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A time-tested degree

Joshua Lawton-Belous’ degree path is an unusual marriage of pre-professional and liberal arts education. The 24-year-old is a junior double majoring in nursing and history at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. After six years in uniform and two tours in Iraq as a medic, the former Army staff sergeant’s pursuit of a nursing degree seems a natural fit.

It’s his history major that requires some explanation.

“I’ve always loved history,” Lawton-Belous said. He also knows that the work he’s doing for history courses will pay off in graduate school.

“The amount of research that goes into writing papers and studying for exams will help me later on,” Lawton-Belous said.

His belief in the power of a liberal arts education isn’t just wishful thinking. In fact, our experts say uncertain economic times and increasing global interdependency are making the value of a liberal arts education greater than ever before.

Liberal arts in the global age

Liberal arts students typically walk away with bonus skills they never knew they were learning, such as strategic thinking and the ability to write well, said Sheila J. Curran, career consultant and co-author of the book “Smart Moves for Liberal Arts Grads: Finding a Path to Your Perfect Career.”

“People have a tendency to think that the subject matter of your degree is what you are going to be doing later on,” Curran said. “But with a liberal arts degree, it is much less about what you studied and more about how you studied and what you learned through your entire education experience.”

And in today’s economy, change is the only guarantee, Curran said.

“We don’t know what the jobs will be 10 to 15 years from now,” she said. “We need grads who can think on their feet and have the skills and ability to adapt to a constantly changing world.”

A liberal arts degree is a solid way to prepare, said Carol Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a liberal-arts advocacy group representing more than 1,150 schools.

“We are in a global age,” Schneider said. “It is about complexity and global interdependency. What students need most from college is not just a major but a skill set that lets them adapt and respond.”

Versatility in your degree

Newfangled degrees come and go, but a liberal arts education is good for the ages, said Will Crockett, spokesman for Baylor University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“People with a liberal arts major are going to be very nimble,” Crockett said. “If I start college today, what’s in demand? Maybe it’s some kind of mechanical engineering. In 2012, maybe that is obsolete.

“As a liberal arts major, you are very well insulated from some of these changes in the marketplace, so by the time you are looking for a job in 2012, you are ready. You can move into a variety of industries — as opposed to some peers who are trained to do one thing.”

The value of a solid liberal arts education is enjoying renewed popularity in the higher education community, too.

“Colleges and universities are now starting to think, what matters is not so much your major as your skill set or portfolio that you carry with you out of college,” Schneider said. “If you have the right kind of learning and skills in your portfolio, any major will carry you on to a successful career.”

Putting it all together

Skills and experiences developed by way of a liberal arts education, while appealing to employers, are useless unless students know how to market them, Curran said.

Recruiters are looking for someone who can do a particular job.

“If you have a business degree, employers can make the connection to your skills,” Curran said. “If you have a degree in French, the connection is much less obvious to them.”

Curran’s advice to job-seekers: Discover what the employer is looking for and be able to identify from all aspects of your experience — both inside and outside the classroom — how you meet the qualifications. Nothing is off limits, from the rigorous internship that required you to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability to the oral presentation that allowed you to hone your public-speaking skills.

Service members should be sure to take advantage of their unique experiences, Curran said. Were you ever stationed outside the U.S.? Think about what you learned from experiencing a different culture. Did you volunteer for an assignment that required you to do something above and beyond what most of your peers did? That tells an employer a lot about your character and initiative.

Service members must know how to “put together their toolbox of information for employers,” Curran said.

Both Crockett and Schneider are proponents of creating a portfolio.

“The portfolio should show not just that they did it but how well they did it,” Schneider said.

Whether they are assembling a résumé or portfolio or heading into a job interview, it is perhaps most important for students to emphasize the knowledge, skills and experiences they gained from their education — rather than just what their majors were, Schneider said.

What you learn

The Association of American Colleges and Universities launched an initiative in 2005 — Liberal Education and America’s Promise — that defines the “touchstones” of a 21st-century liberal arts education:

• High-level, well-developed analytical and practical skills, including “written and oral communication, critical and creative thinking, and teamwork and problem-solving.”

• A sense of ethical and social responsibility, including “intercultural knowledge and competence and civic knowledge and engagement, both local and global.”

• Broad knowledge of science and society.

• The demonstrated ability to apply your learning to real-world problems.