The saying goes, “behind every successful man stands a woman.” While this trite saying may be debatable, one thing seems to hold true: behind every successful STEM graduate stands a non-STEM graduate.
Behind every mechanical or electrical engineer working on a building stands an architecture firm that designed the foundation. Behind every computer science web developer stands a graphic designer creating a visual aesthetic for a company’s brand.
In the modern workforce, STEM and non-STEM graduates’ work goes hand and hand. Yet universities around the United States have yet to catch on.
Sense and Sensibility
The practicality of students’ degrees and the value of STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) compared to non-STEM education (liberal arts and the humanities and social sciences) is an ongoing debate that rages on.
Contrary to some beliefs, the divide between STEM and non-STEM education has not always been instilled in universities. In ancient Greece, formal education focused on teaching a wide range of topics. Maths and sciences were taught alongside music and literature, and these subjects were valued equally. Now, this is not the case.
Inherently, it seems people place a higher value on STEM degrees. They’re viewed as practical and necessary in the job market. Non-STEM degrees are often viewed as unnecessary, impractical or even just a hobby.
Jacqueline DeRobertis, an English literature and philosophy senior, feels that non-STEM educations are undervalued.
“When I was younger, people told me that you go to college to get a degree to get a job,” DeRobertis said. “I wanted more out of my college experience.”
Students like DeRobertis who are more interested in liberal arts find defending their non-STEM degree difficult when the job market tells them they will not make it once they graduate. DeRobertis thinks liberal arts should be more respected.
“Non-STEM education teaches us how we live and why we live,” DeRobertis said.
Fact or Fiction
STEM students are not solely concerned with practicality. Many STEM majors don’t inherently lack creativity, and many are following their dreams of becoming a scientist or a mathematician.
On the other side, non-STEM students don’t inherently rebuke the idea of practicality. Many non-STEM students consider practicality when choosing their field, but they are willing to risk financial instability upon graduation so that they can pursue their passion, said ceramics junior Patrick LeBas.
It is assumed that those studying STEM subjects have a set plan for their career. Graduates think they are guaranteed jobs because of the consistent need for STEM workers in the United States. However, this is not the case.
The “STEM crisis” refers to the desperate need for more STEM workers in the U.S. Though a study done in 2013 by IEEE Spectrum suggests that the STEM crisis is a myth. In fact, there are more STEM workers available than suitable jobs.
According to Dean Richard White of the College of Business, a graduate in any field is in an unstable position.
“A graduate today, by the time they are 40 years old, will have had 14 jobs,” White said.
The real crisis is how graduates in any field are going to find jobs, not just non-STEM majors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected overall employment in the U.S. from now until 2020 is expected to increase in only four fields — registered nurses, retail salespersons, home health aids and personal care aids.
Things Look Bleak
With the future job market in decline, a lot of things are at stake.
A STEM graduate’s promise of a sustainable living is in jeopardy according to the job market, yet students still believe that they will get a job upon graduation.
For non-STEM graduates who risked a non-traditional degree, the situation seems even more dire.
Not only are jobs at stake, but certain departments face being axed. LSU is not expected to drop programs like the termination of Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette’s agriculture and fashion departments, but there is an underfunding problem. The recent fall of a 300-pound ceiling tile in the studio arts building is one of the many examples of the literal dangers of underfunding at LSU. When it comes to non-STEM departments being underfunded, the University isn’t the only one to blame. Many colleges’ non-STEM departments struggle with funding. Because LSU is a research school, many grants go to STEM departments. Art students are not bringing in money with research.
College of Art and Design Dean Alkis Tsolakis agrees that the liberal arts do not usually create measurable research.
“How do you recognize the value of what a painter does?” asked Tsolakis. “What a sculptor does? What a creative writer does? How do you articulate the kind of research that we do here, which is not the research that brings you the big bucks?”
Many donations come from alumni, fundraising or external affairs — something the arts also struggle with. Further, non-STEM departments tend to cost more to fund than STEM departments. Some don’t give the payback that other departments do, White said.
For example, a music major may be in studio classes with three or four other people. The faculty-to-student ratio for these classes is high, not to mention costly. Oppositely, an accounting student—who does not cost the school as much to educate—will leave LSU with a starting salary of $80,000 a year.
“We’ve got to look at the bigger picture,” White added. “All of our graduates have value and you can’t put a dollar value on it.”
Weighing it Out
Looking at the numbers, a STEM degree’s value is more easily measured in concrete terms. Yet most published research limits the measure of the success of certain industries to monetary terms.
According to Tsolakis, non-STEM graduates do get jobs. The pay may not be great, but the jobs are interesting.
“Although they do not make a lot of money, at least at first, they are happy,” Tsolakis said. “These are the things this college is all about: creativity, imagination. That is rigorous and constructive. It’s not finger painting.”
Non-STEM education teaches skills that enhance students not only as people and employees, but leaders, DeRobertis said. They’re taught how to think and communicate holistically instead of the more linear approach taught to STEM students. This makes non-STEM students more marketable post graduation, according to DeRobertis.
“In the job market, it’s not just your resume or credentials, but you have to sell yourself,” DeRobertis said. “You have to be able to pitch yourself and pitch your ideas and in the more creative disciplines, we’re much more prepared than people who haven’t been taught how to interview or even been taught how to face rejection.”
A lot of non-STEM programs esentially study humanity. DeRobertis loves literature because it breaks down barriers in ways that math or science cannot do.
“We need to look at people, not merely as an equation of a compilation of cells, but as people with thoughts and feelings and creative expressions that I don’t think we can explore without non-STEM majors,” DeRobertis explained.
Passion
Tsolakis agreed that in many ways, non-STEM programs teach people about humanity and how to live in a society that is constantly changing.
“How do you expect people to be citizens if you train them like robots?” Tsolakis asked.
DeRobertis chose her degree path because she fell in love with language, critical thinking and words. Most students study a non-STEM discipline because they choose to do what they love in spite of monetary prospects. For those students, it’s about passion.
LeBas happened upon his passion in an interesting way. After planning on receiving degrees in painting and education, LeBas happened upon the ceramic club’s biannual Print and Pottery Sale and spotted a cup on the shelf. He decided that it was a craft he’d love to learn.
The next semester, he enrolled in four studio classes: both intro to ceramics classes as well as printmaking and painting for a total of 18 hours.
When midterms rolled around, Lebas’ prioroties changed.
“I spent the entire night working on the project for ceramics instead of painting.”
Since then, LeBas dropped his painting degree and has continuously been working in the ceramics studio.
Happiness, Tsolakis said, is key.
“I could not see myself not working in clay for the rest of my life,” LeBas said. “I know that it’s not the most stable employment, but I’m willing to risk that to be happy.”
Get it Together
According to Tsolakis, a graduate’s happiness is paramount, but happiness does not pay the bills. Thinking realistically shouldn’t happen after a student receives their diploma. Realistically, happiness doesn’t get you a job.
According to a 2013 study by Georgetown University, from now until 2020, employers will seek cognitive skills such as communication and analytics from job applicants rather than the physical skills associated with manufacturing.
This fact opens up a completely new dialogue among students and faculty.
Instead of being pitted against each other, students will be more successful if they integrate their STEM studies with their non-STEM courses and vice versa.
Gaines Foster, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said one of the best preparations for business is to have a liberal arts educational background and a business school degree.
Our students get a tremendous emphasis on analytical skills; how to write and how to speak,” Foster said. “Those skills are applicable to all sorts of degrees.”
Unfortunately, especially at LSU, dividing time between STEM and non-STEM can be challenging.
“We’ve gotten so specialized in higher education that it’s difficult for students to really branch out, especially when they’re in STEM,” White said.
Although it is demanding, the task of integrating studies is not impossible. For now, it’s up to LSU’s administration to make it easier.
White said that he and the other deans are familiar with the struggle of LSU students receiving a very liberal education. Balance is something to strive for.
There are many things to gain on both ends of the spectrum. Receiving a well-rounded education seems like the end game here. For their own benefit, students must erase the line drawn between STEM and non-STEM education. Neither is better than the other.
“We’re here to enhance society,” White said. “If that is a better accountant or a gifted violinist, it’s part of the big picture.”