectives are often ignored by undergraduates--which is why those don't perform as well. But the irony is, liberal arts is BETTER preparation for the business world (among other things) than a business degree. For example, the most common undergraduate majors amon g Fortune 500 executives aare history and sociology. Most have MBA's--but that's not what they got their bachelors in.

Answer 4

You are 100% correct. Did you know that Michael Eisner (Disney) and Carly Fiorina (HP) were both liberal arts majors, both art history I believe. Graduate schools, including business schools, look to build an entering class that has students of diverse academic backgrounds. With med school, you find higher acceptance rates for religious studies majors than bio majors. Use your undergraduate years to explore the cornucopia of fascinating fields of knowledge out there and see what excites you! Unfortunately so many students come out of high school not fired up about school or learning and see college as simply a financial stepping stone, so in their ultra-practical mindset they say, "I want to be rich, how do I get money, through a business, therefore I must study business!" It should be a clue to them that the most selective schools, like all the Ivies except Penn, do not offer business as an undergraduate major. Do you think their graduates struggle to find a job? McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, et. all are beating down their doors to hire these liberal artists. College is about learning to think critically and hopefully finding a subject that really interests you. It is that passion and that clear-eyed critical acumen that makes people successful when they later enter the business world, not a full slate of accounting courses freshman year.

Answer 5

There are a few completely seperate and different reasons why people have this bias regarding liberal arts education.

1. If you are doing it because you love your area of study, you may well be right about success following... But humanities are less rigorous areas of study at most colleges, so that many people with less disciplined minds are forced to change their majors to ones which require a lower math or science literacy. The more rigorous liberal arts, or the ones who hope they are rigorous, have become certificate and license restricted. Those who have these certificates and licenses do not call themselves liberal arts majors, they call themselves things like teachers or social workers or psychologists. This makes the rest of liber arts majors seem fluffy, rather than rigorous.

2. We are a technologically oriented society, where great skill in math and science are well rewarded, so that people who do not love math or science do them anyway, if they are able, to earn more and have an improved standard of living over those people who are not able to complete study in these areas. This makes those fields of study even more competitive and exacting. The 'best' vie for position in math and science, at least those of the best who consider earning potential the best predictor of their future happiness.

3. Basic education is so poor, in the US, that most people have literally no use for liberal arts, but they still like their ipod.

4. The earning potential of a high average mastery of science or math is *so* much higher than that of liberal arts at the same level of mastery, that it is inpossible to hire enough teachers to teach these things. On the other hand, for the same wage, many liberal arts majors will take the teaching certificate to get the wages and benefits the science/math people despise.

5. Comparison of outstanding genious in anything will show that the best do prosper, and to be the best you must love what you do... But even the greatest amount of love of your subject does not produce greatness in itself. Most people will be average, that is the definition of average. We average slobs can still see Bob with the history degree teaching 4th graders, and Sam his engineer brother working for Boeing making a zillion dollars.

Answer 6

Well most people must be stupid, because by a person a liberal arts major it makes them more versatile in the types of jobs that they are looking for. Many employers look to hire people who have liberal arts degrees.

Answer 7

Because they are short sighted, materialistic, and confused.They believe that making money is the whole point of life and fail to realize that happiness comes from within a person, not from collecting a bunch of junk .

Answer 8

its mostly out of ignorance, the majority of college students dont use the information aquired from their degree in the real world

Answer 9

Liberal arts majors aren't worthless. The world still need secretaries, retail workers, waiters/waitresses, and many more.

Answer 10

Since you know its all false - why do you care!!!