The Continuing Importance of an Arts Education in a STEM World
do you guys remember
the end of your high school senior year
you know
those last few weeks of your last year
before the sweet sweet freedom of summer
when you’re still deciding what to do
with the rest of your lives
yeah you have a few weeks of school left
to go
but let’s be honest you’re mentally
checked out of those weeks if not months
ago
and yeah you have a summer full of
parties and beaches to look forward to
but they wouldn’t let me do a ted talk
on house parties
so i mean deciding on school by the way
that ted talk would have been
mario party 3 and flip cup but
i’m talking about the excitement of
researching universities or colleges
those stacks and stacks of pamphlets
littering your already disgusting rooms
sorry to all moms out there
i remember the absolute barrage of
advice
that i got teachers
parents overly involved friends of my
moms
suddenly everyone had an opinion on my
perfect future
they dig deep into my childhood to find
my perfect path
i didn’t just like one thing i liked
sciences
as much as i loved history and reading
stories
but i had to pick one may like a lot of
you
i had to choose between two very dear
passions
well the one advice that i did get that
was pretty consistent
don’t go into arts to be well-off arts
will hurt
your career prospects well
that made my decision easy i went in
tarts
screw him i dropped out three years
later
i was born i enjoyed my part-time job
more than i did my full-time studies
i was sick of taking the same class on
the same subject
over and over and over and i didn’t see
any point
to it i felt like i wasn’t getting any
real world skills from my arts degree
how is reading or writing essays
presenting my response to a poem or
reading stories from other cultures
going to help me land a cool
and impactful job i wanted real world
skills
for almost a decade i was a proud
university dropout
but mama didn’t raise no quitter and
last year at the age of 30 i went back
to finish that degree
and in that time between my third year
and my last year
almost 10 years i learned two things
one the perception of art degrees that i
was given
that students every year here is so
unbelievably wrong
i want to share why art degrees are not
only still relevant
but more important and rewarding than
ever before
and two traditional university
curriculums
and their stubborn adherence to this
arts versus science divide
is betraying the future of their
students
life isn’t like when medieval schools
created these faculty separations
that’s literally how old faculty
separations are as old as jousting and
older than toilets
how can we think that’s still the best
way to teach modern students
but we’ll start with the first topic
arts degrees are still relevant
and even more important than ever before
so what is an arts degree
our degrees are the creative and liberal
arts the humanities the social sciences
languages and culture included in arts
degrees you got political science
history education
legal studies drama our degrees aim to
be
to provide a more rounded education
focusing more on deepening cultural
understandings
and developing the soft skills like
writing and communication skills
critical thinking and understanding
human relationships
possibly because of this there’s a
stigma associated with arts degrees
exactly because they don’t teach
technical or hard skills
how can they possibly set their students
up for the real world
well the numbers seem to agree for 10
years in a row
enrollment in canada for arts fields has
dropped
year over year in the same time span
enrollment in stem that is science
technology
engineering and mathematics that has
increased
year by year by year this pattern
repeats across western countries
the u.s two years ago
the department of education proudly
announced that they had not only
fulfilled
president trump’s directive to redirect
200 million dollars of funding towards
stem education
and away from arts but they actually
voluntarily surpassed that figure
by an additional 79 million dollars
in australia they recently announced
that they would be significantly
increasing the cost
of arts courses while at the same time
decreasing the cost
of stem courses an effort they say is to
create more
job ready graduates
well why was an 18 year old version of
me right about
arts and trump wrong well
for a lot of reasons but specifically
with arts
i actually thought i was wrong too i
don’t think that now
i’ll tell you why here linkedin’s most
desired skills
of 2020 creativity persuasion
collaboration adaptability emotional
intelligence
right up there with the heart skills
in a sign of the changing perception of
soft skills
2018’s list contains just
four soft skills and 25 hard skills
these soft skills are up there because
they’re so desired
because they’re high indicators of
lasting success
across multiple roles the specifics of a
of a position can be taught through a
comprehensive orientation
but being able to fit in with the team
adapt to novel challenges
in creative ways that is one
nearly impossible to train on the job
and two
very hard to find rather than memorizing
definitions and formulas
we are art students instead learn to
write reflectively and creatively
on abstract human subjects
describe to me in 5 000 words or less
the topic of revenge and love in two
different shakespeare plays
how is it different and what does
shakespeare reveal about himself
it’s exercises like this that teach us
art students to love literature
and expression beautiful and passionate
expression
based on the shared human experience i
think that was the actual assignment in
third year
that made me want to drop out but
it does teach us to learn history what
makes people
love and fight we explore different
cultures different
world views emotions and motives
through that academic torture called
essay papers
we demonstrate are improving emotional
intelligence and abstract thinking
our soft skills developing and we don’t
even realize it
at least i didn’t not for years later
i remember my boss coming up to me
saying he had some last minute
very important documents that needed to
be done overnight
could i help well flashback to
university me
starting a 10-page paper the night that
it’s due sorry professor nikki if you’re
listening
surrounded by cold pizza and warm energy
drinks i could write all night
i started appreciating what that arts
degree had really been teaching me
clear effective and fast writing
well thank you arts arts students can
pull examples like that up
everywhere how presenting in seminar
had helped them be better public
speakers and give them the courage to
speak up in work meetings
or how psychology electives have taught
them how to coach friends and family
through hard times
and endeared them around the office soft
skills like these
are becoming more and more important as
the pace of change continues
to get faster and faster it used to be
that what you learned in school could
last your entire career
but that just isn’t the case anymore the
average american will work 10 jobs by
the age of 40.
david deming of the harvard kennedy
school has been researching stem careers
and the changing skill requirements of
modern work
put simply stem graduates take a big
lead
on salary in their first job compared to
their arts peers
that’s what’s created that stigma but
that advantage
is erased by the age of 40. deming has
two explanations for this
one technical skills become obsolete
as younger graduates are taught the
in-demand tech of that year
older graduates must try to learn it on
the fly while still working
of those top 10 heart skills on
linkedin’s most desired list
only three from the 2020 list were on
the same list in 2015.
and that’s just a difference of 5 years
imagine 15 or 20.
as increased competition drives down
wages
and increases worker supply a larger
proportion of stem grads
exit their fields compared to other
majors
the 2014 u.s census found almost
three-quarters of stem grads
aren’t even in stem jobs anymore
second reason deming found was that soft
skills become
appreciated more as a career goes on
at the same time that hard skills taught
years ago
are becoming obsolete the soft skills
needed for management
and leadership become valued not all
graduates
need a wise leader just like the hobbits
needed aragon
to get from bree to rivendale so do
these graduates need someone to take
them to those greener pastures
someone who may not know the specifics
anymore how and when to make second
breakfast
but can manage conflict provide clarity
and passionately convey goals well hello
soft skills
clearly aragon is an arts alumni
speaking of alumni let’s look at the
education background of the fortune 100
ceos
three quarters have bachelor’s degree in
either arts or business
business makes sense they are in
business after all
but business and arts share a common
ancestry
about 800 years ago it was part of the
faculty of arts
they share a lot of the same teaching
philosophies businesses regarded as a
social science
which is an arts degree but let’s just
focus on arts just for fun
two ceos of finance companies have
degrees in history
at mexican bank of america goldman sachs
nike target cisco ceos degrees in
political science
the only noticeable pattern is most tech
companies
have ceos with stem degrees and that
makes sense
but even there we find exceptions slack
is led by a philosophy major youtube
by a lit major like me
but it’s not all sunshine and daisies
bill gates founder of the second or the
biggest public company
by market cap he was a hater in 2011
when he said we should reduce spending
on arts because it doesn’t create jobs
well the current president of microsoft
an arts grad by the way
he had this to say at one level
ai will require that even more people
specialize in digital skills and data
science
but skilling up for an ai powered world
involves more
than science technology engineering and
math
as computers behave more like humans the
social sciences and humanities will
become even more important
languages art history economics ethics
philosophy psychology
and human development courses can teach
critical
philosophical and ethics-based skills
that will be instrumental in the
development and management
of ai solutions
critical philosophical and ethics-based
skills
sounds a lot like soft skills not a bad
endorsement right
well i got one better and it’s tied to
the second overall point of my talk
the first one was that art degrees have
a bad rep that they’re actually a safe
and lucrative choice that you can
recommend to your kids
second point is that the divide between
arts and sciences in universities is
counter-intuitive
you saw that quote that’s the president
of the biggest
public company in the world warning us
about some terminator cell takeover by
ai
where only arts stands in the way it
isn’t john connor that saves the world
it’s shakespeare but
let’s get an opinion from the founder of
the second biggest public company in the
world
famous rivalry apple and microsoft
three days after bill gates pooped in
the arts in 2011
steve jobs had this to say it’s an
apple’s dna
that technology alone is not enough it’s
technology married
with the liberal arts married with the
humanities
that yield us the results that make our
hearts sing
is anyone familiar with apple’s history
your screens i can’t actually hear you
apple was founded by steve jobs and
steve wozniak
steve wozniak was the electronics
engineer the brains behind the
computer’s brains
it was was that created the software
that led to the first
ever popular home computer the apple
ii it actually saved apple from going
into bankruptcy
jobs though he was the university
dropout
like me he did go for one year
focusing on art studies did you look at
that
he credits a calligraphy course as his
most transformative class
it’s actually what inspired the
invention of different fonts
being available on word processors
a major selling point on that apple too
imagine a world with only times new
roman
that’s terrifying jaws is the face of
apple
he’s the outspoken leader with a vision
it was him that combined masterful
storytelling
with animated presentations and
innovative projects
to make a ding in the universe the ipod
ipad itunes iphone heck even pixar
would not be here if it wasn’t for his
communicated vision
jobs and was show how arts and stem
should work together an
interdisciplinary one-two punch for
students to make the most
of all of their talents not just half of
them
when we defund arts and discourage arts
because we don’t see any value in it we
have an educating problem
when three quarters of stem grads aren’t
in stem
jobs we have an educating problem
and when we make kids single out one
passion
to follow for the rest of their lives
because a
literally medieval old system tells us
that’s the best way to teach
we have an educating problem arts and
stem
together is the only job ready graduate
out of the 36 classes that i needed to
take from my undergrad degree
only 10 could be outside my faculty
10 out of 36 it’s a failing grade
for providing a modern lasting
and desired education
stem graduates could benefit from the
soft skills that arts teaches
and is proven to prolong careers to keep
stems grads in the field that they love
art students we could benefit from the
technical foundations
and analytical knowledge needed to
relate with stem
in order to create and bring to life new
realities
that 18 year old version of me was right
to go into arts
the 21 year old me that dropped out
could have been kept better interested
with a better mix
of practical and engaging stem courses
why nurture one passion when you can
cultivate two
when it comes time for me to give advice
on what someone should do for school i
just hope
i don’t have to force a decision between
two passions
i say follow them both and make the
world’s heart sing
thank you