|
|||||
 | |||||
|
Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
|
|
In
the News Archive - Year:
April 20, 2005 Liberal arts may prove to be practical Graduates say they use degrees in other careers By Cynthia Hodnett
If you're 37-year-old Randy Simpson of Colfax, you are designing Web sites and trouble-shooting computers.
Simpson entered the computer field after he couldn't find work as a French teacher. After finding work as a supervisor at a manufacturing plant, the 1992 University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate continued to hone his computer skills. He now works for a telephone and communications company in Menomonie.
While Simpson's career wasn't what he had originally set out to do, he credits his degree — which offered a range of courses including those in arts and sciences — for being able to take his career in a different direction.
Despite a common public perception that some degrees, such as those in the liberal arts, aren't practical and often leave graduates with few job options, many graduates, such as Simpson, said they have found success in the job market.
"Technically, I'm not using my degree, but what you don't see or learn in the books is how to think," he said. "I don't think it (designing Web pages) is much different than learning a foreign language. Foreign languages have rules, they have structure. I really like what I'm doing. I get to be creative and I get to be independent."
Because college is a major financial investment, some parents of prospective college students question whether their son or daughter should earn degrees in fields that don't have a defined career track.
"What we have to do is get people thinking about what the purpose of education is," said Howard Ebert, associate dean for humanities and fine arts at St. Norbert College. "It's bigger than training someone for a job. It's educating them, training them to be a human being who is engaged with society, not just giving them the tools they need to get a job."
Kramer Rock, owner of Temployment Inc., an area employment firm, said some employers may see liberal arts graduates as good fits for their management trainee programs because of their broad education.
St. Norbert doesn't track whether its graduates find jobs directly related to their majors. Officials said about 83 percent of its students typically find jobs after graduation.
UWGB tracks their graduates and found that 80 percent of them worked in jobs related or somewhat related to their degrees.
With most high school students pursuing four-year college degrees, some may be inclined to chose a field based on earning potential because the field they are interested in is likely to pay less.
According to a 2004 study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, liberal arts majors as a group earned an average starting salary of $30,212 compared with chemical engineering graduates, who earned $52,539 a year.
These types of average salary lists reinforce the public's perception that degrees in liberal arts-related areas aren't marketable, Rock said. "We're a practical ilk in this neck of the woods," he said. "For many people, it's, 'How are you going to make a living doing that?' There's a reality in that if you can't parlay the skills you have into a paycheck, then what good is it? If you don't have that practicality, then you have the stereotype that a liberal arts degree was a waste of money."
For some, earning a college degree is more than just about earning a paycheck.
"Philosophy asks the critical life questions, 'Who are you? What is life about? Is there truth? Is there justice?'" said Andrew Fiala, assistant professor of humanistic studies at UWGB. "We really challenge people and ask them to look critically in their beliefs."
Many graduates of UWGB's philosophy program use their degrees to prepare for the seminary, graduate school and law school, he said.
"We have to ask the question of what is a good life? It's not so clear that making $100,000 a year equals a good life," Fiala said. "Not to say that money isn't important. But there are other things that are more important than money. You don't study philosophy or major in English literature because you're going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. You do it because you love it."
Dani McClelland, a 23-year-old senior majoring in business administration and philosophy, said she wanted to develop her critical thinking skills and articulate her opinions. She plans to use her degrees in the business world and hopes to become an entrepreneur.
"There are questions that I would get in business that are particularly related to business," she said. "But there are philosophical questions that could be useful in any discipline, regardless of what it is."
Bob Bloedorn, 47, of De Pere, planned to use his bachelor's degree in English literature from UWGB in 1979 to prepare him to teach the subject on a college level.
"My parents weren't the happiest. They thought I should study something more practical, more business-related," Bloedorn said. "But they supported me and my decision."
The need to take a break from college and earn a decent paycheck led Bloedorn to a series of jobs, including working as a pizza cook at a local Pizza Hut. He worked his way up to an accounting-related position with the restaurant chain and later earned an accounting degree from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
Bloedorn now works at the National Railroad Museum in various capacities including accounting, giving tours and maintaining the museum's membership list.
"I still don't regret studying English literature," he said. "It taught me how to have an open mind, how to look at people openly and appreciate works of literature and art."
| |
