Curiosity and the Critical Role of Primary Sources in Building Career-Ready Graduates

By Martha Fogg (Managing Director, AM)

What if the Most Valuable Skill in Tomorrow’s Job Market Isn’t Coding — But Curiosity?

As Managing Director of AM, my role is to direct strategy, analyse results to improve performance, and communicate our vision. To do that effectively, I need to listen, to reflect critically, to debate, and to persuade.

I’m 25 years into my career, but I can say with absolute confidence that the foundation for these leadership skills was developed during my experience of studying history and literature as an undergraduate and postgraduate.

I’m not alone. According to CNBC, one in three Fortune 500 CEOs holds a degree in the liberal arts or humanities. Their career paths were shaped not by rigid technical training, but by the ability to interpret nuanced information, think contextually, and ask the challenging questions. These are precisely the skills nurtured through engagement with primary sources.

Why Primary Sources Matter in a Career-Focused Academic Environment

Unlike secondary texts, primary sources don’t give you the answers. They present perspectives, contradictions, and gaps. Students must interrogate them. Why was this written? Who was the audience? What was the intention? This process isn’t just intellectually rigorous. It’s career training in disguise regardless of the subject being studied.

In an age where AI, automation, and big data dominate the professional landscape, the most future-proof graduates are those who can think critically about the use of these technologies.

The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2030, core skills such as analytical thinking, curiosity, and lifelong learning will be among the most in-demand globally.

Meeting Employer Expectations Through the Humanities

Meanwhile, studies from Business Insider and the Harvard Business Review consistently report that top employers prioritise communication, creativity, and critical thinking over narrow technical specialisation.

More and more leaders within industries such as Wall Street or Silicon Valley are advocating for the benefits of a humanities education.

In a recent interview Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, advised teenagers with aspirations for business success to follow in his footsteps studying international relations and history, noting that “I learned to think at university. I’m going to go back to curiosity and empathy. Really, really understand the audience that you’re dealing with and anticipate those needs beforehand.”

This rising awareness of how humanities education can benefit career success and our economy and society as a whole, intersects powerfully with the educational mission of research libraries and of AM. By expanding access to and engagement with primary source materials, libraries contribute directly to institutional goals around workforce preparedness, civic engagement, and inclusive education.

Libraries as Drivers of Career-Ready Outcomes

Research libraries are not simply custodians of knowledge but can be the engines of multi-disciplinary collaboration, innovation, and student development. Digital primary source collections, represent a strategic investment with long-term impact.

Working with primary sources such as oral histories, visual records, and personal narratives promotes intellectual independence and creativity as students learn to weigh evidence, think empathetically, and question their assumptions. All key skills central to leadership and driving innovation in the workplace.

The use of historical materials enriches teaching across any discipline from English to engineering. They encourage experiential learning by immersing students in multi-faceted perspectives on how global humanity has changed and evolved, helping them to navigate real-world complexity. In an era where the speed of technological innovation and AI development pose urgent questions as to what being human really means, the value of a humanities education shines through.

Working with Historical Materials Provides the Skills to Answer the Questions of Tomorrow

In my work at AM, I’ve been privileged to encounter some genuinely inspirational use cases of primary sources that show how, with curiosity and imagination, they can be deployed to grapple with some of the most profound challenges and opportunities facing society.

As frameworks for use of AI become a necessity across all areas of human life, from medical care to education and the workforce , historical case studies exploring the impact of revolutionary technologies, from early industrialisation to electricity, can be used to debate their profound impact and if and how that impact can be managed ethically.

Historical data on climate, gathered from often unexpected sources such as ship’s logs or disaster narratives, support longitudinal analysis of human-environment interactions over the past few centuries, assisting with climate modelling.

Digitised primary sources are a rich tool for digital humanities development, where the merging of computational tools with historical documents can foster multi-disciplinary collaboration and creatively engage students from both STEM and humanities majors, in readiness for hybrid careers.

Curiosity Isn’t a Luxury

Curiosity doesn’t just lead to better research. It leads to better decisions, better collaboration, and better futures.

In a constantly changing world, curiosity is the skill that helps graduates adapt, question, and lead. And primary sources in all their challenging, confusing authenticity and diversity are among our most powerful tools for cultivating it.

In an era of constant change, curiosity isn’t a luxury — it’s a leadership imperative. And primary sources are one of the most powerful tools we have to cultivate it in every graduate.

Libraries that centre these materials are not just preserving the past. They’re preparing students to shape the future.