TOMORROW’S SKILLS TODAY

Agnes Scott’s liberal arts education empowers students to claim their place as leaders in the workplace.

BY DEBBIE RITENOUR

For centuries, a liberal arts education was considered essential to the development of a well-rounded individual. The idea traces its roots to ancient Greece and Rome, when Plato and other philosophers believed an education grounded in multiple disciplines produced effective, informed citizens. In medieval Europe, the concept was redefined to focus on seven specific areas of study: grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. Later, the term came to refer to a broad education encompassing a variety of subjects.

In recent years, many colleges and universities began focusing their efforts on building strong programs in high-demand fields such as computer science and engineering to prepare students for specific careers. Some went so far as to eliminate majors in less technical fields such as sociology, foreign languages and religious studies. With the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence, however, the pendulum is swinging back as employers are increasingly recognizing the value of the liberal arts.

“A liberal arts education plays a more important role today than ever before,” says Agnes Scott College President Leocadia I. Zak. “Innovation is constant, and to be able to keep up with change, you need an interdisciplinary way of looking at things and the skills to critically evaluate what is happening. A liberal arts education allows you to explore, extrapolate and see toward the future. That critical component—being able to apply the human to the technical and do so with ethical and social awareness—is going to be extremely important.”

Liberal arts colleges such as Agnes Scott provide not only the knowledge needed to succeed in tomorrow’s careers, but also the skills. By teaching students to think critically, communicate effectively and make connections across disciplines, liberal arts colleges prepare students for a variety of careers—including those that don’t yet exist.

“Businesses are not going to need as many data scientists going forward. There won’t be as many coders or programmers,” says Joanne Smith, executive vice president and chief people officer for Delta Air Lines and member of the Agnes Scott Board of Trustees. “Those skills that we thought were going to be in such short supply six or seven years ago are not going to be needed with new technologies. What we will need are leaders who know how to use data insights effectively and who have strong people, judgment and communication skills. That’s where liberal arts students will have a leg up.”

Preparing For Workplace Success

Understanding the value of the liberal arts begins with understanding the definition of the liberal arts.

“Some people use ‘liberal arts’ as a synonym for ‘humanities,’ but it’s so much more than that,” says Rachel Bowser, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “In addition to the arts and humanities, liberal arts students study the natural sciences and the social sciences. It’s more about the distribution of your studies. You learn things outside what you plan to pursue professionally.”

Studying disciplines beyond their major allows students to make connections and think about things in a new light. A history class may help an economics major better understand supply and demand, for example, while a creative arts major may see a painting from a different perspective after taking a geometry course. Ultimately, by learning across a variety of subjects, liberal arts students gain valuable skills that help them approach problems and collaboration through a richer and deeper way of thinking.

“There was a time in higher education where a liberal arts education was thought of as something that was only available to a privileged and elite subset of students who weren’t burdened by the pressure of having to immediately move into a profession,” Bowser says. “At schools like Agnes Scott, we believe that the liberal arts approach to education should be available to all students, regardless of their background, because the ways of thinking and the diversity of thought that are represented in a liberal arts curriculum have a broad benefit to both society as a whole and individual members.”

The benefit for students, she notes, includes being able to succeed in a variety of careers.

“In some ways, the liberal arts are AI proof because they are grounded in a deep belief that interpersonal, intercommunity and interdisciplinary connections create new ways of thinking,” Bowser says.

Tapaswee Chandele, senior vice president of global talent, development and HR system partnerships at The Coca-Cola Company and Agnes Scott trustee, notes that companies are talking less in the language of jobs and more in the language of skills.

“At the end of the day, AI is going to become so pervasive that we won’t even be thinking about it the same way we don’t think about the electricity in our house,” Chandele says. “A lot of what we do today can be automated or will be automated over time. I highly doubt that some of the things that liberal arts students do really well, such as critical thinking and problem solving, will ever be done by technology. Companies need people with problem-solving abilities, decisionmaking abilities and the ability to work across different situations. A liberal arts education provides all of that.”

Deepening Interpersonal Skills

A liberal arts education doesn’t just deepen students’ knowledge and skills. It also helps students develop personally and interpersonally.

At Agnes Scott, residential life is a key component of the educational experience. The vast majority of students live on campus all four years, where they make lifelong friends and gain independence in a safe, accessible living environment.

“When you live with other people, you understand what it’s like to truly be part of a community,” says Chicora Martin, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. “Our students develop a sense of belonging while learning how to navigate relationships and engage with people who may be very different from them.”

Agnes Scott offers learning opportunities outside the classroom as well. Students can build their leadership skills in a variety of ways, from getting involved with a student organization to volunteering in the local community through Scotties Serve. They also can pursue their personal and intellectual interests by attending campus events, including the annual Women’s Global Leadership Conference.

“I have yet to meet a student who doesn’t do something beyond go to class,” Martin says. “Our students connect those dots and take advantage of those opportunities. The personal and interpersonal development that happens on a liberal arts campus helps you develop as a full person, and being a full person helps you be successful in your career.”

At Agnes Scott, that means far more than landing a job after graduation or getting that first paycheck.

“The advantage of going to a liberal arts college is that not only can you get a good job, but you can keep that good job, and you can be promoted,” Martin says. “It’s those interpersonal skills that you develop that allow you to be a productive and successful employee and maybe a productive and successful supervisor or manager.”

Civic engagement is more expansive now than in the days of Plato—and arguably more important. A liberal arts education encourages students to take an active role in the world around them.

“At Agnes Scott, 98% of students registered to vote,” Martin says. “Think about what it would be like in a world where everyone registered to vote and everyone understood it was their job to engage in this process.”

The college’s rigorous Honor System is integral to the Agnes Scott experience. Each fall, incoming students sign the Honor Code, pledging to “develop and uphold high standards of honesty and behavior; to strive for full intellectual and moral stature; [and] to realize [their] social and academic responsibility in the community.”

After graduating, students take these values with them as they claim their place in today’s global society.

“All of these pieces come together to create good employees, but we’re not producing robots or machines,” Martin says. “We also want to create good people, and that’s what happens at a liberal arts college.”

2 out of 5 70%

The average liberal arts graduate earns more than the average high school graduate $20,000

$90,000 liberal arts graduates go on to earn graduate degrees of liberal arts graduates change careers from their first to their second job

Liberal arts graduates in the top 25 percent earn or more per year

Source: The Strada Institute for the Future of Work and Emsi