My name is Esther Hersh and I am from Brooklyn, New York. I studied Fine Arts in a liberal arts college and then worked in art consulting before attending ITP. I only decided to go to graduate school when I experienced the limitations of entering the workforce without a graduate degree. A liberal arts education does not provide you with a solid foundation in one specific field and that seemed to be what employers were really looking for. I was working in a field in which there were unpaid internships posted all the time for which a graduate degree was “preferred.” Higher education (at least in this country) seems very practical. In some fields you need it, either because of the skills you need to develop or because the people in your field value those who have pursued higher education. I’m not sure that it should be expected of people the way it is, especially considering the cost of higher education. I think people are inherently aware of how they learn and for some that’s in a classroom. I enjoy being a student and was happy to continue as a student for a while since I learn best and produce more work within that structure but I don’t expect that would be the case for everyone nor do I think that I should be more valued as a potential employee because I learn best this way and because graduate school was financially feasible for me.
While it’s possible that learning in traditional school might be the best option for most people (although I’m not suggesting that this is the necessarily the case,) I think that if graduate school is an absolute necessity after 12 years of school and 4 years of college that our education system has fundamentally failed in some way. It’s possible that a system more like England’s would help students since they can focus more on their personal interests while in high school, experience college level courses (or an actual college) in sixth form and then focus in on their careers in college. I do believe that a liberal arts education is an end onto itself and should not be sacrificed, but neither should a person’s ability to support themselves without mountains of debt or a piece of paper that assures others that they’ve studied within one very specific structure.
Alternative learning experiences can range from independent study using online resources which many use to learn coding and design, apprenticeships which have taught young workers for centuries, and internship programs which can vary in structure. When internships are viewed as an opportunity to teach, and inspire the next generation within any field, instead a way to hire cheap or free labor, students learn about a career within it’s environment. They can be offered supplementary classes and workshops but they spend every day in the environment where they will eventually be employed. They can learn more about life in the field that way instead of being blindsided when they leave college, learn by doing, and hopefully make money in the process.
How might someone describe to interested parties the different ways they have learned, grown, or become good at something?
Where you exposed to specialized studies (i.e. magnet high schools) prior to higher ed? How do you think this would’ve changed the path for you as well as other liberal arts students?
Hey Ester, lovely post! I totally agree that some undergraduate liberal arts degrees make it hard to enter into non-humanities fields, especially if it’s not a DIRECT correlation to the field. I studied Film and English Lit in undergrad, so tried my hand at documentary and publishing right out of undergrad—it took a couple lateral moves to get into creative consulting without that MBA or MFA (most of my colleagues have a grad degree). One thing that you mentioned—the unpaid internship—did make me think of another style of apprenticeship. Certain fields, like finance and management consulting, have extensive training programs where you’re contracted for a number of years in return for the on-the-job education. Do you think this is a fairer system? It’s something I personally wish more industries would do, but it’s obviously more of a commitment than an internship so not right for people who are exploring different paths.