Benefits to You of a Major in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Students Who Move Into Humanities Majors After Transferring to a Four Year College Up Humanities Majors
March 31, 2022, Inside Higher Ed
Puerto Rican and Latino Studies alumna Rhina Torres writes that students with an interest in humanities and social sciences majors who transfer from a two-year college to a four-year college do not receive the same institutional support as STEM majors, but end up enjoying their college experience more as well as using their humanities and social sciences knowledge and skills in their future careers.
Humanities Graduates Are Happy With Their Lives
November 8, 2021, Inside Higher Ed
“Articles suggesting that humanities graduates are poor or unhappy are abundant. But the opposite is true. According to a 2019 Gallup poll cited in a new report by the Humanities Indicators Project of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 90 percent of humanities graduates are happy with their lives, about the same as graduates of other fields.”
Why I'm optimistic about the future of the humanities
Jan. 24, 2020, CNN online
The author proposes that students enjoy studying history, literature, and other humanities majors, but do not major in them because they worry they will not be able to pay back their student loans when they graduate. Thus the answer to falling humanities enrollments is to make college cheaper, so that students can follow their dreams without fear of massive debt.
In the Salary Race, Engineers Sprint but English Majors Endure
Sept. 20, 2019, The New York Times
An article in the Business section of the New York Times reports that Humanities and Social Sciences graduates with majors that focus on "soft skills" like problem solving, critical thinking, composition, leadership, and adaptability, catch up to STEM majors in salary by about age 40. If students are in fact "chasing lasting wealth," Humanities and Social Sciences majors will do well. Though STEM majors in the first few years after graduation usually make significantly more that their colleagues who majored in English or History, many of those technical fields quickly become obsolete, while the skills honed in Humanities and Social Science fields prove to be more durable and can "prepare students for the next 40 years of working life, and for a future that none of us can imagine."
Why Study Philosophy?
February 2019, The Mellon Research Foundation
“Philosophy steered me away from confirmation bias. In any philosophical assessment, you’re trying to figure out the validity of an argument, working to pinpoint ways to make it stronger. You're not necessarily trying to win an argument, and you're not taking an adversarial position. You're really trying to look at things from a wide variety of perspectives. I think that's very helpful to any profession.”
The Economic Gains (Yes, Gains) of a Liberal Arts Education
February 15, 2019, Inside Higher Ed
“‘[According to a recent study], attending liberal arts colleges leads to economic mobility across income groups...All the evidence shows that the bashing of liberal arts colleges, and the liberal arts, just isn't well founded, just isn't based on evidence,’ [There are hopes] the study would counter some of the prevailing myths, such as the one that says going to a liberal arts college means one isn't studying STEM, when in facts such majors have seen gains at liberal arts colleges.”
Study: Mentorship Most Common for Arts and Humanities Majors?
January 28, 2019, Inside Higher Ed
“Arts and humanities majors are substantially more likely than business, natural or social science or engineering majors to strongly agree that they had a professor who made them excited about learning”
The History Major: Opening Doors to Life in a Global Economy
January 1, 2019, American Historical Association
“...research shows that ... religion majors work for MTV, and English majors become psychotherapists. The study of history prepares one for life in a global economy. Historical thinking skills are widely marketable. Students of history learn to think contextually, to recognize change over time, to grapple with the complexity of the human experience, and to distinguish cause and effect”
Liberal Arts Degree Delivers Liberal Earnings and Job Satisfaction
March 13, 2018, Seattle Times
“Since 2009, students and their parents have come to believe that liberal arts majors will not be employable when they graduate ….These beliefs are unfounded. National and local data shows that unemployment rates are essentially the same for STEM majors as they are for humanities majors.”
Liberal Arts Degree Isn’t a Roadblock to Becoming CEO
March 22, 2017, Good Call
“The success of liberal arts degree majors isn’t an accident, according to James J. Winebrake.... ‘I have always believed that a liberal arts education provides students with a skillset that allows them to succeed in leadership positions, especially in this new economy.’”
