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Liberal Arts and the World of Work
..."We can teach (employees) what they need to run a machine or develop a marketing plan. . . . What is killing us is having to teach them to read, compute. . . and to think."
The quote above from Louis Gerstner, former Chairmain & CEO of IBM Corporation, underscores a major transformation that took place in the world of work in the 1990s. A 1998 report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers noted that in the 1990s Liberal Arts graduates were able to command "excellent starting salaries," primarily because employers highly valued their trainability, communication, and critical thinking skills. Particularly valuable, according to the report, were the research, interviewing, writing, editing, problem-solving, conceptualizing, collaborating, and general "qualitative" skills of graduates with an Liberal Arts education.
In the 1960s and 1970s most industries demanded specialists, people who did one thing well and functioned as a part of a large machine. In today's global, multicultural, competitive environment to survive a business must function as a collaborative team. To function as a team there is more and more pressure that all employees must be critical thinkers and be able to communicate ideas clearly. A few minutes of reading the Classified Help Wanted Ads in any daily newspaper will find requirements such as the following:
- ". . . must possess excellent verbal and communication skills."
- ". . . must possess strong communication and interpersonal skills."
- ". . . must possess strong organizational, communication, and time management skills."
- ". . . must possess excellent communication skills with culturally diverse clients."
The National Association of Colleges and Employers report also noted that the most highly sought college graduates were the technically trained or technically-aware Liberal Arts graduate. At Honolulu Community College the Liberal Arts faculty support the technical mission of the college by teaching the general education courses necessary for a well-rounded technical graduate, the courses for the first two years of a bachelors degree, and courses for people already employed looking for continuing educational opportunities or personal enrichment.