Robert Neithart, Asst. News Editor—
In 2018, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities was less than a third of those awarded in the sciences and about half of those awarded in business and management fields, as reported by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Between the steep decline in bachelor’s degrees awarded in courses like history, philosophy, and English, as well as clear agendas proposed in the interest of undermining the importance and viability of such degrees, the current state of affairs suggests that the humanities are a field in peril. This should be a concerning development for Americans considering the reality that the U.S. is a nation built upon the very disciplines currently in the crosshairs.
From 2012 to 2018, bachelor’s degrees awarded in the humanities fell by 14.1%, a sizable drop, but miniature compared to the 36.5% decrease in traditional humanities from 1971 to 2018.
Though the causes for humanities’ unpopular standing are debated, the main reason seems to revolve around the perceived lack of employment opportunities for graduates with humanities degrees, which is a perspective understood by most college-age students and their parents, often before they’ve even stepped foot on a campus.
This perspective is guilty of two principal assumptions: that the viability of a subject ought to be contingent upon its career prospects and that college is a place wherein one dedicates themselves to gathering the hard, vocational skills necessary for a particular career. Neither is entirely true.
To the first point, judging the validity of a subject against the career prospects of its graduates is a metric that fails to consider the nature of job markets as environments in constant flux. Though one might reasonably conclude that technological advancement will hold great value for our collective future, this does not imply that a degree in computer science will hold the same value in a decade.
Maintaining hyperfocus on a single field of study ignores the reality that demands change, and so too do the skills necessary to fill such demands. To this end, it’s both unproductive and illogical to allocate the lion’s share of resources to specific disciplines when the socioeconomic landscape of the U.S. is subject to drastic, often sudden change.
Similarly, the belief that college is a place to develop the hard skills necessary for a specific career is misguided. Though there is certainly room to develop particular skills for a field of interest, college should mainly be a place to develop one’s intellect and critical thinking; the specific skills being developed throughout one’s professional career.
I make this point not out of ignorance or romantic idealism but of a genuine belief that the most well-rounded and productive individuals are those versed in disciplines bearing insight into our collective past, the human spirit, and the struggle for meaning.
The humanities provide the best opportunity to engage with ideas, both past and contemporary, necessary to developing a complex understanding of our world and the reasons mistakes of history seem to be repeated with impunity, both integral skills which allow individuals to adapt to evolving market economies and workforces.
Whatever your political ideation, it cannot be denied that an informed population is integral to a productive democracy. Understanding how the events, writings, and knowledge of the past have collectively influenced our current world is critical in informing our laws and governing bodies.
The humanities hold the keys to past knowledge conducive to bettering our society and people; we’d do well to honor history and learn to value these subjects. To do so would doubtless serve our collective interest.