Will STEM or ‘soft skills’ save you in the new world of work?
Debate has raged in the last decade over whether STEM skills are superior to humanities in the future work landscape, but an increasing number of experts say it’s not simply one or the other. It’s the sweet combination of both that will set students up for success!
Hi-tech and STEM skill sets are highly sought after and will continue to be in the modern world of work, but not in isolation from or at the expense of 21st Century transferable skills that can be acquired in the study of humanities.
In fact, new studies show that creativity, critical thinking, effective communication and emotional intelligence are equally crucial qualities to master in order to thrive in the new world of work.
Why You Need ‘The Human Touch’ In Workplaces Of The Future
Author and LinkedIn Senior Editor George Anders, who has written five best-selling business books including You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Education, says curiosity, creativity and empathy are not traits that need to be reigned in or tempered in workplaces to ensure professional success.
“Just the opposite! The human touch has never been more essential in the workplace than it is today.”
You don’t have to mask your true identity to get paid for your strengths. You don’t need to apologise for the supposedly impractical classes you took in school or college or the so-called ‘soft’ skills you have acquired. The job market is quietly creating thousands of openings a week for people who can bring a humanist’s grace to our rapidly evolving high-tech future,” he writes.
“The more we automate the routine stuff, the more we create a constant low-level hum of digital connectivity, the more we get tangled up in the vastness and blind spots of big data, the more essential it is to bring human judgment into the junctions of our digital lives.”
Humanities Degrees Will Give You An Edge In The Employment Market
Monash University Dean of Arts Professor Sharon Pickering says studying humanities subjects actually helps develop the essential human skills students will need for their future careers.
“Graduating with an Arts degree is a springboard into a wide variety of career pathways,” she says.
“The skills developed whilst studying humanities - creativity, leadership, innovation, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and adaptability - are the skills employers find highly desirable, and can be applied to a broad range of jobs in fields spanning across industries.”
Monash Arts alumni data backs this up, showing humanities graduates include CEOs, CFOs and COOs, leaders across state and federal governments, world-class journalists, political advisors, and founders of start-ups and successful ASX200 companies.
“Industries these graduates work from are as diverse as data and analytics, logistics, finance, business, foreign affairs, media and communications, or technology,” Professor Pickering says.
Some argue students who graduate with humanities degrees will find it difficult to get work given the current economic climate and high unemployment rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Professor Pickering says graduates of humanities disciplines are highly employable in today’s knowledge economy. Recent national data shows humanities and social science graduates are employed at a rate of 91.1% (above science and maths), and on average earn more per year than maths and science graduates ($70,300 versus $68,900 annually).
Humanities Graduates Are More Resilient To Economic Downturns
A recent report from the British Academy examining the employment prospects of graduates from different subject groups, which is based on analysis by London Economics, provides quantitative evidence for the employment benefits of studying the arts, humanities and social sciences (HSS) at university or tertiary level.
The report finds that:
Graduates of arts, humanities and social sciences are just as resilient to economic upheaval as other graduates and are just as likely to remain employed as STEM graduates during economic downturns;
HSS graduates are essential to fill in the emerging workforce gaps of the future, particularly those studying fine arts, history and archaeology, philosophy and theology, geography, sociology and anthropology;
While the health sector is the dominant destination for recent STEM graduates, HSS graduates work in a wide range of both established and emerging sectors across the economy, including financial services, education, social work, the media and creative industries, so have greater opportunity for employment utilising transferable skills.
In the report, Louise Farrar, Director of student recruitment at PwC UK, says the global company is actively hiring for graduates who can demonstrate transferable human skills.
"For the majority of our roles, we recruit from any degree discipline. For us (PwC), agility, critical thinking and relationship building are some of the key attributes we look for in graduates, and our selection process is designed to assess an individual's potential against the PwC Professional framework.
Farrar also notes the high percentage of females who graduate in humanities subjects, making it “a great pool of talent for businesses looking to diversify their teams”.
“Of course, degrees and other qualifications are usually just the start of continuous learning and upskilling for today's digital world,” she adds.
Humanities Graduates Have More Career Pathway Opportunities
Numerous studies have also shown that arts, humanities and social science jobs are at the lowest risk of automation. Professor Pickering agrees.
“Arts graduates are shown to be as resilient to economic upheaval as other graduates and are likely to be employed in fast-growing and well-paid sectors of the economy,” she says.
“Graduating with an Arts degree puts students in a position to pursue a wide variety of careers across a broad range of industries and areas of interest. And our alumni data shows our Bachelor of Arts graduates are most likely to be employed in advertising, media, PR and the arts, followed by education and training and health and community services.”
The diversity of opportunities an Arts degree presents is also evidenced in this handful of Monash University Arts alumni:
Daniel Andrews - Victorian Premier
Cindy Gottinger - Google US Product Marketing Lead
Carolyn Creswell - Founder Carman’s Kitchen
Bill Shorten - Former Australian Prime Minister
Sue Noble - Volunteering Victoria CEO
Dr Fiona Geminder - Director and Co-Owner of Visy, one of the world’s largest privately-owned paper, packing and recycling companies
Helen Sawczak - Australia-China Business Council National CEO
Given the future of employment, skills and economic growth is uncertain across the globe, and the workforce continues to transform due to the effects of continued automation through the advent and application of technology, humanities and social sciences will be vital in understanding, shaping and building the society we want to live in.
In fact, it is the human skills that will give us the tools to examine and explain human behaviour, solve for the complex challenges of our times, and analyse the drivers and implications of a changing world.
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