[lit-ideas] Re: education
- From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 10:32:32 +0900
On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 9:33 AM, Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> Robert: You cannot have read any of the links I provided (I provided too
> many, and apologize) without seeing
>
> that my point was *not* that there are fewer business majors than in
> former years (I don't know if this is
> universally true or not), but that 'businesses' themselves are beginning
> to prefer, and to hire, liberal arts
> majors over business majors who are increasingly less adaptable to change
> in a 'corporate environment,'
> *and*, that MBA programs—which are themselves becoming less valued—are
> now urging those considering
> studying for the MBA, to get a liberal arts education first.
>
> If you are indeed replying to what I wrote about this earlier, the
> argument above is an *ignoratio elenchi*.
> (I just had to say that.)
>
> Andy: I concede the issue. I'm sure you're right. I don't know who
> Ignorant Ellen is though. But you got her
> name spelled wrong.
>
>
Andy,
I would not give up so quickly. Consider the possibility that what
businesses want in a workforce depends on the kind of business. Assume for
the sake of argument former Clinton administration Secretary of Labor
Robert Reich's classification of jobs in *The Work of Nations. *Reich
argues that there are, at the end of the day, only three broad categories
of jobs: repetitive physical labor, personal service, and symbolic-analysts
(knowledge workers). Repetitive physical labor is, except for the fast food
industry, truck drivers and other geographically constrained segments,
off-shored to where labor costs are lowest. The predictable result is more
people trying to move into personal services, driving down wages in that
segment as well. The symbolic-analyst segment is where a few talented
people can still make out like bandits.
My sense is that the case for businesses looking for liberal arts instead
of business majors is largely limited to the symbolic-analyst segment.
Liberal arts graduates of places like Reed (of which, by the way, my ever
so sagacious spouse is a graduate) do well in this segment. Graduates of
community college or second or third-tier state university business
programs don't.
The tricky bit these days for business majors is that while they fall out
of favor with businesses substituting automation for traditional
white-collar paper pushing, the alternatives in the repetitive physical
labor and personal service segments are largely what they were trying to
escape with their degrees. Their better options may include, for example,
military service and the acquisition of the specialized skills required for
health care, complex equipment maintenance, or bodyguard personal service
careers.
John
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/
Other related posts:
