Summary of In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria
This year, I have made it my mission to understand the benefits of a liberal arts education. The reason is simple: most families I work with simply are not interested. Their focus is either the “top 25” schools or the well known public universities, especially the University of California options and the University of Michigan. The reason for this outlook, from what I can tell, is that these families perceive that a liberal arts education will not prepare their children to get a job after graduation. The path to a job, as these families see it, is through (1) a “top 25” school, (2) a public university with a huge alumni network, or (3) studying a “practical” major.
I can’t really argue with Points #1 and #2. Regarding Point #1, from my own experience at Stanford and Harvard, yes, I have to say that the job opportunities are there. Regarding #2, I think it’s common sense that once we look outside the most selective schools, of course job recruiters will show up at large public universities. For me, it’s really about Point #3 -- the value of a practical major. If we are talking about engineering, yes, all the statistics show that engineering students enter the workforce with higher starting salaries. And yet most students are not cut out to be engineers.
This leads me to a more narrow question: for a non-engineering student -- a typical case would be someone who wants to study business -- what is the best preparation for entering the job market? That is the question I had in mind when I decided to read Fareed Zakaria’s book, In Defense of a Liberal Education. To give you a sense of the book’s organization, here are the six chapters:
Coming to America. This section summarizes the author’s own experience moving from the education system in India to the education system in the U.S. The most striking difference for the author is the ability of students of American universities to take a broad range of courses, including those outside their intended majors. In contrast, many universities in other places emphasize a narrower, skills-based approach. The author points out that, despite our renewed interest in education that leads to a job, that has not, historically in America, been the purpose of education. In fact, he argues that the shift toward skills-based education is a shift away from what makes the American approach to higher education unique.
A Brief History of Liberal Education. This section gives an overview of how the idea of a liberal education originated in ancient Greece. He argues that the rise of democracy, which placed government in the hands of the people, required a more educated citizenry; the term “liberal education,” uses the word “liberal” in its original Latin sense, meaning “of or pertaining to free men.” The author then visits various developments between ancient Greece and now, including the development of the German research university, the English residential college system, and the American attempt to blend the two. Specifically, American education has emphasized not only filling the mind with specific content, but also training the mind to think. The author acknowledges that skepticism of many features of a liberal education is justified. For example, because research has trumped teaching at many universities, we often see ultra-specific courses such as “Transgendered Roles in East African Poetry” that reflect a professor’s research interests rather than what’s optimal for the student. In addition, grade inflation has reduced academic rigor in the humanities, leading, perhaps, to more skepticism about the value of a liberal education. Furthermore, the diminished role of science and technology within a liberal arts education is an unwelcome departure from the traditional liberal education, which emphasized both.
Learning to Think. This section delves into how a liberal arts education teaches a student to think. The author argues that “the central virtue of a liberal education is that it teaches you how to write, and writing makes you think.” From my own experience, I can say that this is 100% true. I thought I understood college counseling fairly well before working with Victoria and Phil to write Stairway to College Heaven, but after finishing the book, I understood it much more clearly. Writing requires precision, and precision requires clear thinking. The author also notes that beyond teaching students to write, a liberal education also teaches students to speak and to learn. These three skills -- writing, speaking, and learning -- are, the author argues, necessary skills for any job. Students can learn these skills through the study of any subject, even art history (an example Victoria will no doubt be happy to see mentioned). For those worried about job prospects, the author cites statistics about (1) 74% of employers saying that a good liberal education is the best preparation for entering the global economy and (2) the wage gap between engineers and other professionals narrowing over time. The author also suggests that part of what makes America great is its culture of challenging conventional wisdom, a feature that a liberal education encourages. The author argues that the rigor and discipline of a science degree, not the content of the degree per se, is what appeals to employers; therefore, the solution for students concerned about jobs is not necessarily to pursue a skills-based degree such as business, but rather to seek out a more rigorous liberal education.
The Natural Aristocracy. The author mentions Benjamin Franklin as the American archetype of the self-made man. Franklin advocated a general, wide-ranging education. This is a recurring point the author makes: that if we want our students not only to find jobs, but also to become good citizens, then a liberal education makes sense. I would add that in my conversations with families over the years, the idea of developing the child into a good citizen has come up exactly zero times so far. This is a big question for families: do you believe or care that the role of a college education is to produce a good citizen, or is it only to prepare a student for a job? The author then notes the original American ideal of a meritocracy and of using public education to avoid the development of a privileged elite that entrenches its advantages. He points out that preferences for legacies, underrepresented minorities, and recruited athletes interfere with this ideal of meritocracy. Skepticism about the value of a liberal education has grown in part because of the rising cost of college and in part because of the difficulty of measuring the quality of an education.
Knowledge and Power. The author wonders why people want knowledge, including knowledge that doesn’t lead to jobs. OK. I found myself losing interest here. No summary available.
In Defense of Today’s Youth. This is the part where the author argues that today’s youth are not so bad. Yes, maybe they are more focused on achievement, and maybe they are excellent sheep without as much intellectual curiosity. At the same time, they do care about doing good in the world, and they are more tolerant and raising a family is an important goal for them. Regardless of whatever we think about today’s youth, the author closes with the statement that a liberal education would help all of us to think more deeply about the world.
Would I recommend that you spend your time and money on this book? Nope. That is not to say I got nothing out of it, but the moments of insight were too scattered for me to enjoy it. That said, I did come away from this book focused on a few questions:
Is the role of a college education solely to help the student get a job, or is it also to prepare the student to be a good citizen?
Is the concern many parents have about a liberal education not leading to a job justified, or is the underlying issue really that many liberal arts majors, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, lack the academic rigor that sends the right signal to employers?
For a non-science, non-engineering student, what is the best way to pursue academic rigor in college?
How do we go about evaluating which colleges offer more rigorous courses that actually teach students to write, speak, and learn?
These are the questions that will drive my book selection for next month. Stay tuned!