hire a liberal arts graduate?" with a direct, "Any position in the company." When asked if a buyer
wouldn’t need to have special skills, he replied, "Taste is acquired or learned, and the liberal arts major
could certainly learn this skill on the job." This interview is typical of the responses.

Skills acquired with a liberal arts background are most desired by employers.

We were not at all surprised to learn that the skills cited as the most desirable in an employee are those

skills acquired from a liberal arts background. The cited skills are listed below in order of importance.
1, Oral communication
2. Written communication
3. Interpersonal
Analytical thinking
Critical thinking
6. Leadership
Although these skills are not solely acquired through the mastery of an academic discipline, the discipline
serves as a vehicle for developing or refining these skills.
Liberal arts majors can enhance their credentials.

Adaptability and lifelong learning are the cornerstones of success in today’s complex and rapidly changing
society. No longer can the person who is steeped in one academic discipline, but knows nothing about
anything else, meet today’s demands. Based on the data we accumulated, our recommendations for the
liberal arts major are the following:

1. A basic knowledge of accounting

2. Computer literacy

3. Second major in a business field

4. Multiple minors

5. Advanced degree in another field
The key here is adaptability and diversity. Contrary to what most people believe, the higher a skill level an
individual can claim, the more marketable he is. About those individuals who complain that they are
"overeducated" we can only assume that they are marketing themselves on the wrong level.
"Overeducation" is a term whose time will not come in the foreseeable future. The problem many
individuals will face is a narrowness of education rather than "over-education."

Unlike Aristotle who is believed to have known everything there was to know at the time he lived, it is
impossible for us to deal with the voluminous amounts of information which are produced daily. The
lifelong learning which we have alluded to will not always be acquired through the traditional sixteen-week
college course. We in the community college need to provide a smorgasbord of opportunities for individuals
who wish to increase their mobility and options.

The time has come to rethink what education really is and how it relates to the functions of society.
Perhaps what a liberal education does for an individual, which is more important than anything else, is to
prepare him for more learning. The liberal arts background equips one with thinking skills; and those,
coupled with the desire to learn, are the best preparation for career and life that any of us can possess.

ora

Debra Sikes Barbara Murray
Grayson County College Grayson County College

For further information, contact the author at Grayson County College, 6101 Grayson Drive, Denison, TX
75020. :

 

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor
March 13, 1987, Vol. IX, No. 8

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS Is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512)471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortlum members for $35 per year. Funding In
part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are In session during fall and spring
terms and once during the summer.

© The University of Texas at Austin, 1986
Further duplication Is permitted only by MEMBER Institutions for their own personnel. ISSN 0199-106

 

 

 

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