Monday, June 20, 2011

Well, so much for the Renaissance Man

This morning, according to Yahoo! news, The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in its "2011 Job Outlook" reports the five most in-demand prospective employees are those with bachelor's degrees in:
accounting
finance
engineering
computer science
or business administration

Funny, I worked for the DuPont Company for eleven years, as a credit analyst and my bachelor's was in History, and Literature (dual degree). I was told that was why I was hired: a bachelor's in the humanities gave me critical thinking skills needed in the field. Now I would be lucky to get a job at Borders. Oops, they're in bankruptcy, closing most of their stores.

Unfortunately, the priesthood is evolving into one in which those five degrees above will be more valued than the humanities. That's not to say they will be more useful; that's only to say it will be thought they will be a more useful background for studying for priesthood - entrepreneurs are what are needed now, and that's not my passion.

So, with age 66 coming up soon (thank God there's not an extra 6 in that age! - see Revelation of John 13:18) I'm becoming a dinosaur in my calling. The good news is, kids of all ages love dinosaurs!

2 comments:

DeanB said...

Who is that National Association of Colleges and Employers, anyway? Are they mostly the employers and the colleges that have strong programs aimed at specific jobs? How much voice do liberal arts colleges have in how they chose to design that study? You don't have to believe everything you see on Yahoo! News. and you don't have to give up on a liberal arts education.

Lois Keen said...

Well, of course you're right, DeanB. And I'm glad I had a liberal arts education. There are just so many things I love - things to read, things to study, things to play, things to do...

...and now, in my old age, I'm going to meet a child for whom I am to be a mentor. Which is why I did the "kids love dinosaurs" thing!