There seems to be pressure placed upon humanities majors to abandon their studies for STEM fields. I have felt this pressure myself at Dartmouth, the desire to let go of my English major and study something more “practical.” Beyond my doubts, I have also had people tell me that English and writing have no future — that it is best to give up before I pour all of my time and energy into it. It’s not an incredibly outlandish desire, considering the STEM craze that has been ensuing for the past decade, driven by an increase in STEM-only schools and programs. But something in me will not let go. I simply love what I study far too much. After all, what job does not require strong writing and critical thinking skills? As a matter of fact, most employers typically look for candidates with strong written communication skills.
The dramatic effect this pressure has had on humanities majors makes it seem as though the humanities are dead, or dying at least. I would beg to differ. I’d like to argue that the humanities are incapable of being killed. The world currently faces many life-threatening and pressing issues: climate change, poverty, war and disease, to name a few. Those who aim to solve these problems may major in a subject directly related to these issues, such as environmental science, international relations, public health or other sciences. However, without input from humanities fields, global issues are not solvable.
Last year, Marymount University cut several of their humanities majors — most notably English, history and sociology — due to low student interest. Additionally, they cut their master’s programs in English and the humanities. It makes sense that the college would cut these majors considering how drastically the number of students majoring in the humanities has decreased. However, many educators have theorized that there is not a decrease in students’ interest in the humanities, but rather that students with a passion for humanities choose to study a different field due to feeling pressured out of their desired degree. Drew Faust, the former president of Harvard University, agrees: “[The decline in humanities] reflects, I believe, fundamentally the pressure that students are feeling and being subject to about finding jobs and making sure their financial investment in education is going to pay off.” It’s hard to blame students when STEM fields provide an increased sense of stability due to their promise of a clear career path that earns higher wages than humanities fields, on average.
For those who desire to solve a problem, no matter how large or small, I urge you not to throw away your passion for the humanities for a degree in something else. We all invest an incredible amount of resources and time into our education at Dartmouth. Students interested in the humanities should refuse to let themselves be pushed into courses they are not passionate about simply for the false promise of job security and higher wages. The fact is our job market is unstable. There are far too many unknowns in the future that threaten to disrupt what used to seem like a guaranteed career path with a STEM degree. Artificial intelligence, inflation, higher costs of living and education are all changing the fields of learning and working. Nonetheless, there will always be a place for humanities majors to work in their fields; the world will always want to watch playwrights’ works, read the news or attend a college class.
Humanities majors allow us to tackle real-world problems in ways unique to their field. For example, we cannot approach the problem of poverty in America without looking at the connections between gender, race and their intersections. Societal issues don’t exist in a vacuum; they are impacted by all sorts of factors that disproportionately influence differing groups. Thus, in order to analyze poverty, we have to look into the history of race relations in America, as well as how our class system was set up. In addition, questions of philosophy must be considered to decide what the poverty line is and how to determine it. Sure, economics plays a role in determining the poverty line. However, when it comes to who deserves federal assistance and who doesn’t, it’s imperative to consider ethics. Furthermore, strong speaking and writing skills are needed to create legislation that reduces the likelihood and impacts of poverty. This is not to say that social sciences and STEM are not involved in the process — they most certainly are — but they are not the only force at work in this situation.
Study what you like. Your major does not need to correlate exactly with your future career. The skills that you learn from your major are what can be translated into your future career path, not the exact content of your courses. At the end of the day, whether you are a religion major or an engineering major, there will be an employer who wants you because of the unique skill set you offer, even if it is a soft skill such as communication, critical thinking, empathy or your ability to adapt. If you are into the humanities, embrace it for all it has to offer: writing, research and analysis.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
