ryanlcooper.com profile picture

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com

ironically the education for its own sake, Enlightenment-coded, Great Books-ass liberal arts degree is one of the better employment bets you can make. learn how to read, write, think critically, develop curiosity so you can pick up new skills quickly, etc etc

Replies

  3. dhart0.bsky.social profile picture

    Derek Hart @dhart0.bsky.social

    These articles also ignore the counterfactual - non-college young people - who are also struggling to find work.

    0
  6. housingpony.bsky.social profile picture

    @housingpony.bsky.social

    Agreed with the caveat that there is a need to counter the attitudes in some segments of liberal arts education around "selling out" if you don't only engage in pure academia as a career.

    0
  7. cv-danes.com profile picture

    C.V. Danes @cv-danes.com

    The very best skill you can teach your children is the confidence to think for themselves.

    0
  8. tadaaa.bsky.social profile picture

    @tadaaa.bsky.social

    100%, I work in IT

    My history degree has served me pretty well

    Especially when reading IT proposals & RFP's

    I am always amazed at how few actually understand the customers requirements

    "That's not quite what it says" I hear myself saying again & again

    0
  10. jwski.bsky.social profile picture

    John Skawski @jwski.bsky.social

    As a critical thinker armed with an appreciation for the history of all things, you’ll be less susceptible to bright shiny new ideas that are in fact nothing more than modern retreads of failed ventures.

    1
  13. radiantshrub.bsky.social profile picture

    @radiantshrub.bsky.social

    Interesting take. The last professional conference I went to in the Humanities was about incorporating AI into the curriculum. I wouldn’t bet on learning to read, write, and think critically in a Humanities program rn. You’ll be designing prompts for better summaries of slop while AI grades yourwork

    0
  16. joelcalahan.com profile picture

    Joel Calahan @joelcalahan.com

    and, in my experience, having tons of practice defending your degree to skeptical relatives means that you’re ready on day one to explain your skills and their transferability to a future employer

    0
  25. kevinpaulconnor.bsky.social profile picture

    @kevinpaulconnor.bsky.social

    you should major in something that you like and are good at. The job market will take of itself. (if there's no such major that you both like and are good at, you should drop out)

    0
  26. markhisted.org profile picture

    Mark Histed @markhisted.org

    From the science world: can confirm. Critical thinking, curiosity, communication, desire to learn and contribute — these are things we look for in STEM too

    1
  27. ryanlcooper.com profile picture

    ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com

    nobody can possibly predict what the labor market is going to look like over the next 40 years, it's impossible. better to get some broadly useful mental skills, and that will be a lot easier if it's something you're interested in like history, literature, etc

    5
  31. donnamo.bsky.social profile picture

    DonnaMo500 @donnamo.bsky.social

    My daughter (34) double-majored. Her history BA has turned out to be much more valuable than her BS in communications for her marketing job for exactly the reasons you list.

    0
  33. mv17zn17.bsky.social profile picture

    *baker street* @mv17zn17.bsky.social

    The “Learn to Code” was only ever a thought terminating cliche meant to solve criticism of a deliberate agenda to cut off the intellectually curious before they can become so.

    0
  34. colin99.bsky.social profile picture

    Colin @colin99.bsky.social

    I did a comp science major at night school but all my electives were basically literature and philosophy. It gave me a good grounding in so much more than technology.

    0
  35. perilouspoozer.bsky.social profile picture

    Perilous Poozer @perilouspoozer.bsky.social

    Reckon at heart it’s simply people get angry at others who hold quals or jobs that seem “fun”. There’s no question that BAs are valuable and transferable, but the BCom/CompSci guys are miserable one-trick ponies facing precarity and can’t bear that anyone else might not be. Crab Bucket-ass society!

    0
  36. rickscampini.bsky.social profile picture

    Rick Scampini @rickscampini.bsky.social

    I started in engineering and then moved to a degree in International area studies and I've had zero problems finding work. all the hate for lib arts degree's is so incredibly stupid and manufactured

    0
  37. martyolliff.bsky.social profile picture

    Marty Olliff @martyolliff.bsky.social

    I added to my history syllabi, mostly to help students articulate for their resumes, that my and all history courses taught critical thinking, research, evidence evaluation, cogent argumentation, and oral/written communication skills. I also explained each one.

    0
  39. kelpkelpkelp.bsky.social profile picture

    Laminariales @kelpkelpkelp.bsky.social

    Remember when Ben Sasse pretended to care about this because he got to go to a University where that was the whole thing, and then later he became Ben Sasse?

    0
  40. eean.dev profile picture

    工an Monroe 🚰 @eean.dev

    imo comp sci can be that too, and is probably already returning to being a major for math geeks and gamers now

    1
  41. berniebro69.bsky.social profile picture

    Casey @berniebro69.bsky.social

    I'm in management now and basically all I care about is attitude and aptitude because things move quickly enough that people always need to be learning new things so what you know today means less than my confidence in your knowledge tomorrow. So yeah I agree lol

    0
  42. ryancasey.dev profile picture

    Ryan Casey @ryancasey.dev

    Unironically so happy that I have a BS with a concentration in art and a minor in writing. The single most important thing I learned was how to learn, and how to apply knowledge in new ways

    0
  43. maxmoranhi.bsky.social profile picture

    Max Moran @maxmoranhi.bsky.social

    I majored in Global Studies because it was the one that let you just take whatever classes you wanted across the entire university.

    Best academic decision I made, learning how to think in lots of different ways has been very professionally useful, and more importantly, very personally enriching.

    0
  44. vsrikrish.bsky.social profile picture

    Vivek Srikrishnan @vsrikrish.bsky.social

    My mathematics degree gave me a lot of skills (including many you listed! Math is a phenomenal STEM major, maybe because it is also Enlightenment-coded), but I honestly think my philosophy degree was more important in getting me to where I am today.

    0
  45. chillmun.bsky.social profile picture

    Rotwang, the Inventor @chillmun.bsky.social

    The best thing I ever did was decide "fuck a career I just want to be educated like an 18th century French aristocrat"

    oops I meant worst thing but I still wouldn't have it any other way

    0
  46. vwoodhull938.bsky.social profile picture

    Victoria Woodhull @vwoodhull938.bsky.social

    The best advice I ever heard was to do your undergrad to become an interesting person. Then you specialize. Unless of course you are already on something like a med or law path.

    0
  51. avaghy.bsky.social profile picture

    Andrea Vaghy @avaghy.bsky.social

    My career is in workforce development and job training. As technology advances, human-centered skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and other interpersonal and communication skills become that much more important.

    0
  52. dmbmeg.bsky.social profile picture

    Dumb Meg @dmbmeg.bsky.social

    I have followed so many experts in certain liberal arts degrees lately. There is a desperate need to access people and information I can trust. The newspapers (and cable news for a while) have been compromised.

    0
  53. epicharis.bsky.social profile picture

    honkers_enjoyer @epicharis.bsky.social

    my first boss ended up cutting an ad for my Great Books college because he wanted more employees that could write and "be comfortable asking questions"

    0
  54. kennygoo.bsky.social profile picture

    KennyGoo @kennygoo.bsky.social

    The real solution was always to learn a trade and get the necessary certifications for a union job instead of taking on student loan debt -- tech was never gonna be that

    0
  57. gritnglitter.bsky.social profile picture

    Christy @gritnglitter.bsky.social

    I majored in English at a polytechnical uni. A hilarious joke at the time was that I was learning to say "do you want fries with that?" Soooo funny, right? But I've had no problem staying employed, doing jobs from teaching to underwriting to "Senior Systems Engineer" (why yes, I do have ADHD)

    0
  60. thankfulman52.bsky.social profile picture

    ThankfulMan52 @thankfulman52.bsky.social

    I did a political science degree. Eventually, I was able to get a career working for the state in providing assistance to some of the most economically vulnerable members of its populace.

    0
  62. jaerostrikes.bsky.social profile picture

    OnederfulWhirl @jaerostrikes.bsky.social

    Motherfucker....

    A comp sci degrew is the ONLY one I've been eyeing since high school. Not even for the trendy bullshit reasons of "they pay a lot so go do it", I actually like computing technology and want to work in that sector...

    2
  64. incapotomus.bsky.social profile picture

    @incapotomus.bsky.social

    I’m a lawyer, which is admittedly a sort of sui generis job, but these are by far the professionally useful classes I took. Writing a brief and writing a literary analysis paper are essentially the same thing.

    0
  65. santamikeydm.bsky.social profile picture

    SantaMikeyDM @santamikeydm.bsky.social

    Coding work has been an increasingly I smaller field for the last 30 years. All these people yelling "you should have learned to code!" and now it's impossible to get a job in the field. Like, I saw this 20+ years ago when I learned how to code by watching one dude do his job on a school field trip.

    0
  68. jonnadraws.bsky.social profile picture

    Jonna Pedersen @jonnadraws.bsky.social

    Tech is full to bursting with former art school weenies. We've had so many different jobs we can basically do anything and are nearly immune to stress and criticism

    0
  69. murphofilmo.bsky.social profile picture

    Kevin Murphy @murphofilmo.bsky.social

    The unfortunate side effect is the general sense of despair looking at a modern society that is uninterested in gaining or utilizing those skills, to everyone's detriment.

    1
  71. jamiecreulbach.bsky.social profile picture

    Jamie Carolyn Reulbach @jamiecreulbach.bsky.social

    I went out of my way to take philosophy courses and got an anthropology minor on my way to my B.S. in Biology. I think it really helped to shape my ability to synthesize information and shape new ideas.

    The Philosophy department did try to poach me though. I politely turned them down.

    0
  73. stefistired.bsky.social profile picture

    Stef @stefistired.bsky.social

    No matter what you major in, experts will mock you for not choosing a better major. The problem is capitalism

    1
  74. baconsupreme.bsky.social profile picture

    bacon$upreme @baconsupreme.bsky.social

    Shoutouts to MIT, where regardless of your course of study you're leaving knowing how to read critically, write persuasively, and understand calculus. We love General Institute Requirements.

    1
  75. wnjeffers.bsky.social profile picture

    @wnjeffers.bsky.social

    I totally agree. I started out studying engineering but was bored. I switched to History and learned writing and critical thinking skills. In other words, I got an education, not technical training. I did well enough, even if not in my field of study.

    We need more people who can think.

    1