Abstract
According to the Wabash National Study’s Resource and Information Exchange, outcomes of a Liberal Arts Education, its subsequent conditions and experiences produce over one-half dozen benefits. Amongst the list included: effective reasoning and problem solving; inclination to inquire and life-long learning; learning integration; intercultural effectiveness; leadership; moral reasoning; and well-being. Upon examining innovation, the author suggests deploying liberal arts students to ignite improvement and diversify the workplace. Support of this theory is offered in the form of scholarly research analysis, information on similar pre-existing programs, and an appendix of liberal arts contact information.
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Dr. J. L. Byrd’s Innovation Equation as developed for the Creatrix Inventory equates innovation to creativity multiplied by risk taking (Innovation =Creativity*Risk Taking). The author agrees with the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education that liberal arts institutions improve student learning. It is also the author’s belief that the learned characteristics of liberal arts students are highly beneficial to the workplace and that they should improve organizational performance. As a student-product of a Liberal Arts Education, the author aligns with advocates of this unique training and postulates that this hybrid learner demonstrates risk-taking abilities by completing a liberal arts program. Furthermore, the author believes that students and graduates of this creative and critical-thinking curriculum can inject innovation into organizations; thus infusing diversity with the workplace.
Purpose
When juxtaposed against Professional Schools, working definitions of Liberal Arts, such as illustrated in Wikipedia, includes the study of the arts, literature, languages, philosophy, politics, history, mathematics, and science. Some occupational training institutes, such as Wieler and Bailey’s reported case at LaGuardia Community College, have shifted to career exploration schools and centers for acquiring generic workplace skills – a variation of the liberal arts. According of descriptions of “Liberal arts colleges in the United States”, Howard and Matthew Greene’s reflection is on its purpose and goals. The breadth features: a high degree of intellectual literacy; critical-thinking skills; moral and ethical responsibility to community; clear reasoning; rational thinking; intelligent information analysis; compassionate and fair responses to people; life-long learning; appreciation of art and literature, and using them for inspiration and solace; learning from the past; gaining and increasing self-esteem; and collaborative and multi-generational learning. When coupled with criteria of alternative education, a focus on multi-culturalism can be included in the above list. Dr. Jean Leverich advances the purpose of the Liberal Arts Education by illustrating it in a pluralistic view.
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Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with these beliefs.
Perceptions
While some laurel the liberal arts as “Free” learners and/or thinkers, Dr. Leverich documents mixed perceptions and practical and economic considerations that often deter learners and stakeholders from appreciating its values. Among the misnomers includes Liberal Arts Education students impractically learning for the luxury of learning. Perceptions surrounding the absence of vocational-focused courses are concerns for potential learners. As language-gaps do not fully communicate the curricula’s values, subsequent interpretations lead to Liberal Arts Education students possessing narrow job-skills and being ostracized from in the workplace.
Best Practices
In actuality, the liberal arts do teach skills for the workplace. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2009, “Recent economic events have caused a downturn in college hiring plans for nearly all employer types and geographic regions. The majority of employers…plan to reassess their college hiring needs of a monthly basis.” However, candidate qualities and skills are still important. Dr. Leverich explored National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2005 statistics reprinted below.
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Liberal Arts learners share these adaptive traits. Currently, transferrable skills such as these are being applied to undergraduate research, portfolios, reflective statements, career exploration, community service, experiential learning environments, and internships. Within these capacities, students make connections not only with their learning, but also with stakeholder groups within various communities. Organizations such as National Association of Colleges and Employers and other liberal arts colleges (see Appendix) have helped to expand the liberal arts student and potential employers’ networks. Employers’ cooperation with and commitment to utilizing liberal arts students in worthy capacities are also needed to facilitate relationships.
In order to enhance the liberal arts student academic experience, programs are offered at many institutions which connect corporate-industry to burgeoning talents. In response to both past and the projected job outlook, either short-term or future employees can be recruited and retained by organizations from higher-learning schools. Research conducted by Abbas and Bradshaw produced data of supervised interns applying their academic experiences in the construction of real projects. Paugh, McKnight, and Danku wrote how students of marketing could apply their discipline’s principles to secure and advance employment. Candidate brand equity – coupled with focus, discipline, and creativity – sets candidates apart from the competition. If adopted, the liberal arts learner can also compete because they are in the unique position to engage, train, teach, and grow in settings outside the classroom.
When Gayle Webb White researched untapped sources of qualified employees, the result included over one-half dozen benefits of using university student interns. Included in the findings were dedicated, temporary team contributors completing rewarding learning experiences. In addition to fulfilling short-term employment needs and contributing to the job force; the liberal arts intern experience can help influence academic curricula by illuminating, evaluating and improving workplace deficiencies.
Some participants may be classified as novice; guidance and preparation for the organization’s culture, team dynamics, and supervisor’s personality can help nurture the interns’ professional development Gail Mason’s published work exemplified which gaps in training could become corrected to obtain ‘win-win’ employee-intern relationships. While some intern participants felt they were treated differently because of their short-term service; overall, financial compensation was not statistically significant. Application of this information to liberal arts students should find that obtaining practical experience, as opposed to college credit, most adequately prepared them for the future.
Complementary research provided by Michael Maynard assessed semantics of internship written correspondences. In this particular instance, the public relations industry was included to compare the difference in respondents’ appeal of benefits. Although “opportunity” was promised for un-paid, college-credit interns; paid internships emphasized tasks such as writing skills and work-related tasks. Maynard’s research found that the business community should understand the students’ expectations from the internship experience, and communicate mutually-beneficial experiences.
Currently, student internships are being used two-fold: to develop real-world skills, and to solve real-world problems. This source of organizational innovation can most often be found in the arenas of workplace research and development. Creative and trained critical thinkers are providing scholar-quality contributions to the workplace. Drivers, as deduced from working definitions, of the goals of innovation include:
- Improved [ethical] quality;
- New markets creation;
- Product range extensions into new networks/communities;
- Reduced labor costs (in lieu of professional school graduates);
- Improved processes in production and decimation of goods, services, or materials;
- Less rigid tradition-conformance which yields fresh ideas and approaches.
The practice of project-based learning in the form of internships occurs across industries and organizations, but only within limited disciplines. Katz and Smith’s piece on contextual teaching and learning between participants of a food laboratory internship program demonstrate how innovation in education has positive effects on future workers. Richard J. Clark addresses how educators with corporate relationships are involved in prospects recruitments, selection, teaching, placement, and supervision. In “Extending the Boundaries of Teacher Education through Corporate Internships”, it is highlighted that these corporate educators have the unique position of observing corporate practices and can share this information with their students.
Most often, these knowledge-bridges are found in professional schools. For example, Eastern European managers from Romania and undergraduates from Bulgaria study free market operations in America. Conversely, American business masters students intern in Japan with a focus more on training and less on responsibility. Even still, the Department of Defense uses interns in one-of-two capacities: Pre-Employment Internships and Early Career Professional Development Programs. Guidelines were published in the “Intern Program as a Human Resources Management Tool for the Department of Defense” which considered the organization’s needs. By attracting interested students, ensuring a good organization-candidate fit, and effectively gaining access to potential participants, pre-employment interns are identified. This recruitment-minded management program administers interesting work and highly-selected mentors to their niche workforce with benefits.
With institutions such as Albion College implementing strategies such as “[being] set upon a course to achieve a single goal: the creation of a national model for liberal arts education in America”, other colleges are conducting similar practices. By offering the combination of a liberal arts curriculum with value-added programming via professional-focused institutes, the liberal arts student’s education becomes enhanced. While the higher education community encourages locally-developed internships to supplement liberal arts programs, collaborative efforts are also needed across industries. Research further substantiates that mentor-protégé relationships between the intern and the employer has a strong impact on knowledge, skills, and values exchanges. These conversations can lead to a variety in ideas and practices, thus ushering in innovative contributions.
The partnership between academia and industry is effective and growing. It can best be summarized in a direct quote from Irfan Rizvi and Ashita Aggarwal’s “Making Academia-Industry Interface work”.
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By applying research on the benefits of internships to Liberal Arts Education students, the support for using their distinct talents in the workplace can become increased. The student of the liberal arts adds value to the organization and has the power to adjust the behaviors of today’s organizations. In enacting change, a special consideration on this distinctive learner – and future employee – should be given. When the objective is to emphasize diversity, innovation will become a by-product of deploying the liberal arts graduate.
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Appendix
Listing of Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States
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