In his essay, angora lists seven misconceptions and how he reacts to them. The sots common misconception that angora identified is that liberal arts degrees are no longer affordable. The cost for liberal arts education is very expensive while most families are struggling with the economic is going down. Thus, the second misconception is, with a liberal arts degree, it is hard for graduates to find a good job, Moreover, liberal arts degree seems to be irrelevant and unimportant especially for low income families and first-generation college students.
Other misconceptions pointed out by angora are: the STEM (science, technology, engineer, math) are what people need to learn right now instead f arts, American education system is too old-fashioned to stick with liberal arts education, and while the cost for liberal arts education is very high, the outcome of appears to show no gain in productivity for the ways graduates do their work.
Finally, angora states that one of the misconception is because the United States is being led by a liberal Democrat, who seems to bring more problems to the country than solving the existing problems, so it is better for the young adolescence not to follow that same road. Among Angora’s entire list of misconceptions, found several of them are strongly disagreeable because he is president off liberal arts college, so it’s undeniable that he holds biases, and personally, I think whether to go for a liberal arts degree is mainly an individual choice that one makes depending on their background and personal matters that they have to resolved.
First of all, his misconception number one, liberal arts are becoming unaffordable and career education is What most people focus on, is highly disagreeable because it is nowadays a fact not just a misconception. He wrote, ‘The career bandwagon seems to suggest that shortcuts are available to students that lead directly to high-paying jobs?leaving out “frills” like learning owe to write and speak well, how to understand the nuances of literacy texts and scientific concepts, how to collaborate with others on research” What he means by that is there is no shortcuts to a high-paying jobs.
He also implies that liberal arts education is the only right way to prepare an individual for their future career because it equips ones with the abilities to write and speak formally, and understandings on scientific matter or how to cooperate with other people for workout, etc. However, I do not think he can deny the tact that the starting salary for a liberal arts graduate is approximately 532,500 while for an engineer is 75,000, (http://www. Mat. Du/engineering/outreach/welcome/salary/). For instant, what can a person possibly do with his philosophy degree right after graduating?
He will probably have to go for more schooling before he can find a high-paying job at some big firms or he will have to struggle a lot before he can open his philosophy shop or publish his book. In short, a liberal arts degree will take longer to See its worth than career education or vocational training. Besides, there is certainly no such thing as not going to school and still get a decent job, but liberal arts is for sure not a smart choice for families Who are financially trundling to pay off their children’s student loans or making ends meet.
Therefore, people Who say liberal arts are unaffordable and not as realistic as career education is a fact and a matter of choice that they make because oftener family background or financial situation, not because they are not equip with the right ways of thinking. Second, organ complicates the matter further when he writes, “One should not, in this day and age, study only the arts. The STEM fields.. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics– are where the action is,” as another misconception.
In other words, he means that people may think liberal arts is all about arts, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics are very critical tort one’s success in present. Found the first part not very agreeable while the second part of this “misconception” is today’s popular facts. On one hand, I think organ make this argument because he overlooks that people do know what are taught in liberal arts colleges, but students chose not to attend one because they think it may be impractical for them or maybe they are uninterested.
On the other hand, the STEM fields are becoming very important nowadays. Students are taught those subjects in their elementary, junior high, gig school and later on in college, which is the right time to deepen their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In additional, according to Charles Murray, who works at American Enterprise Institute and is an author of many articles for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, liberal arts should not wait until college to be taught because.
Murray says, “Liberal education in college means taking on the tough stuffs,” which means liberal education taught in college is more Of an advanced level than it is in K-12 classes. Murray also gave an example that philosophy taught in high school inform the students that Stuart Mill is the author of the book called “On Liberty” while students will be requested to read and understand the text in that book if philosophy is taught in college level. Greer what Murray says is the absolute truth because as a college level student who had took one philosophy course, can confirm that it requires a lot of work for that course which appears to be impractical for me because do not have any interest in becoming a philosopher. So, again, it is mainly a matter of choice it an individual choose to attend liberal arts colleges or career training courses depending on their personal aloes, beliefs and interests. Moreover, angular as a president of a liberal arts college, has his own biases. His biases show clearly when he used the term “misconception”.
Even though those ways of thinking are common and not true for him, it is still not a “misconception”. They are simply different ways of thinking caused by different backgrounds tot people, and people in different situations may view the same thing differently Murray writes, *Through immersion in liberal arts, students learn not just to make a living but also to live a life rich in values and character,” Though he insists that liberal arts prepare students tit knowledge that are more than enough to get a good job, still think he exaggerates a little too much about liberal arts.
If one is struggling faith their daily life, how will he be able to enjoy his life or to “live a rich life in values and character? ” It mainly depends on each individual to see what Works for them and what does not, so the more angora argues about these so-called misconceptions, the more Of a man full Of prejudices he becomes. Lastly, Murray, in his “Are TOO Many People Going to College” article, points out a wary interesting fact that our society unintentionally makes the term “Bachelor Of Arts” appear to be superior.
Murray wrote, “The problem begins with the message sent to young people that they should aspire to college no matter what,” meaning that not many young people attend college because that interests them, but going to college is a social norm that they have to follow or they will be classified as a lower class in our society. Totally agree with Murray because a lot of people emphasizing on going to college right now is a must, and no longer a choice.
I have a friend that attends college with me at the same time because her parent wants her to go to college. At the first time, she said college is easy and all study about liberal art hat did not connect anything about my job, gut nowadays, she said “I am not as good as I think those classes really helpful for me”. She changed her mind, and now after 2 years she graduated and transfer to university which is harder level of education.
She said without college maybe she will be lost when attend to university, However, again, whether to attend college is an individual choice, not a social norm. Everyone is free to choose what they want to do instead of being accused of having misconception or looked down because of their failure to attend college. In short, after reading “The New Liberal Arts” by Sanford J. Angora, agrees with several Of his points. According to angora, liberal arts colleges equip people with all they need for their success in the future.
However, he forgot one thing that people make different decision because Of the daily issues that they encounters, and only an individual knows best what is good for them. Therefore, Whether liberal arts colleges are good choices for higher education or not depends on each individual circumstances. The best method that each individual can use when identifying which institute they want to continue on for their higher education is to listen to their heart, interest, and be true to what they love to do.
