“The arts and humanities define who we are as people. That is their power to remind us of what we have to offer and what we all have in common. To give us hope in the moments of struggle and to bring us together when nothing else will.” – Michelle Obama
There is a popular perception that those who take Science are more studious and academically sound and the rest of them go for humanities which are considered to be ‘a lesser path’. Not so surprisingly, there are people who say, “If you won’t study hard you will be compelled to take humanities in the senior secondary years” to their kids.
This is the stigma attached to humanities since ages and it has only changed a little in recent years. The push for only STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) based education is a colossal mistake. Where on earth will one go to find an artist, poet, lawyer, psychologist, philosopher and a humanistically-oriented human? One reason for the slow-paced growth of humanities students is the funding which is allotted to the computer-science universities more than the universities which have humanities.
The path of our future workforce is leading to domination by STEM. We shouldn’t value the sciences any more than we value humanities.
We are scratching an ability as humans to communicate and invent together and while the sciences teach us how to build things its humanities that teach us what and why to build. As a matter of fact, I think that 65% of the open job opportunities of Apple, Google, Facebook are for non-technical. Students of humanities are not just well versed in their subject, they are also great communicators and excellent writers.
If all skills are employed properly, there are a number of new-age carrier options which ensure reputable and well-paid jobs. Few of them are event organizer, public relations manager, editor, museum curator, FBI agent, translator, advertising manager, foreign correspondent, human resource specialist, linguist. If there is one thing that our future workplace needs, it is ‘diversity’- diversity of backgrounds and skills.