The thought crossed my mind as I was reading French philosopher Michel Foucault’s "The History of Sexuality" for one of my English classes. Despite its attention-grabbing title and academic acclaim, the book was an insanely difficult read due largely to its dense jumble of terms like "tactical polyvalence" and "juridico-discursive." It was while flipping through these pages and practically giving myself a brain aneurysm that I thought to myself, "When the hell am I ever going to use this?"
It’s a thought that has occurred to me countless times throughout my college career. This becomes significantly less shocking after a brief glance at my transcript, which is decorated with an array of colorful class names including "Women Writers and Classical Myth," "Cultures of U.S. Imperialism" and "Queer Theory." Don’t get me wrong, I’ve adored every one of these classes, but there’s a reason why I don’t exactly keep my parents updated on my schedule.
My hopeless employability has even become the foundation of my unique brand of self-deprecating humor. Honestly, despite how much I love my major, it’s hard not to make fun of it considering some of my closest friends are biomedical engineering, health science and accounting majors. That is — majors that are actually aimed toward a specific job field and have tangible hiring potential.
So, when I stumbled across a new report by Payscale ranking undergraduate majors by their mid-career earnings, I was surprised to find that philosophy beat out all other humanities majors. While philosophy majors still came in at 75th overall, their ranking compared to other liberal arts degrees strengthened an argument I’ve made countless times: With a humanities degree, it’s not so much what you’re learning as much as how you’re learning it.
Philosophy classes are founded on the ability to understand, manipulate, question and defend abstract theories. While every liberal arts class has its own theoretical component, philosophy is unique in that these theories are the principal area of study. It embodies the fundamental spirit of a liberal arts education.
Are employers going to care that you can recite Nietzsche’s "The Antichrist" from memory? Probably not. But the ability to think creatively, work with ambiguity and compose convincing arguments is undeniably attractive in our modern workforce.
With the rise of corporate globalization comes an array of new opportunities and obstacles that will surely require some innovative thinking.
The age-old STEM v. Humanities argument isn’t going anywhere, nor is the answer as to which is "better" going to present itself anytime soon. I have the utmost respect for STEM majors. Hell, a quick look at my best friend’s differential equations notes fills me with immense gratitude for all the people who work with numbers and objectivity so I don’t have to.
With that in mind, let’s give all those liberal arts majors their fair share. Whether it’s cranking out 25-page term papers, pretending you know what "panopticism" means or running out of places to store your books, it isn’t always easy. Yet we press on, because for some bizarre reason we actually enjoy it despite the dismal employment prospects. Whether your next step is graduate school or becoming an actual adult, it’s encouraging to know employers still value the skills you’ve been strengthening over these past few years. In the end, STEM majors may get the jobs, but we’ve got the obscure literary references and dazzling dinner conversation skills...so I think we know who the real winners are.
Marisa Papenfuss is a UF English junior. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
