Why do people hate on arts students? I graduated at a college with many arts students. Admittedly, a top tier college (Merton, Oxford), but they were still doing these arts degrees which people hate on so much.
I got a great job after I graduated, at Google, but it's nothing compared to what many of my arts student peers did after they graduated.
My roommate studied classics. HN would laugh at that - what an idiot! He's now leading a team in a private intelligence agency that provides intelligence to companies working in places like Africa or China. He's done amazing stuff. He worked on the ground in Somalia, he's lived in Russia, France, China.
Another friend of mine studied Ancient English. What a moron, hey! He's now a Captain in the British Army. He's served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He's currently on secondment to the Pentagon.
Another friend did French Literature. Didn't he know he'd never get a job? Actually he's a top investment banker in London. He earns six times what I do at Google. What an idiot hey!
Another guy, didn't know him really but he was in my college, is now an MP - equivalent of the US house of representatives. He studied History. Didn't he know it would't lead anywhere.
I feel like an idiot for doing CS. Many of those companies wouldn't have hired me as I look like a geek with no social skills. Now I'm at a top job for my field at Google, and I learn less than most of my peers who did arts.
People who get STEM degrees become workers. Some of them found great companies, but not many. My arts students peers became leaders, politicians, managers at the top of massively important companies and agencies.
You're highlighting a phenomenon that doesn't generalize. For graduates of places like Harvard or Oxford, a lot of employers really don't care what you majored in. They are looking for raw talent. That's why Barclays hires French literature majors. What they care about is the Oxford on the diploma, not the degree you got there.
Outside the top schools, however, the situation reverses. The employers that hire lots of arts majors (banks, consultancies, etc) aren't looking for people from lesser schools, while employers will happily hire engineering majors from a very wide range of schools.
You've yourself admitted that you're from a top school so maybe this is not a very representative sample . Atleast its true that under the present economic conditions STEM graduates are doing better in general ?
> "We're in a bubble for people with a non-Ivy League, non-technical education," says Andreessen, who studied computer science at the University of Illinois. "If you have a degree in English from a tier B state school, you're not prepared."
I did CS at a decent, but not as top tier university as you did (King's College London). And have had the opposite experience as you.
I got a great job even before I graduated and I am now working my way up in my second job. All my friends who did CS are either working in the field they wanted to, or doing a PhD.
My friend who studied Art History - essentially living off his parents' money while is occasionally does some freelance writing work
Another who studied Politics - working in a record store
A lot of them have given up on finding a career in the field they studied in and have gone into teaching.
Again it's not a representative sample, but I think it's closer to the norm as my university isn't a world renowned university like Oxford is.
This mirrors my experience. Hell, I came out of college with a B.S. in Psychology and my job options were very limited until after I left the Army. I gained more from that than I did with my college degree.
I ended up becoming a software engineer only after I made the decision to learn the skills on my own, in my spare time. Best decision I ever made.
However, almost everyone I know NOT in a science or finance field is struggling to survive.
You can't argue this by analogy, to make a real case for something like this you have to analyze a large group of art/english majors across the US. Not just a group from a top school which benefits from networking and the advantages a degree (any degree) from one of schools can get you.
Liberal arts graduates got something that 'STEM' graduates will be missing their whole lives: education. Education not in the sense of training in a specialized technical domain but in cultivation, in deeper understanding of their own cultural, historical, social, economical and political context. It is not surprising that the zeitgeist disregards those fields of study.
STEM graduates got something that 'Liberal Art' graduates will be missing their whole lives: education. Education not in the sense of understand one's culture, but in the deeper sense of how to advance humanity out of the dirt and trees. It is not surprising that the zeitgeist disregards those fields of study.
Not limited but based on your study at university. Most people never again get the chance to learn so much from educated people. I didn't realize and appreciate that when I was a student.
> Most people never again get the chance to learn so much from educated people.
This. I didn't realize it either, and I wish I had. I have a decent number of interactions with educated, intelligent people now, but not with the sort of frequency and intensity with which I had them at university.
I don't know that I ever want to be a proper student again, but I do miss that.
I got a great job after I graduated, at Google, but it's nothing compared to what many of my arts student peers did after they graduated.
My roommate studied classics. HN would laugh at that - what an idiot! He's now leading a team in a private intelligence agency that provides intelligence to companies working in places like Africa or China. He's done amazing stuff. He worked on the ground in Somalia, he's lived in Russia, France, China.
Another friend of mine studied Ancient English. What a moron, hey! He's now a Captain in the British Army. He's served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He's currently on secondment to the Pentagon.
Another friend did French Literature. Didn't he know he'd never get a job? Actually he's a top investment banker in London. He earns six times what I do at Google. What an idiot hey!
Another guy, didn't know him really but he was in my college, is now an MP - equivalent of the US house of representatives. He studied History. Didn't he know it would't lead anywhere.
I feel like an idiot for doing CS. Many of those companies wouldn't have hired me as I look like a geek with no social skills. Now I'm at a top job for my field at Google, and I learn less than most of my peers who did arts.
People who get STEM degrees become workers. Some of them found great companies, but not many. My arts students peers became leaders, politicians, managers at the top of massively important companies and agencies.