Knowledge vs. Trade: What Is Higher Education For?
Traditionally, there are two fundamental reasons to pursue a higher education: to learn vocational skills via applied practices, and to further your own personal development through theoretical research of abstract concepts. Atlanta institutions are taking an approach that blends both.
According to a 2018 Gallup report, 58 percent of US education consumers say getting a good job is their primary motivation, with only 23 percent citing a general motivation to learn more and gain knowledge without linking it to work or career aspirations.
“There’s no other reason to go to college than to get a job. You’re not spending that much money to get smart,” said Ashley Leaf, an equestrian studies major who pursued a college education after graduating high school. She has been working in her field for five years.
Even though widespread data correlates a college education with higher yearly earnings, the New York Times reported that students who graduate with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors are likely to earn 37 percent more per year than students with liberal arts majors. STEM majors, however, are hindered by skill turnover, which encourages employers to seek recent graduates who already possess a skill rather than training their workforce.
According to the New York Times liberal arts advocates often argue that education should emphasize the development of the whole person, and that it is much broader than just job training. Liberal arts majors are attractive to employers because they possess “soft skills” such as proficiency in written communications, problem-solving and teamwork.
The curriculum at the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, for example, includes courses about leadership or philosophy, which develop these skills through a dialogue between the student and the professor.
“At this point, college is a prerequisite for getting a job” said Bryan Girty, who pursued college education because he viewed as the next logical step after high school.
Students worry about career development after finishing college. One political science major at Georgia State told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the students are encouraged to graduate, but that “(students) are not being trained to go into the (labor) market.”
Even SCAD, which is “the university for creative careers,” has a predominantly technical curriculum in an effort“to prepare talented students for professional, creative careers.”
SCADpro, a program within the institution, partners renowned brands with students in a hands-on collaboration to solve a creative problem. Students from different disciplines are selected each quarter to design a project under the supervision of faculty.
“The (SCADpro) mission is to prepare our students for viable creative careers, and to give students real world experience,” said Ramsay Horn, director of SCADpro Atlanta. Horn also said that the program partners with brands that want to hire students after the quarter-long collaboration.
Popular opinion is that higher education serves as an avenue to make a living. Yet educators are wary of making the college curriculum more technical. According to the New York Times most colleges require all students — including STEM majors — to take liberal arts courses. Colleges are taking a hybrid approach, treating both motivations to attend college like they are not mutually exclusive.
