Your B.A.: More Than Just Professional Development
April 27, 2007
On April 13, The Observer published an editorial entitled, “Career Services: Call to Duty.” While I don’t find fault in advocating a stronger Career Services office at Tufts, I do take issue with the perpetuation of the common framework that casts “college as a means to a material end.” In other words, I seek to balance an unbalanced, if popular, characterization of higher education—one that is propagated fiercely by mass media, and indeed, by students here at Tufts and other campuses.
The recent soar in applications to top universities like Tufts over the past several years has caused great anxiety among high school students and their parents. The Observer extrapolates from this trend an increased competition in the job market for college graduates. Such concerns are understandable, and should be addressed.
But in the case of college admissions, and later the job market, the Observer’s sounding of the alarm also has negative consequences—namely, the idea that a college degree represents nothing more than a credential, a symbol of socio-economic status and achievement. The editorial suggests that as college admission to top universities becomes more competitive, so will job markets. Consequently, Tufts should improve its Career Services office. I agree that getting into a selective college and finding a secure, long-term job are difficult and competitive tasks—statistics and the media suggest that both have never been harder. And while earning admission to a prestigious school or nailing a high-paying job is certainly not a bad thing, I’m concerned that too much emphasis is being placed on the instrumental or material benefits of a college degree and not enough on the longer-lasting value of a broad, rigorous education.
The editorial reads as follows: “Clearly four years at Tufts is far more meaningful than a step along the long path to professional success; however, to say that undergraduates are here primarily to expand their intellectual horizons is unrealistic.” If it is unrealistic to say that undergraduates are primarily at Tufts to grow intellectually, then we are in the midst of a sad era of higher education. That is, if students are in college primarily for the social status of the degree and the economic stepping stone that their newly padded resume will give them, and are consequently unconcerned with their intellectual development, then we have entirely missed the point of a liberal arts education.
A college education used to be available only to a privileged few. Not surprisingly, going to college has become a prop up in the ascension of the socioeconomic ladder. The notion of college as a means to a material end has been perpetuated by the near meaningless college rankings based upon narrow statistics—and the media’s emphasis on the selectivity of prestigious institutions—rather than what actually goes on in their classrooms and curricula. This characterization of college—as a socioeconomic status pusher, a symbol of material success—undermines its real value.
The study of liberal arts at Tufts and at universities nationwide has been misinterpreted by the masses. While it is true that certain concentrations within the liberal arts, such as economics, direct students more towards particular career paths) than broader-based others such as English, the notion that a liberal arts degree has precise professional implications is a misconception. Within the liberal arts holistically, specializations often do not lead to a specific career path or limit one’s choices to a narrow few. Rather, a liberal arts education grants undergraduates a path toward informed and responsible citizenship, and the ability to succeed in a wide range of professions and responsibilities.
I am proud to attend a university where active citizenship and public service are not merely nice catchphrases, but rather they are integral elements of the institution’s culture and mission. Indeed, the pursuit of wisdom combined with the dissemination of that wisdom for the benefit of the world around us is an admirable ideal. That’s why I’m dismayed when students say they wish Tufts was more famous, or that they fear the heavy competition of entering the job market. I understand the origins of these concerns, but I believe such fears push the truly important elements of higher education out of focus: the pursuit of truth, and the way in which that truth can move the world in positive directions.
I understand that a college degree is a credential, and having one does have professional and material implications. Nonetheless, I fear that the increasingly prominent emphasis placed on finding a secure job, and on socio-economic status and prestige. This recent perspective has outweighed the more intellectual values of college, namely the discovery of academic disciplines, of the quest for truth, and personal discovery. Don’t abandon your professional dreams or concerns, but keep in mind the multitude of intellectual and educational opportunities you have in front of you right now.