That sinking feeling...

Once again the Star-Tribune has published a feature piece assessing the value of higher education in this country (http://www.startribune.com/business/25130964.html). On a local level, the story plucks quotes from recent graduate of state institutions such as Carleton College, Gustavus Adolphus College, and the University of Minnesota. Their angle in the story is roughly paraphrased as kids going into volunteering service because they would like to postpone real world problems, search for graduate school, or are otherwise unmarketable in this environment with a liberal arts degree.

That upsets me. On more than one level. Firstly, I simply cannot fathom why volunteer service around the country or the world should be characterized as escapism. Military service is mandatory in many countries; in Germany you are allowed to select a civil service option if you do not desire serving in the armed forces. And it is surely not considered escapism. In fact, after discussions with several German students while I traveled, I found that it is a very popular option. So let’s proceed without the “escapism” factor. We’ll return though.

Secondly, it’s time to search for graduate school. That’s not very arguable because it makes sense.

Thirdly, and likely the most contentious point to me, liberal arts degrees have become “unmarketable” or in other terms, worthless in the job market. It’s a frustrating reality to deal with when you internalize the utter truth in this statement. It makes you feel worthless.

I have fought it for years though. Mainly because I refuse to believe that after spending considerable amounts of time studying language, art, literature, etc. all things constituting culture, the world only cares about your ability to add and subtract. Alas, this country is seemingly slipping down the slope of stupidity.

After graduating with my English major, I went to work at an insurance broker and quickly found myself saddled next to recent graduates in economics, business management, marketing, etc. Anxiety abounded. Had I made some terrible mistake? It was becoming clear that the internship I had completed at the firm a couple years before was clearly my only entrée to a full time position.

One of the benefits of working in insurance, ironically, is that you meet people from a variety of backgrounds if they are above the age of forty. Otherwise, most are the same cut-and-cured business Greek-life loving twenty-somethings. So I solicited the sage wisdom of a salesman who once ran the Minneapolis branch of a major broker.

He reported that he hired only liberal arts majors. He did this because they were, on par, more cultured, carried a conversation better, and generally brought up points of topical interest because they read current discourse. Secondly, he said that the academic business education received in undergraduate programs was so out of touch with current trends the “reprogramming” costs of a recent business degree hire far outweighed the “from-scratch” education of the liberal arts degree counterparts.

Tucking this nodule comfort in my hat, I began soliciting advice on this matter from other successful professionals I knew. A former mergers and acquisitions attorney said undergraduate education is for your personal interests and should be a time of interpersonal exploration and growth. Graduate school is where education meets practicality. Another shot of comfort as I was considering business school.

The most comforting yet disheartening blow arrived when I contacted an industry colleague in the business school I now attend. His email was compassionate but jaded: this is no longer a meritocracy, or even a system based on your knowledge. This is entirely a narcissistic self-driven networking-based economy where people get jobs on a good looking smile, a few jokes, and the promise of another business card for your rolodex. Best advice? Be nice to everyone and keep meeting new people. Have drinks, socialize, and above all else, don’t talk about actual work.

That’s where undergraduate business school has become very popular. First, parents of good intentions tell their new undergraduate to study something of pragmatic application. The student diligently learns some skill such as marketing and in the process meets several students also working in marketing. Then, a network is built and sustaining for the student.

This network easily proliferates into business relationships. These relationships are then traded as commodity on a social network.

So what’s the redemption in a liberal arts degree? Perhaps it’s the fact that I can write this entry in my web log and articulate a series of thoughts without the profligate use of “you know”, “like”, “um”, “kind of”, “in all actuality’, etc.

Perhaps it’s in my ability to reference some of the chapters in American history that would have illustrated why Iraq was not the brightest idea. Or why spending huge amounts of government capital while slashing taxes simultaneously is perhaps a bad decision.

But as in life, things are cyclical. I guess we’ll have to wait for the next article to come out impugning the virtue of a liberal arts education to carry this discussion forward.