The Truth About Majoring in Liberal Arts
When I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in 2009, it was a glorious day. I had fought a difficult road to get to that point and it was an incredible sense of pride knowing that I was the first in my family to achieve that milestone. Even so, at my graduation celebration after the ceremony, a family member came up to me to ask about my major. You see, I didn’t technically have a ‘major’. I had earned my degree via an adult degree completion program and my degree simply said ‘liberal arts’. So the inevitable question was posed:
“What exactly are you planning to do with your degree?”
Contrary to popular belief, liberal arts graduates are not unemployable drifters with no good job prospects. In fact, studies have found that liberal arts graduates actually earn more in their middle career years than non-liberal arts graduates. But you shouldn’t count on that (I’ll explain why in a bit). Instead, you should hone in on the fact that liberal arts studies set an excellent foundation for life-long learning in general. A fact that grows more and more important as the job market morphs over time.
Have a plan
If you decide to become a liberal arts major, then you also need to have a long-range plan. Then you need to see how your degree will serve you in achieving your goals. You shouldn’t use your undergraduate liberal arts degree to be the primary driver in regards to your eventual job title.
There are a lot of industries that you can work in where ‘any major will due’ so to speak. Some of these industries are: real estate, insurance, sales, project management, and professional coaching/training — just to name a few. Many times for government jobs, you just need a bachelor’s degree to qualify; it doesn’t need to be in a specific major. You can also go into the military, where your bachelor’s degree makes you eligible right away for Officer Training School.
I would caution you to not pigeon-hole yourself early on. For example, let’s say that you majored in Women’s Studies, with the hope that you can work in the field of reproductive rights or for a non-profit that focuses on feminist ideals. However you can’t secure a job offer in these areas. Instead, you find an opportunity to become a substitute teacher or school support aide. On the surface it may seem totally unrelated. But is it really? Won’t around half of your students be female? Your academic background can bring skills to the table that include techniques to reduce gender bias; the support of girls in S.T.E.M.; and identifying ways to strengthen the curricula to engage female students. Some of the best professionals employed by educational institutions do not have degrees in education!
Preparing for Graduate School
In the earlier statistic that discussed liberal arts graduates making more money than their peers mid-career, understand that this includes those who have gone on to graduate and professional school. Liberal arts degrees are terrific tools to prepare you for advanced studies. In my case, although I had a general liberal arts degree, I had an area of concentration (similar to a minor) in business. That coursework allowed me to waive the foundation courses of my MBA program. This saved me both time and money. But I would not have been able to do this if I did not look over the horizon and into graduate programs.
Law is another area where you can have an undergraduate degree in almost any subject and gain admission. If you are thinking about law school, you’ll want to focus on building a strong candidate profile. Seek out leadership opportunities on campus; get involved with extracurriculars for pre-law students; prepare for the LSAT; etc.
If you are thinking about medical school, understand that you will need to take some pre-requisite courses in the sciences (especially biology), in order to gain entry. However there are quite a few postbaccalaureate programs that that make this transition possible.
I can assure you, choosing a liberal arts degree does not mean that you a committing yourself to a life of low wages and constant career struggles. You’ll just need to forge your own path and with the right plan, that path can lead to plenty of professional fulfillment and satisfaction.
