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English Literature » Blog Archive » Career Options for English Majors.

I appreciate that the above article strives to help potential English majors feel less anxious about the choice of a humanities discipline. The author does a largely successful job of communicating the transferable skills one acquires as an English major and how those skills relate to more than simply teaching the subject for a living. The problem arises when we look at how the author handles the “how much money will I make” question.

To academic advisors, the flaws in the logic that presumes any degree will lead specifically to one and only one well-paying or poorly-paying job are as evident as is the impetus for students to use this logic in their choice of college major in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, each student is allowed to put value on whatever impetus they wish when starting their education. And why wouldn’t you want the way you spend your years in higher education to positively effect what you do for a living  and how much you get paid for doing so? So, it’s not that I fault the author of the above article for putting a dollar figure on what the “typical” English major makes for a living–I simply wouldn’t have put it at the end of the first paragraph. And I certainly would have spent way more time talking about the difficulty in using an average annual salary of all English majors without pointing to the number of variables, well within the student’s control, that can boost that “average” figure.

CUES or Qs?

So, I recently became the chair of NACADA’s (the National Academic Advising Association) Commission on Undeclared/Exploratory Student Advising (CUES). I was down in Orlando at our annual conference (and man, was it a bitchin event this year!) engaging in all sorts of on-line and off-line social networking, professional development, and general merry-making when an interesting turn of phrase occurred.

Rather than utter “the Commission for Undeclared/Exploratory Student advising” every time I talk about Commission stuff, I’ve taken to using the acronym CUES, as though talking about pool cues. In the course of conversation, however, a non-CUES colleague turned to a third with an inquisitive look on her face as if to say “what the hell does he mean? cues?” The third colleague said “Qs, as in “Q” for “questions” — questions from the undeclared/exploratory population.” This clearly wasn’t the way I was processing use of the acronym, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well this alternative perspective serendipitously fit and gave me another level on which to appreciate the work we do in advising undeclared and exploratory students.

So, “cues” or “Qs” really makes no difference in the end…isn’t language a fascinating thing?

 

Get Over Yourself, Bill!

Bill Gates: In Five Years The Best Education Will Come From The Web.

I usually like the things Bill Gates has to say on the topic of education, but I think he’s way off base here. I agree that text books seem to be awfully thick, and I’ve spent my fair share of time reading those written by scholars who seem to be simply grinding an ax. And educational technology and Web applications in academia know no greater champion than me. But to suggest that as thorough and meaningful an education as can be earned in academia can be acquired simply be reading and listening to lectures online seems ridiculous to me.

There is an old axiom that states “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” It’s a quick quip one can utter when confronted with arguments in debate that are not fully researched and go hardly beyond surface structure of the issue. However, never has this been more important a reality to bear in mind–especially as we launch head-long into what will certainly be one of the most contentious election seasons in history and while we’ll need to suffer through countless tirades from under-educated and under-informed candidates and supporters. Or let’s consider the one that states “you don’t know what you don’t know”? And I don’t know about you, Bill, but I sure as hell don’t want a doctor working on me who learned everything he knows from Web MD.

So Bill, please, let’s not generalize–not every text book is written by committee. And let’s not over-play our hand–unless you’re suggesting that people can find the equivalent to 120 lecture hours of content on a range of liberal studies topics that they themselves can organize into a cohesive program  of study, then no, educating oneself on-line will never take the place of a college education (and that’s just a bachelors degree, don’t even get me started on the idea of advanced study at the master’s and doctoral levels!).

No, let’s not burn down the bastions of higher education, Bill, let’s work to ensure they are embracing technology and the World Wide Web to enrich educational experiences. Let’s encourage them to leverage in the educational experiences of those they teach, the unprecedented access to information the Web provides.

Calling All Wanderers

The Search – How to Rebound From a Wrong Career Choice – NYTimes.com.

I came across this NYTimes article and had to share it. I found myself uncontrollably nodding as I read each passing sentence. I could have written this article given that every observation voiced about college major and career choice are so similar to those I’ve made for countless students.

Students, as you read this, know that my office goes to the same lengths as the career coaching companies quoted in the article to assure you’ve identified your interests, abilities and goals. If you’re freaked out about being undeclared, STOP IT this instant and come see us! We’re here, like sherpas, waiting to guide you on your road to discovering your major.

Colleagues, bookmark that article and show it to the next ‘helicopter parent’ you see who insists, regardless of how horrible their student/child is at math and science, that they have given birth to a doctor or engineer.

Ask Me a Simple Question, Get a Novel-Length Answer

A colleague of mine proferred this simple question on her facebook status:

“Help me out friends and family: What’s something you’d like schools/teachers/classes/administrators to do to help make a positive change for our future.”

My response?

Work together to ease college admissions expectations for non-academic requirements. It’s ridiculous that many university music programs, for example, require students to perform concerto movements for admission–this is what is required of professionals auditioning into orchestras. Do universities want to teach or only to educate prodigies? And yes, the author of this rant does hold two music degrees.

And what does this encourage our high school juniors and seniors to focus on? Are they strengthening their learning skills in other subjects or essentially guaranteeing they’ll be academically unprepared to handle the rigor of college-level learning? The same goes for extra-curricular activities and volunteerism expectations in general, while the only academic assessment is a cursory glance at GPA and SAT scores. The typical high school senior is spread too thin trying to achieve excellence in so many areas other than learning beyond standardized tests, that things such as critical and creative thinking, and the ability to take ownership of their own knowledge acquisition is entirely undervalued.

Sorry for the novel, Melissa…must have struck a chord with me.

Now Why Wouldn’t You Lead With This?

“There’s evidence, though, that employers also don’t want students specializing too soon. The Association of American Colleges and Universities recently asked employers who hire at least 25 percent of their workforce from two- or four-year colleges what they want institutions to teach. The answers did not suggest a narrow focus. Instead, 89 percent said they wanted more emphasis on “the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing,” 81 percent asked for better “critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills” and 70 percent were looking for “the ability to innovate and be creative.””

That quote, taken from this lengthy NYT article a colleague sent me, should have been more influential in picking a headline for the article. I could go on a long diatribe, the likes of which we haven’t heard since “Boston Legal” was cancelled, but I’ll refrain from waiving the banner I’ve waived so many times in the past about building so called “soft skills” like verbal and written communication and critical thinking skills. (anyone requiring information on run-on sentences, contact the writer of the last )

I’ll refrain from the “banner waive” and just encourage you to invest the time in reading the article–I couldn’t waive it better myself

Ranting About Rankings?

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/13/usnews#Comments

So, I’m on the fence on this one. I appreciate the benefit of college ranking systems and that they can be helpful to potential students in the “shopping” phase of their post-secondary educational reality.

I guess the idealist in me would hope that more educational outcome-focused data would comprise the bulk of the input.  And this quote from the article really couldn’t express my cynicism any better–even if I’d written it myself:

In the study, two scholars evaluated changes in reputational scores of colleges and then looked for correlations between those changes and other factors that U.S. News declares are important and recalculates each year: graduation and retention, faculty resources, selectivity and financial resources. These factors are of course also controversial with many educators, who say that they reward colleges for being wealthy and rejecting many students.

So, I don’t know. . .what do you all think?

Is Being an Undeclared Major Best for Your Career?

I knew I wasn’t crazy about this!

Is Being an Undeclared Major Best for Your Career?

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Want to help your teenager find his passion? Leave him alone!

Want to help your teenager find his passion? Leave him alone!.

This is a good, very short post about a linked article providing “food for thought” about majors and careers. . .there’s even a little in there to make you think hard about what university you choose to attend. A few points I’d like to make before you go read them, though:

1. I realize the blog post is geared toward parents of college-bound students, and that none of my audience is in that particular situation. However, read both the blog and the linked article–they’re worth it
2. Before you link out to read the longer article it points to, read the last paragraph of the blog and digest it as suggesting “soft skills” (i.e. critical thinking, written and verbal communication etc.) are very important and things you can work toward at any point in your educational career.
3. The linked article focuses on bachelor’s degree holders–this presupposes that you won’t go to graduate school. You all know I like to encourage graduate school as a way to increase your knowledge-base, improve your hiring potential and increase your earning possibilities

That should cover it–happy reading!

You Watch Your Phraseology!

So, as is usually the case when I blog, I find myself in a bit f a quandary about just what to feel after reading this article:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/23/professionalism

I’m a generation in age removed from those I advise and teach and have noticed some accuracy in the reporting of universal tendencies in the behavior of members of the Millennial Generation.  However, the general tone of the article seems to indicate that the HR people doing the assessing were as curmudgeonly as Mayor Shinn from “The Music Man.” And the suggestion that university educators are contributing to the problem simply isn’t good for the vein in my head.

Polk offered a number of suggestions about what colleges can do in the classroom to improve the “professionalism” of their graduates.

“… some professors will say, ‘Just call me by my first name.’ There’s no way I think that’s proper behavior in my classroom. It creates this wonderfully false impression that professors are less authority figures than they are friends.”

No, let’s not break down the typical power structure of teacher-centered teaching by humanizing ourselves as professors. Ignore the fact that one of the verifiable universals of the millennial generation is that they respect and admire educators who are not only experts in their field but who can also have a healthy laugh at her/himself and display an appropriate level of irreverence from time to time.

“There’s this moral authority that some professors get uncomfortable with. For this to work successfully, when a professor calls out a student’s behavior, the administration should be there to back them up immediately and say, ‘Your behavior is wrong.’”

Isn’t is possible to impress the importance of professionalism and respect upon younger generations by earning it and displaying it to them as well. And what happens when the professor is being unreasonable with her/his demands of respect or accusations of inappropriate behavior, the department backs her/him unquestionably and the student is unjustly reprimanded? What have we taught the student then?

“One of the things you’ve got to ask yourself is, are we just a bunch of dinosaurs looking at young people saying, ‘What I’m seeing here is inappropriate,’ ” mused Polk, who made sure to note he was 61. “Are the changes in attitude here generational or are they lifestyle changes? Will you people eventually take on conservative professionalism or have things just changed?

And what if things have changed–is that such a problem? Do we really care if the investment banker reaping the super huge bonus at the end of the year despite his under-performance is tattooed or sports body piercings? Is the more-problematic behavior in this scenario the former rather than the latter?

By all means, as educators, it is inherent upon us to prepare those we teach for a successful life in the world of work–let us teach a strong work ethic and an unwavering sense of professionalism and respect. But to suggest that the only way to do so is to blast university education sixty years into the past is ludicrous.

“First, it’s medicinal wine from teaspoon, then beer from a bottle!”