Universities are already responding to criticism that they are not preparing their students for the job market. My alma mater, the University of British Columbia, runs the Arts Tri-Mentoring Program, in which it matches students from the College of the Arts with alumni members who share the same major. The program, now in its 10th year, requires mentors to meet with mentees at least four times during the school year, during which time everything from career goals to the job market to graduate schools is discussed. “The purpose of the program, says Bonita Perko, the UBC alumni relations officer who administers the program, “is to give students the opportunity to transition from college to the world of work.”
Mentors can bring their mentees to their workplace for job shadowing, facilitate informational interviews for their students, and invite students to industry-related events. The Arts tutoring program teaches students how to interview for jobs, present at networking events, and write resumes and LinkedIn profiles. “Student feedback in the past tends to be that they can’t believe how much they were able to learn from their alumni mentor.” Perco says.
College graduates can rest assured that those with degrees earn higher incomes over time than those with only a high school or college diploma. Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Canadian Universities and Colleges, stated in The globe and the mail.
that “the basic premise that the value of a BA is not what it used to be is incorrect.” In his research, based on census data, Davidson found that people with a basic college degree earn $1.4 million more over their lifetime than those with no post-secondary education, and $1 million more than college graduates.
Based on 2008 data, Statistics Canada found that college graduates’ earnings from Canadian universities were 70% higher than those with only a high school diploma or vocational training, and 63% higher in countries members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
An October 2014 report released by the BC Council of Research Universities found that college students who graduated five years ago have a lower unemployment rate than the provincial average. The report looked at students who completed a bachelor’s degree at the following BC universities: UBC, SFU, University of Victoria, UNBC, Royal Roads and Thompson Rivers. It found that five years after graduation, the unemployment rate for these students was 4.7 percent, well below the 2013 BC youth unemployment rate of 12.9 percent, and below the rate BC’s overall unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
Ultimately, we all know that earning a liberal arts degree does not lead a person directly into a high-paying job from the start, in the same way that a medical, law, or engineering degree would. A bachelor’s degree in anthropology also does not mean that the student will get to work as an anthropologist. Much depends on how applicants present themselves to employers, where they look for work, and the types of positions they apply for. And let’s not forget, it’s also important who the applicant knows within an employer organization.
Tim McCready, who studied visual arts and communication at the University of Windsor and has worked for Vice magazine and the strobe show on CBC, he told the Toronto Star
that the devaluation of an arts degree has nothing to do with the degree itself, and everything to do with the economy. “I don’t think it’s about the title, it’s about lowering salaries and increasing tuition,” he says. McCready, who has been working in the arts for nearly 10 years, says being aware of these harsh realities made him try harder. “I’ve always known [the arts] it’s where my strengths are,” he says. “That’s why I busted my butt.”