At university, 当我告诉别人我正在攻读历史学位时, the response was almost always the same: “You want to be a teacher?”. No, a journalist. “Oh. 但你不是学通讯bc菠菜导航的?”

In the days when a university education was the purview of a privileged few, perhaps there wasn’t the assumption that a degree had to be a springboard directly into a career. Those days are long gone.

Today, 学位几乎是就业市场的必要条件, 你失业的机会会减少一半以上. Still, that alone is no guarantee of a job – and yet we’re paying more and more for one. In the US, room, board and tuition at a private university costs an average of $48,510 a year; in the UK, tuition fees alone are £9,250 ($12,000) per year for home students; in Singapore, 私立大学四年的学费最高可达69新元,336 (US$51,000).

为学习而学习是一件美丽的事情. But given those costs, it’s no wonder that most of us need our degrees to pay off in a more concrete way. Broadly, they already do: in the US, for example, 拥有学士学位的人每周比从未上过大学的人多挣461美元.

但我们大多数人都希望将这种投资最大化——这可能导致一种即插即用式的高等教育方式. Want to be a journalist? Study journalism, we’re told. A lawyer? Pursue pre-law. Not totally sure? Go into Stem (science, technology, 工程学和数学)——那边, 你可以成为一名工程师或IT专家. And no matter what you do, forget the liberal arts – non-vocational degrees that include natural and social sciences, 数学与人文, such as history, philosophy and languages.

这在世界各地的声明和政策中得到了呼应. In the US, 从参议员马可·卢比奥到前总统巴拉克·奥巴马，政界人士都把人文学科作为笑料. (Obama later apologised). In China, 政府公布了将42所大学建设成为“世界级”科技机构的计划. In the UK, 政府对Stem的关注导致参加a -level英语考试的学生减少了近20%，参加艺术考试的学生减少了15%.

但是这种方法有一个问题. 这不仅仅是因为我们失去了理解和改善世界和我们自己的关键途径——包括提高个人幸福感, 激发创新，帮助创造宽容, among other values.

而且，我们对某些学位的市场价值的假设——以及其他学位的“毫无价值”——可能是错误的. At best, that could be making some students unnecessarily stressed. At worst? Pushing people onto paths that set them up for less fulfilling lives. 这也延续了对文科毕业生的刻板印象, in particular, as an elite caste – something that can discourage underprivileged students, and anyone else who needs an immediate return on their university investment, 从追求可能有回报的学科. (Though, of course, this is hardly the only diversity problem such disciplines have).

软技能，批判性思维

George Anders is convinced we have the humanities in particular all wrong. 2012年至2016年，他是福布斯的科技记者, 他说，硅谷“被这样一种观念所吞噬，那就是除了Stem教育别无他法”。.

But when he talked to hiring managers at the biggest tech companies, he found a different reality. “Uber was picking up psychology majors to deal with unhappy riders and drivers. Opentable聘请英语bc菠菜导航的学生为餐馆老板提供数据，让他们对数据能为他们的餐馆带来什么感到兴奋,” he says.

“I realised that the ability to communicate and get along with people, 了解别人的想法, 做全面的批判性思维——所有这些都被每个人视为重要的工作技能, except the media.这一认识促使他写下了书名恰当的《bc菠菜导航》.

看看雇主说他们需要的技能. 领英对2019年雇主最抢手的工作技能进行的研究发现，最抢手的三项“软技能”是创造力, persuasion and collaboration, 而五大“硬技能”之一是人员管理. 在接受调查的英国雇主中，有56%的人表示，他们的员工缺乏必要的团队合作技能，46%的人认为，他们的员工在处理情绪方面遇到了困难, whether theirs or others’. 不仅仅是英国雇主:2017年的一项研究发现，过去30年美国增长最快的工作几乎都特别要求高水平的社交技能.

或者直接引用科技巨头微软(Microsoft)的两位高管最近写的一句话:“随着计算机的行为越来越像人类, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, 心理学和人类发展课程可以教授批判, 哲学和伦理技能，这些技能将有助于人工智能解决方案的开发和管理.

Of course, 不用说，没有文科学位，你也可以成为一名优秀的沟通者和批判性思考者. 以及任何好的大学教育, 而不仅仅是英语或心理学, 应该进一步提高这些能力吗. “Any degree will give you very important generic skills like being able to write, 有能力提出论点, research, problem-solve, teamwork, 熟悉技术,” says Dublin-based educational consultant and career coach Anne Mangan.

但很少有课程对阅读的要求如此之高, writing, 说话和批判性思维作为文科, in particular the humanities – whether that’s by debating other students in a seminar, 写论文或分析诗歌.

When asked to drill the most job market-ready skills of a humanities graduate down to three, Anders doesn’t hesitate. “创造力、好奇心和同理心，”他说. “同理心通常是最大的因素. 这并不仅仅意味着同情有问题的人. It means an ability to understand the needs and wants of a diverse group of people.

“想想那些监督临床药物测试的人. 你需要让医生，护士，监管机构都站在同一战线上. 你必须有能力去思考，怎样才能让这位72岁的老妇人对长期跟踪感到舒服, what do we have to do so this researcher takes this study seriously. That’s an empathy job.”

But in general, say Anders and others, the benefit of a humanities degree is the emphasis it puts on teaching students to think, 批评和说服——通常是在没有太多可用数据的灰色地带，或者你需要弄清楚该相信什么.

It’s small wonder, therefore, that humanities graduates go on to a variety of fields. The biggest group of US humanities graduates, 15%, go on to management positions. That’s followed by 14% who are in in office and administrative positions, 13%从事销售，12%从事教育, mostly teaching. 另有10%在商业和金融领域.

虽然人们通常认为人文学科毕业生从事的职业不如他们抢来的工作好, say, engineers or medics, that isn’t the case. In Australia, for example, 在增长最快的10个职业中，有3个是销售助理, clerks, and advertising, 公共关系和销售经理——所有这些看起来都很熟悉，是人文学科毕业生倾向于从事的领域.

Meanwhile, Glassdoor 2019年的研究发现，英国十大最佳工作中有8个是管理职位——以人为本的职位，需要沟通技巧和情商. (它通过结合收入潜力来定义“最佳”, 总体工作满意度和职位空缺数量.)，其中许多都不在stem行业. The third best job was marketing manager; fourth, product manager; fifth, sales manager. 工程类职位直到第18位才出现在榜单上，排在通信类职位之后, HR and project management.

One recent study of 1,700 people from 30 countries, meanwhile, 研究发现，大多数担任领导职务的人要么拥有社会科学学位，要么拥有人文科学学位. That was especially true of leaders under 45 years of age; leaders over 45 were more likely to have studied Stem.

Be career-ready

这并不是说文科学位是一条捷径. “A lot of the people I talked to were five or 10 years into their career, 我感觉第一年是颠簸的, 他们花了一段时间才站稳脚跟,” Anders says. “但随着事情的发展，它确实起到了作用.”

对于一些毕业生来说，最初的挑战是不知道自己想要做什么. For others, it was not having acquired as many technical skills with their degree as, say, 他们的IT培训生同行，之后不得不迎头赶上.  

But pursuing a more vocational degree can come with its own risks too. Not every teenager knows exactly what they want to do with their lives, 我们的职业抱负经常会随着时间的推移而改变. One UK report found that more than one-third of Brits have changed careers in their lifetime. 领英发现，40%的职场人士对“转行”感兴趣，尤其是年轻人. 当你考虑到有多少不同的工作和行业可以应用这些技能(尽管对于一个正在寻找职业道路的年轻人来说)时，专注于批判性思维等广泛适用的技能似乎不再是一件遥不可及的事情, 的确，灵活性也会让人感到难以承受。). 

bc菠菜导航技术技能在就业市场上也很重要. 但是有很多方法可以获得它们. “我非常支持实习和学徒制. 我们已经看到，这与你在职场中拥有更扎实的技能基础直接相关,职业发展教练Christina Georgalla说.

“我甚至提倡大学毕业后, if you’re not sure, 花一年的时间休息，而不是去旅行, 试着做不同的实习. 即使是同一领域，但在电视领域, say, 广播，制作，呈现, so you can see the difference.”

But what about the other perceived pitfalls – like a higher unemployment rate and lower salaries?

Why broader matters

It’s true that the humanities come with a higher risk of unemployment. But it’s worth noting that the risk is slighter than you’d imagine. 针对美国的年轻人(25-34岁), 拥有人文学科学位的人的失业率为4%. An engineering or business degree comes with an unemployment rate of a little more than 3%. That single additional percentage point is one extra person per 100, such a small amount it’s often within the margin of error of many surveys.

薪水也不是那么简单. Yes, in the UK, the top earnings are pulled in by those who study medicine or dentistry, economics or maths; in the US, engineering, physical sciences or business. 一些最受欢迎的人文学科，如历史或英语，在这个群体中排名靠后.

但还有更多的故事——包括一些工作, it seems that it’s actually better to start with a broader degree, 而不是bc菠菜导航的.

Take law. In the US, an undergraduate student who took the seemingly most direct route to becoming a lawyer, 法官或地方法官——主修法律预科或法律研究学位——预计平均收入为94美元,000 a year. But those who majored in philosophy or religious studies make an average of $110,000. Graduates who studied area, 研究种族和文明能挣124美元,000, US history majors earn $143,而那些学习外语的人的收入是148美元,000, a stunning $54,每年比法学预科的学生多出1000万英镑.  

其他行业也有类似的例子. 以营销部门的经理为例, advertising and PR industries: those who majored in advertising and PR earn about $64,而那些读文科的学生年收入只有84美元,000.

And even while overall salary disparities do remain, it may not be the degree itself. 尤其是人文学科的毕业生更有可能是女性. 我们都知道性别收入差距, 在人文学科领域，工资差距依然显著:主修人文学科的美国男性平均收入为60美元,000, for example, while women make $48,000. 因为超过六成的人文bc菠菜导航学生是女性, the gender pay gap, not the degree, may be to blame.

We also know that as more women move into a field, the field’s overall earnings go down. Given that, 难怪英语bc菠菜导航的学生, 其中十分之七是女性, 往往比工程师挣得少, eight in 10 of whom are men?

Do what you love

This is a big part of why there is one major takeaway, says Mangan. 无论学生在大学里追求什么, 这肯定是他们不擅长的事情, but they really enjoy.

“In most areas that I can see, the employer just wants to know that you’ve been to college and you’ve done well. 这就是为什么我认为做一些你真正感兴趣的事情是至关重要的——因为只有这样你才能做得很好,” she says.

无论如何，根据平均工资来决定学位或职业道路都不是明智之举. “经济上的成功并不是一个好的理由. 这往往是一个非常糟糕的理由，”曼根说. “Be successful at something and money will follow, as opposed to the other way around. Focus on doing the stuff that you love that you’ll be so enthusiastic about, 人们会想给你一份工作. 然后在这份工作中得到发展.”

这说明了一个更广泛的问题:学生是否应该选择理工科还是人文学科, 或者是职业课程和文科学位, 可能一开始就被误导了. It’s not as if most of us have an equal amount of passion and aptitude for, say, accounting and art history. 很多人都知道自己最爱什么. 他们只是不知道是否应该追求它. 而我们大多数人看到的头条新闻也无济于事.

This is part of why parents and teachers often need to take a step back, Mangan says. “There is only one expert. I’m the expert on me, you’re the expert on you, they’re the expert on themselves,” she says. “And nobody, I really mean nobody, can tell them how to do what they should be doing.”

Even, it seems, if that means pursuing a “useless” degree – like one in liberal arts.