IHE: Survey finds employers want lib arts skills

[Wahoo Redux]

I am not in love with this survey or its report.  The questions seem very vague and leading (what employer doesn't want an employee that has good communication skills?  Do we not want people who are civic minded?) and the actually figures in graphs really tell us very little about who exactly is answering what.

And I am not sure that their basic rubric is significant to the lib arts, or even education, although I honestly think higher education is great for developing these skillsets in general.

On the other hand, the concept of liberals arts is predicated specifically on the things this survey measured.  And no, Marshy, I am not saying that only lib arts teach these things.

What is perhaps more interesting is the reaction of people who comb through the report rather diligently to figure out how the liberal arts are failing, no matter what.

[marshwiggle]

What is perhaps more interesting is the reaction of people who comb through the report rather diligently to figure out how the liberal arts are failing, no matter what.

But this is just the flip side of the authors of the report repeatedly "proving" from the results that a liberal arts education is what employers want, no matter what.

(Seriously, the fact that the biggest "preparedness gap" was in critical thinking skills, which is the main thing people mention when saying how great a humanities education is, should give them some pause.)

These surveys would probably be a lot more useful if they had employers suggest what they would change about the education that their new employees have received. If the choices were concrete enough, it might provide some useful insights. And I have no doubt they'd have things about STEM programs that they would change as well.

[Wahoo Redux]

But this is just the flip side of the authors of the report repeatedly "proving" from the results that a liberal arts education is what employers want, no matter what.

Firstly, I don't think it is a "no matter what" scenario. I think you always go there, Marshy, on some deep-seated resentment.  What does that even mean?

And secondly, I think the premise is valid even if too vague to be entirely convincing.  If anything I think the survey proves employers value education overall, a point which is sometimes strangely in contention.

I would not be necessarily opposed to employers telling the academe what they want as long as their opinions are heartily leavened by good educational philosophy----in other words, companies might want worker bees, but that is not our mission.  And actually, our mission dovetails every nicely with what employers want.  Lib arts dovetail nicely with what employers want.

What was most interesting are the differences between generations.