, Columnist
The Economic Case for a Liberal Arts Education
If universities fail to teach critical-thinking skills, they will leave students unprepared for a changing economy.
What are they reading?
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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The humanities and social sciences are failing. Their popularity in the US has been waning in recent years, as many students enter STEM fields to seek skills directly applicable to their careers, but the last few months have exposed a deeper weakness: The humanities and social sciences are no longer training students to be critical thinkers.
Not only does this failure create serious challenges for our culture and democracy. It also leaves students less able to manage a changing economy.