Making the Case for Liberal Education

Training Versus Education: A False Choice

Carol Lucey
Excerpted from Nevada Appeal, January 16, 2002

As educators, business leaders and parents, what do we tell college-age students who want a fast-track program to get a high-paying job when we know a rich liberal education might be a better path to a "bigger dream?"

Business and society are better served by the infusion of new graduates who bring both the skills needed for the job and the perspective of a liberal education to their work. For the most part, these graduates are better prepared to succeed in today's rapidly changing workplace. They can evolve as the needs of the company continue to change.

Typically, these graduates bring a variety of critical skills to the workplace: effective oral and written communication skills, empathy for many points of view, the ability to solve complex issues and the ability to work effectively with others. A broad-based education provides a traditional foundation for an understanding of our past, its links to our future and the interconnectivity of the various disciplines. More important, graduates are better prepared for socially valued work and for civic leadership.

It is understandable that many students are focused on careers and the skills needed to achieve their goals. However, it's important to take the broader view that a liberal education will achieve individual, business and societal goals.

National efforts

The growing demand for higher learning creates a new urgency and responsibility to revitalize the education of undergraduates, says the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Earlier this year, San Jose State University joined 500 institutions to support the AAC&U's Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning (CALL) to enhance general education requirements and promote the benefits of a liberal education.

On Sept. 30, the organization will release a report, "Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College," which details the findings and recommendations of a national panel. The report aims to promote the kind of learning students need to meet emerging challenges in the workplace, in a diverse democracy and an interconnected world.

Societal good vs. work force training

"Liberal education has always stood for the very best kind of learning our society knows how to offer. We need to reclaim that legacy and to insist that excellence in liberal education is an equal opportunity commitment important to every student and to every field of study," says AAC&U president Carol Geary Schneider.

All colleges and universities can strive to educate students in a liberal manner. In this sense, it's an approach to teaching and learning, rather than a body of knowledge, specific courses or type of institution.

There has been an historical tug of war between two goals of education -- the societal good and work force training. The shift towards the latter is rather recent, driven by the widening of the door to education through efforts such as the GI Bill, Land Grant Institution Act, etc. But it is important, particularly in this information age, that we shift the equilibrium back toward the original and most important goal of education -- the good of society.

What you can do

As members of the business community, and as parents, it's in your best interests to promote a broad-based education. Whether it's holding résumés to a new standard, encouraging professional development among your employees or simply guiding your own children from their earliest years, you can make a difference. That difference will not only benefit the local community, but our interconnected national and global communities as well.

Robert Caret is president of San José State University.

This editorial appeared in Silicon Valley Business Ink.

The Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning is supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more information contact Bethany Zecher Sutton at 202-387-3760.