As someone pursuing a degree in the humanities, I have faced a fair amount of prejudice and discrimination due to my choice of study, most often from skeptical adults and students obtaining STEM majors.
The world is currently driven by STEM – science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Individuals are encouraged to pursue a degree in one of these fields, as it is supposedly the key to a future filled with wealth and success.Yes, science and mathematics are vital to our growth and success as a species, but so are the humanities. Studying literature, philosophy, language, art, and all other creative fields teach valuable skills like critical thinking, written and verbal communication, curiosity, and expressionism. Granted, I know very little about organic chemistry or anatomy, or most other areas that are considered important knowledge for the doctors, chemists, and engineers who continually produce inventions that save lives or make our day-to-day tasks easier. I appreciate the latest and greatest iPhone, medical cures, and advances in technology, even though I can’t create them myself.
The point of this article is not to deny the importance of STEM fields. These studies help us move forward and continually make progress and innovations. However, when I tell an individual studying or working in these fields, or even when I tell my family members, that I am pursuing a degree in advertising, they act as if I’ve set my life up for failure.
I was an English major before I switched to advertising. When I informed people of my field of study, I received comments such as: “Have fun being a barista,” “I’ll have fries with that,” or, “So you want to be a teacher?” There are jobs that require the skills learned by pursuing a degree in the humanities that are most certainly not in the fast-food industry or teaching. These individuals can choose to use their background to go to law school and become a lawyer, to become a writer at an advertising agency, or even to become a technical writer, to help those scientists and engineers effectively convey their findings, just to name a few.
The humanities also illuminate humankind’s inherent traits, such as compassion, empathy, grief, anger, joy, and curiosity. It is important to look at the classics and see how certain stories transcend time and are still applicable today. I, personally, would hate to live in a world run only by those in the STEM fields – a world filled with robots rather than humans with a real spectrum of emotions.
Many of the inventions and observations of those in the STEM field would not be plausible without the help of creative individuals. Those studying the humanities are taught to ask critical questions that prompt social change and challenge the status quo. Learning how to communicate both verbally and in writing is a priceless skill that enables an individual to share their thoughts and ideas with others in a way that simply working in a laboratory can’t. Advertising, public relations, English, comparative literature, art, and all other creative majors are all necessary for the intellectual and cultural growth of our species. Therefore, I implore all of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors of the world to be a little less critical, and a little more appreciative of the humanities, and those who choose to study them. Just think, where would we be without Shakespeare or Van Gogh?