Trap Five: Students Must Specialize in One Major in Order to Succeed
That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.
—Aldous Huxley
A fifth mental trap that people fall into regarding college majors is the necessity to specialize. “The entire educational system is based on the premise that you must pick a field and specialize. Expertise, they tell you, is the key to success.”158 According to this approach, specialization is a prerequisite to stay competitive in today’s challenging economy. What’s often overlooked, ridiculed, and misunderstood is the value of declaring a major in the liberal arts or being versatile across many topics. As Steve Sandove, Chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue, noted, “it is foolish to underappreciate the value of liberal arts skills. It is bad for our country, bad for business and bad for those just starting in their careers.” The National Leadership Council bluntly concluded that “narrow preparation in a single area is exactly the opposite of what graduates need from college.”159 Employers across various industries endorse such thinking. In one survey, 80 percent of employers agree that, regardless of their major, every college student should acquire broad knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences through a liberal education.160 Bennington president Liz Coleman expressed a similar idea when she noted in a Technology Entertainment Design (TED) presentation that specialization “will not yield the flexibility of mind, the multiplicity of perspectives or the capacity of collaboration and innovation this country needs.”
This flawed mental trap of depending upon specialization fails to realize how the world’s complexity, which will only continue, demands that students learn the flexibility, adaptability, and nimbleness to changing circumstances. “It’s a horrible irony that at the very moment the world has become more complex, we’re encouraging our young people to be highly specialized in one task.”161 In today’s dynamic and hypercompetitive world a liberal arts education prepares students to find solutions to new problems not yet identified, to address new questions about social responsibilities, and to view old problems through a new lens. “These are essential elements necessary to succeed on a small, flat, interconnected globe.”162 “In an increasingly global economy and world, more than just technical skill is required. Far more challenging is the ability to work with a multitude of viewpoints and cultures. And the liberal arts are particularly good at teaching how different arguments on the same point can be equally valid, depending on what presumptions or values you bring to the subject. The liberal arts canvas is painted not in reassuring black-and-white tones, but in maddening shades of gray.”163 Believing that specialization is the only way to ensure career success is the fifth trap and overlooks the value of the liberal arts within the context of a liberal education and disregards how business executives continue to support the liberal arts. This chapter also examines a variety of myths surrounding specialization as it relates to graduate school.
The Value of the Liberal Arts within the Context of a Liberal Education
Proponents of specialization often ignore the value of the liberal arts within the content of a liberal education. It is important to note that while a liberal education refers to an approach to learning, the liberal arts refer to a specific set of disciplines such as the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, and majors within those categories such as history, English, and philosophy.164 “The liberal arts are those studies which set the student free—free from prejudice and misplaced loyalties and free for service, wise decision making, community leadership, and responsible living.”165 As noted throughout this publication, majoring in a liberal arts field often leads to successful and rewarding careers in a wide array of professions.166 A “liberal education may be pursued through any subject matter but the term implies distinct purposes: breadth of awareness and appreciation, clarity and precision of thought and communication, critical analysis, and the honing of moral and ethical sensibilities.”167 “A liberal education may in fact be the most practical kind of education of all in the kind of society we are becoming,”168 and it is “the best way to prepare for success in today’s global economy.”169 Countries around the globe have noted the significance of this approach as the number of liberal education programs has increased to 183 programs in 58 countries around the world.170 Whatever undergraduate major they may choose, “students who pursue their major within the context of a broad liberal education substantially increase their likelihood of achieving long-term professional success.”171 This is especially true in the world of business.
“The corporate world’s appreciation of liberal arts graduates continues to grow.”172 Management guru Henry Mintzberg argues that business skills cannot be taught in a classroom and believes a degree in philosophy or history would be more beneficial.173 “The separation of business courses, which focus on narrow technical study and the broader Liberal Arts approach, no longer serves business students, and that an integrated program that focuses on engagement of the real world from a practical, personal, and moral perspective is needed.”174 Why is the integration of business and liberal arts needed in the 21st century? Such fusion is required because the world and cultures are so interconnected today and therefore business leaders must gain more knowledge from the liberal arts.175 Throughout the major U.S. tech hubs, whether Silicon Valley or Seattle, Boston or Austin, Tex., software companies are discovering that liberal arts thinking makes them stronger.176 As Steve Sadove, Chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue, declared, “for some students, a specialized college education leading to a specific set of skills may be the right choice, but I believe most will be better served in their professions by a liberal arts education.”
A number of studies have shown that students who are educated in the liberal arts are, in fact, more employable and, more surprisingly perhaps, generally advance farther up the career ladder. “As time passes, liberal arts graduates often reach career levels that equal or surpass those of their more specialized colleagues as upper levels of management seem to require the more general skills developed in a liberal arts program.”177 “No particular concentration or area of study is inherently a better ticket to security, leadership, or personal satisfaction than another. Students should be encouraged to follow their passions and interests, not what they guess (or what others tell them) will lead to a supposedly more marketable set of skills.”178 Looking at the profiles of CEOs and other professionals outside of education provides further testimony and numerous examples of how liberal arts majors succeed in their careers.
Businesses Support Liberal Arts
To suggest that businesses are only hiring graduates who specialize in one field is completely false and downright misleading. Quite the contrary as liberal arts grads are in high demand in the corporate world. For a wealth of data to support this claim, just refer to the alumni information found on LinkedIn. By posting current and previous employment positions, it is entirely possible, and relatively easy, to identify career paths of individuals as well as groups. Doing so provides some interesting and valuable findings. For example, of the 62,887 LinkedIn members who attended Northwestern University in the past decade, 3,426 have moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work at Silicon Valley giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Genentech, and LinkedIn to name a few. What’s fascinating is that a mere 30 percent of these migrants ended up in engineering, research, or information technology. As LinkedIn data show, most of the Northwestern graduates who moved to the Bay Area have created nontechnical career paths in Silicon Valley. The list starts with sales and marketing (14%) and goes on to include education (6%), consulting (5%), business development (5%), and a host of other specialties ranging from product management to real estate.179 Recognizing this success, it is no surprise that business leaders continue to hire liberal arts graduates.
Business leaders continuously support students who pursue a liberal education as well as those who declare one of the liberal arts as their major. A third of all Fortune 500 CEOs have liberal arts degrees.180 “Getting to the corner office has more to do with leadership talent and a drive for success than graduating with a specific degree from a prestigious university.”181 In other words, no one degree is necessarily better than another when moving up the corporate ladder.182 Appendix B lists famous people from various industries and their undergraduate major. This brief listing of some current or recent CEOs and their educational background provides ample evidence liberal arts majors can indeed succeed in business.
• Jeff Immelt (General Electric) studied applied mathematics at Dartmouth.
• James Dimon (JPMorgan Chase) studied psychology (plus economics) at Tufts.
• Former CEO at Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina studied philosophy and medieval history at Stanford.
• Janet Robinson (New York Times) was an undergraduate English major at Salve Regina University.
• Sam Palmisano (IBM) studied history at Johns Hopkins.
• Ken Chenault (American Express) studied history at Bowdoin College.183
• Donald Knauss (Clorox) and the former CEO of Coca-Cola North America, earned a bachelor’s degree in history.184
In addition to CEOs, examples abound as to the various other professionals who have succeeded with a liberal arts degree relying on the “discipline of the mind” and not the “furniture of subject knowledge” they acquired. For example, Dr. Jim Mitchell, who obtained a PhD in philosophy from the University of Colorado, spent 30 years in the Canadian federal public service, rising through the ranks to become assistant secretary to the cabinet where he advised prime ministers on the organization of government. According to Mitchell, “my philosophical studies turned out to prepare me quite well for the kind of work I ended up doing, although I never would have predicted it.”185 Skidmore graduate Jeff Treuhaft was an art major who went on to launch and develop Netscape Communications. Diana Gilson is a neonatal physician but studied sociology as an undergraduate because she thought it would help her relate to her patients.186 Adam Smith was chairman of the Moral Philosophy Department at Glasgow University when he wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, not an economist as many believe.187 What many believe and what is true are often very different. This publication has demonstrated that time and again when it comes to the declaration of an undergraduate major. The same holds true, however, for graduate school. This last section briefly outlines just a few of the many myths surrounding specialization and graduate school.
The Graduate School Traps
There are several fallacies related to graduate school so this section looks at each one independently. It is important to remember that these fallacies only apply to a small minority as approximately 10 percent of Americans have a graduate degree. If an undergraduate or recent graduate is considering graduate school, it would behoove them to examine one or more of the following fallacies:
• I need a graduate degree to get to the corner office and be successful.
• Only biology majors will be admitted into medical school.
• Only prelaw majors get accepted into law school.
• A graduate degree will help me be rich.
• Law school graduates are guaranteed a life of happiness, employment, and riches.
I need an MBA to get to the corner office
About 40 percent of S&P 500 CEOs have an MBA while between 25 and 30 percent have another type of advanced degree, such as a PhD or law degree. Thus, the MBA is not a requirement to get to the corner office.188 The Wall Street Journal article reported that some private-equity firms have recently dropped the policy of requiring entry-level employees to leave after their first few years to go get a MBA. For example, Chicago-based private-equity firm GTCR will now promote deserving associates even if they don’t have a graduate degree in business.189 BusinessWeek research has found that fewer than one out of three executives who reach those lofty heights do so with the help of an MBA.190 In short, the MBA is not a requirement for those seeking a job at the very top of the corporate hierarchy.
Only Biology Majors Get Accepted into Medical School
There is a strong belief that undergraduates who want to get into medical school must specialize as a biology or premed major. Once again this represents a very flawed way of thinking. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), medical schools accepted 43 percent of the biological sciences majors, 47 percent of physical sciences majors, 51 percent of humanities majors, and 45 percent of social sciences majors who applied in 2010. Admission committee members know that “medical students can develop the essential skills of acquiring, synthesizing, applying, and communicating information through a wide variety of academic disciplines.”191 For example, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York launched its humanity-oriented program HuMed because there is a strong belief that including in each medical school class some students who have a strong background in the humanities makes traditional science students better doctors.192
Only Prelaw Majors Get Accepted into Law School
As with other flawed mental models in this chapter regarding specialization, it is important for undergraduates to understand that the belief that only prelaw majors get accepted into law school is completely false. According to the American Bar Association’s web site, there are a wide variety of paths that will prepare students for law school. Successful law school graduates come from many walks of life and educational backgrounds. “The American Bar Association does not recommend any undergraduate majors to prepare for a legal education. Students are admitted to law school from almost every academic discipline.”193 One student concluded that philosophy, anthropology, history, and English were among the top majors associated with high acceptance rates for law school. Both the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association advise applicants to choose majors that interest them, work hard for excellent grades, develop their research and writing skills, and make the most of the opportunities that come their way.194
A Graduate Degree Will Help Me Be Rich
The belief that you need to pursue a specialized graduate degree to be rich is also misguided. The number of people with a Masters who received food stamps and public assistance almost tripled from 101,682 to 293,029, and the number of PhDs on public assistance substantially increased from 9,776 to 33,655 during the last few years.195 Just because you obtain a doctorate degree, does not mean you automatically get a high-paying job either. “360,000 of the 22 million Americans with graduate degrees received some kind of public assistance.”196 “Job numbers released by the National Science Foundation show that people with doctoral degrees in those technical fields are struggling to find work in their industries. Upon graduation, PhDs in general have a less than 50 percent chance of having a full-time job, and that percentage has been decreasing for about 20 years.”197 Public assistance utilization is particularly high among fast-food workers, child care providers, and home care workers while “a quarter of the families of part-time college faculty members are on public assistance.”198
Law School Graduates Are Guaranteed a Life of Happiness, Employment, and Riches
Employment rates for graduates of law schools have been grim. Approximately 57 percent of 2013 law school graduates had found steady jobs but that is just a fraction better than the 56.2 percent of 2012 grads who had secured full-time employment. In an article entitled “The Job Crisis at Our Best Law Schools is Much, Much Worse Than You Think,” The Atlantic noted that “almost 28 percent of recent law school graduates were underemployed, meaning they were either in short-term or part-time jobs, jobless and hunting for work, or enrolled in another degree program. The average debt for 3 years is $122,158 for private school graduates and $84,600 for public school graduates.” The median salary of new associates hired by major firms fell by more than a third between 2009 and 2011.199 More law school graduates should focus on finding their “unique genius, and find that specialized skillset outside of law.”200 “More law school graduates are looking outside of the legal profession at jobs in which a law degree is preferred or required.” “Law school students are more focused than they’ve been before and law schools shouldn’t be concerned if their graduates get good-paying jobs that they want outside of the legal profession. That’s the future…that there are jobs out there where you can use the analytical abilities you learn in law school to work in business.”201