Dive Brief:
- Twenty years ago, three prominent liberal arts colleges created the Liberal Arts Career Network to improve the availability of information about real world experience and substantive career opportunities. The 2008 market crash brought more institutions into the consortium, which now boasts 39 different institutions, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Many of the institutions in the group have created career programs for their students, and all the schools contribute to a massive database of about 21,000 employers offering more than 30,000 opportunities for internships and jobs. More than 200,000 students from the colleges and universities in the network have signed onto the database.
- Schools believe offering more insight and information about employment opportunities will make them more attractive to student applicants and parents.
Dive Insight:
Though there is a demonstrated need for more graduates to have proficiency and experience in STEM skills, many employers have noted that graduates are currently lacking skills that a liberal arts education should be able to offer its students. In a Payscale report from last year, 44% of managers said graduates were lacking proficiency in writing, while 60% of managers bemoaned the fact that graduates seeking employment did not have the necessary problem solving and critical thinking skills. Miami University President Gregory Crawford noted last year that a liberal arts education can enable a student to become "an adaptable, flexible thinker and to learn independently," which dovetails with what employers claim to seek.
In an Education Dive interview University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Associate Dean of Humanities Dave Clark noted that students graduating from higher ed institutions today will have a vastly different experience over the course of their working life than previous generations, with many students likely to work numerous jobs in various fields. Liberal arts supporters can assert that proficiency in adapting and problem solving may translate across career fields more easily and beneficially than targeted certificate programs.