Please read the response of President, Graham Carr to Margaret Wente’s column from Tuesday.
Letter to the Editor
Re: Educated for unemployment
Byline: Margaret Wente
We too congratulate the Class of 2012, above all the humanities, arts and social sciences (HSS) grads. Given Canada’s focus on innovation and job growth, the propensity of HSS grads to earn almost double that other grads when self-employed, suggests there’s much more to a broad education and career success than meets the eye, and once again, much more to a university education than job training (think public good).
Until recently, there were no tablets. Four years from now, who knows where technology will have taken us. Ironically, this actually makes the case for the so called, “soft” side of our universities. Today, the most valuable asset is people who can adapt, who can situate new technologies, languages and knowledge in a wider context of understanding. This invaluable advantage is leveraged by our grads throughout their lives—for their benefit, and for that of society as a whole.
Graham Carr
President, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
(514) 848-2424 ex. 3815
For more on the value of the humanities and social sciences, please read Graham Carr’s post for AUCC.