Let’s Stop Defining Ourselves Like This.
Why we need to stop confining our identities to pieces of paper.
It’s the age-old question.
So what are you studying? What program are you in?
For me, the answer to that is Political Science. It’s a riveting, intellectually stimulating, and thought-provoking major that has taken my understanding of the global landscape to new heights.
Oh, so you’re in Arts.
Sure, if you put it that way.
Over the past four years of my undergrad, I’ve received a wonderfully enriching education encompassing everything from the India-Pakistan relations to the Rwandan genocide to the Syrian refugee crisis to the urbanization of global cities.
And I’m damn proud of it.
For me, university is a place to broaden our horizons by learning about the world around us. Seriously, where else at any point in your life will you get four consecutive years of learning about anything of your choosing?!
It’s quite incredible, if you think about it. The chance to be given an education where the entire scholarly world is at your fingertips is an immense privilege and we should be thankful for it.
But there remains a problem, and it’s a big one.
Why, after all these years, do we still look down upon and stigmatize those who are in ‘less prestigious’ degrees?
Well I’ll let you in on a little secret: it doesn’t matter.
The world is evolving rapidly in front of our eyes. Several ‘conventional’ industries, and their employees, are gradually being displaced by technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Want a hotel? Book an Airbnb. Need a taxi? Call an Uber. Want to see a movie? Watch it on Netflix.
Technology, whether you like it or not, is taking over the world through a massive movement of disruptive innovation.
But here’s the dirty little secret no one will tell you: it’s Liberal Arts grads at the forefront of this movement.
Don’t believe me? How’s this stat: the CEO’s of YouTube, PayPal, Slack, and heck, even Goldman Sachs, are all Liberal Arts graduates. One-third of the Fortune 500 CEO’s have Liberal Arts degrees.
You see, contrary to popular belief, technology is not what gave rise to the magical world of Silicon Valley.
Creativity, in all aspects of a company — be it a startup like Facebook or a 100,000 person tech giant like Apple — is what has given immense rise to Silicon Valley and turned it into the ‘promised land’.
Technology enables evolution, but it takes creativity to achieve revolution.
And that’s where my point comes in — the world is structured in such a way now that technological competitive advantages can only get companies so far now.
The way they differentiate themselves — the differences between the unicorns and the busts — is through creativity. The true value of a liberal arts education lies in its ability to stimulate creative thought, vivid writing skills, and above all, the ability to speak to and connect with people.
As co-founder and CEO of $2.8-billion startup Slack, Stewart Butterfield, says, “Studying philosophy taught me two things. I learned how to write really clearly. I learned how to follow an argument all the way down, which is invaluable in running meetings. And when I studied the history of science, I learned about the ways that everyone believes something is true–like the old notion of some kind of ether in the air propagating gravitational forces–until they realized that it wasn’t true.”
As Butterfield implies, while the coders of the world will always be dreaming big of their next app that will change the world, tech companies have now become more and more aware of the fact that they need to hire people, ‘social alchemists’, who are able to truly connect with customers — and exhibit delightfulness and pleasantness.
In the data-driven world we live in today, creative ideas and actions are the ones that will truly be the differentiators. Software is becoming increasingly more automated, which means the non-technical side of any app or website is more important than ever before.
Adding a flair of personal touch can be the difference between a customer using your product or service, or not.
Don’t believe me? This past summer, Uber’s job listings had openings for 427 brand ambassadors, partner-support representatives and operations employees, and just 168 spots for engineers. Facebook had 225 job postings in sales and business development, yet just 146 for software developers.
What makes these companies so special? They have unlocked the uncanny ability to take simple, daily practices — like booking a taxi or communicating with our friends — and turned them into pleasant, enjoyable, and delightful experiences.
Such positions require the intrinsic ability to understand subjectivity and ambiguity — increasingly important skills in the world of tech, where most things are fairly black or white.
If that doesn’t convince you, read this cover story from Forbes Magazine this past summer — I’ll give you a hint: it’s entitled That ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech’s Hottest Ticket.
Still not sold? Check these pieces in Fortune and Fast Company.
Creativity and critical thinking enables people to not just know the one right answer, but rather to be the right shade of correct.
It’s companies’ ability to connect with a person’s authentic self that makes the successful ones what they are today.
Steve Jobs once said, “It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing.”
So, what’s my point here?
I’m not telling you to go transfer into Liberal Arts, or to not get a Engineering, Computer Science, or Business degree.
My message is to pursue your studies in an area that you are truly passionate about. Go out and educate yourself on whatever it is that truly speaks to you and gets you going. University — and education in general — is a golden opportunity to discover what it is that motivates you, and to discover how you want to shape the rest of your life.
Through that, I promise you, you will unlock your potential and find your true calling in life.
But don’t let your degree — a piece of paper! — define who you are, or what you will become. It is merely a certificate of validation stating that you committed to learning something enriching for four years — and that in itself is an accomplishment.
If you follow your passion, the money will come.
If you’re worried about choosing a ‘low-paying degree’, let me tell you something: there’s no such thing. And yes, I get it — job security, stability, so on and so on.
It’s what you do with your degree — how you leverage it, what you learn outside the classroom, and who you network with — that will get you to where you want to be in life.
A piece of paper you get from crossing a stage one day isn’t going to make or break your future.
It’s merely a starting point for the rest of your life. Because the world’s most successful people didn’t get to where they are today based on a piece of paper; they got there based on their passion and determination, and above all, their belief in what their vision of what a better world — a better tomorrow — looks like.
And to all the naysayers who’ll tell you you’re wasting your time studying the arts, humanities, social sciences — whatever it may be — I say this: