General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: For those critical of Art/History Degrees... [View all]stopdiggin
(11,300 posts)How about the idea that a "balanced" and well rounded education allows for the adaptability that it requires for people to move through several different jobs in their workspan? A technical grounding or set of skills ALSO doesn't prepare a person to negotiate the real world workplace. You mention a small contractor that wants to get a business loan -- imagine the difficulty if that person is truly one dimensional in their abilities? Just the fact that they are applying for a loan implies the need of host of other skills and abilities (math, literacy, networking, business plan, knowledge of rules, regulations and government requirements -- does the plan involve hiring employees? -- another huge set of skills and requirements !)
How do we prepare people to work in our State department? Where do we recruit for the CIA, or disaster preparedness, or emergency response, or refugee crisis, or the next bio/tech "whatever" boom, if all of our education is essentially boiled down to shop class, programming and CAD design?