In recent years, one acronym has consumed American educational culture: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The prominent dialogue consists of this: American children perform poorly on math and science tests compared to their counterparts in Asia, therefore America needs to “catch up” with the rest of the world. I also acknowledge the need to improve STEM education in order to sustain economic growth and technological innovation. In the quest to advance STEM, however, the humanities have irrefutably suffered unjust harm. Students and parents increasingly view the humanities as impractical fields that will only land someone a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s or preparing frappuccinos at Starbucks. At best, they view the humanities as secondary and something to minor in for fun. The humanities have even come under attack by politicians on both sides of the aisle with former President Obama questioning the value of an art history degree in 2014. Numerous Republicans, such as Mitt Romney, have also trivialized the studying the humanities and President Trump has seemingly no interest in the humanities either.

Yet, what exactly are the humanities? Essentially, they are academic disciplines that seek to understand the human experience and usually rely on speculative or subjective means of analysis. Typical fields include the arts, classics, history, literature, philosophy, and theology. A demarcation usually exists between the humanities and social sciences such as anthropology, economics, human geography, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology, which focuses more on human society and relationships and tend to utilize qualitative and quantitative analytical methods.

Recent statistics show that the position of humanities majors in the workforce is not as dire as people often believe. According to statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics, the unemployment rate for all bachelor’s degree holders aged 25-29 was 3.5% and the unemployment rate for STEM bachelor’s degree holders of the same age range was also 3.5%. Statistically, STEM majors do not have as much as an advantage over other academic disciplines as typically perceived. The unemployment rate for liberal arts and humanities majors was slightly higher at 6.2% [1]. Although recent STEM bachelor’s holders tend to face lower unemployment rates and have higher income than their humanities counterparts, those in the humanities are more likely to pursue graduate degree than STEM majors, which usually entails increased earnings and better likelihood of employment in the long term [2].  

The most enticing reasons to study the humanities lie in the skills that these graduates possess. The deep-rooted lessons of empathy and cultural understanding transcend mere definitions and concepts. Cameron Eby ‘18 intends to “major in computer science, a STEM field in college”, but recognizes that “learning about subjects like history and english are important in a well-rounded education.”  The critical thinking required to succeed also demands writing, reading, and communication, operating in a greater scope than STEM.  The invaluable leadership experiences garnered from interpersonal skills also translate to employment opportunities.

As the environment of Ridge heavily focuses on STEM, I implore that when you, the students of Ridge, matriculate into college, you take advantage of the plethora of courses that will be available to you in the humanities as institutions of higher education simply have more resources than a high school. Catherine Chen ‘18 remarks, “the undeniable reality in this country is that we need an increasingly skilled workforce across all fields, not just in STEM.”

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_sbc.pdf

https://www.aacu.org/leap/liberal-education-nation-blog/myth-unemployed-humanities-major