Deciding what to study when attending a postsecondary educational institute is a difficult process. Unfortunately, if your decision falls under the category of Arts and Humanities, you are then not only continually judged by their peers, but also by the rest of the people in your life. It has been a long-running joke that those who study Arts and Humanities are taking “bird courses” and all they do is read books, write book reports, or paint pretty pictures. The amount of times an Arts student will be asked, “What are you going to do with that?” – as if it is some kind disgrace to society – is unbelievable.
Those who are insensitive enough to ask these questions do not realize that those who study the Arts actually have the ability to do many things, and are often more eligible to work in different facets of society than those who hold degrees in science based subject matters, due to their ability to communicate in an effective manner.
Studying the Arts requires students to work independently in an organized fashion. Students are taught to communicate thoughts clearly and thoroughly in an effective manner. Arts students are required to write and verbally communicate difficult ideas in a clear way, and make it easy for everyone to understand. In an article titled “Why English Majors are Hot New Hires,” Bruna Martinuzzi expressed the idea that, “Bringing an English major to the fold is a much needed salve for organizations today, where poor communication skills are the norm rather than the exception.” Art majors are a valuable addition to businesses, perfect candidates for law school, and valuable members of the workforce due to their ability to rationalize, be analytical, and think creatively to solve problems they will encounter. More and more articles are becoming available that exemplify why Arts majors are such valuable members of the workforce.
There are endless career options that one can pursue when coming out of university with a Bachelor degree in the Arts. The greatest part of this is that these articles are coming out now because the job market has changed, and with the advancements in technology there is a new way of doing business. Not everyone who studies business is taught, or grasps, how to properly write and communicate their ideas clearly, and businesses need people who possess the skills to make their companies known and well-represented. In an article expressing the importance of hiring those from the Humanities, Susan de la Vergne expressed: “These are disciplines that align with business careers in ways many people overlook… those who came from the humanities into business leadership attribute their success to three things: the ability to think critically, handle ambiguity and write.”
Arts students may not all be able to work a spreadsheet, create a chart, or code computer programs, but they sure are easily teachable – much of the time, they are able to understand and follow instructions well. Being gifted in learning new skills is extremely important in the ever changing job market as it is all about being able to adapt to change.
New positions are being created within companies that encourage creativity and the ability to communicate properly via social media outlets, and someone who is skilled in communication and writing would be a good fit for positions in public relations and communications sectors of companies. Graduates from the Arts and Humanities colleges at universities are taking smart steps at building their work experience to flatter their educational background, and to enable their chances of achieving the goals they want to achieve by making themselves the best fit for the job market.
There is no sense in degrading someone’s choice in what area they choose to study. The job market isn’t what it used to be, but with the changing times comes a new wave of creative ways to make life better, and Arts students have the ability communicate these ideas to the public. Everyone has a choice to study whatever they want to study, and judgment isn’t an encouraging and inspiring way to help people along. All the negativity does is make people feel negatively about the life choices they are making. Let’s encourage each other to be great instead of insult each other’s abilities.
The next time someone asks: “An Arts degree, what are you going to do with that?” reply with confidence, knowing that at the very least, you can affectively communicate your response.
Wait, since when are Arts students unable to create a chart?
Or B.Sc. students unable to rationalize and be analytical, for that matter. There’s much less of a skills divide than people tend to assume, I think.
Do I detect a hint of arts exceptionalism? Or at least arts essentialism? The idea that all arts students are effective communicators (a flagrant untruth, I can assure you) and that science students are not is silly, even toxic. The sciences are incredibly important (speaking as an arts student), even beautiful, and the two should be in constant conversation, sharing ideas and methodologies back and forth–the alternative is hermetic impoverishment, which is fine as long as the blind ascetic is your scholarly ideal. The sorry state of our discipline is, in my view, more a result of this kind of presumptuousness and solipsism than of the antipathy of our society.