University of Idaho - Gem of the Mountains Yearbook (Moscow, ID)

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Plan tO major In USiness, Plan to pursue elementary or secondary teaching careers, yo70 From “The American Cofege Fresh man: Twenty Year Trends” by Alexander Astin and Kenneth Green Scholarly Slide Diminishing interest in the liberal arts was Illustrated by decreased class size in subjects like philosophy. Nick Gier’s world religions class only attracted five students for the spring semeste r. (Hayes) Majors 29

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ippies to Yuppies The “me generation looked for stability, security In the ’60s, students on Ameri- ca’s college campuses were trying to ‘‘find themselves.’’ Today, their college-aged children say they also want to find themselves — preferably behind the wheel of a BMW following graduation. As college costs increased and conservative attitudes stretched into new areas of the nation, stu- dents flocked from traditional liberal arts majors to the job secu- rity of business and engineering disciplines. ‘Increased student interest in career-specific majors such as bus- iness has been accompanied by ris- ing materialistic and power values, while decreased inter est in educa- tion, social science, the arts and humanities are reflected in declin- ing alturism and social concern,” said Alexander Astin, co-author of The American College Fresh- man: Twenty Year Trends, 1966-1986.’’ During the past 25 years, stu- dent attitudes have changed dra- matically, he said. Changing Student Attitudes 28 Majors 1967 1960 1971 1973 1975 1979 1977 1961 1983 1985 = ee ee eee Doveloo a meaningful philosophy of Me Be financially well off ‘“Twenty years ago,”’ Astin’s survey said, ‘‘83 percent of college freshmen were attending a univer- sity to ‘develop a meaningful philosophy of life’ while in 1986, that number had dropped to 29 percent and the percentage of stu- dents in higher education to ‘be- come well off financially’ had risen to 71 percent.’’ According to Kenneth Green, Astin’s partner, students have be- come preoccupied in insuring that their futures will be secure. ‘ A lot of what we see is port- folio building,’’ Green said. ‘‘Stu- dents are thinking, ‘I don’t want this type of risk in my future. I want to be sure everything is go- ing to be okay.’”’ Meanwhile, a Carnegie Founda- tion study concluded that in- creased college costs have left students concerned about getting jobs that would allow them to pay off loans. “There is, of course, a well- documented’ shift towards careers,’’ the Carnegie study said. But this may simply reflect the students’ concern about their in- debtedness and a hard-headed recognition that the job market is changing. Indeed, there is some evidence that students who take sizable loans may major in such fields as business and engineering, that offer higher salaries.’’ Galen Rowe, dean of the Col- lege of Letters and Science, agreed that economics determine a stu- dent’s curriculum more often than not. Students can’t afford the lux- ury of just going to college for the sake of going anymore. This forces them to make their career decisions early on — often not in an area they are very interested in,”’ he said. ‘ School is too expen- sive to not get a job out of it right away.”” In Moscow, students like ar- chitecture major Todd Buschorn said that potential career earnings influenced their choice in a major. I did pick a major I liked, I’ve Continued » A Sea of Mortardom The next step for graduates after leav- ing the Kibbie Dome was going into the real world.’’ Liberal arts majors could look forward to lower opening salaries than that of their fellow graduates in en- gineering and business. (Hayes)

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Is a liberal arts degree worth getting? A BS in Sociology is a ticket to nowhere — some attention to marketability should be law for government-sponsored schools. 78 Sociology Graduate Perhaps the most valuable experience | gained in L S (the College of Letters and Science] is that I learned how to learn all sorts of things. 82 Communications Graduate Shouldn’t students get the best possible return on their investment? Lynne V. Cheney I don’t have the time or money to fool around with my education. Scott Yore I think that electives allow you to gain more out of going to college than just a job. Todd Buschorn Major Dec Keys to Success As business has reached the computer age, so has the business class. In Ac- counting 204, Jolene Bacca gained prac- Skil Very Important Written communication Percent tical, hands-on training in computerized Oral Communication 62 financial techniques. Students like Todd 81 Buschorn, however, argue for a more Mathematiés Stats 16 Computer jiteracy $4 Creative thinking 60 Problem. solving 66 {nterpersonal ‘skills 75 Business, econ {3 From. @ 1OB6 University survey diverse education in preparation for a career. (Jones) Wool Gathering As director of the university Career Plan- ning and Placement Center, Charies Woolson has amassed a large library of employment practices and procedures for several companies throughout the na- tion, In his experience, Woolson has found that companies are willing to hire liberal arts majors, providing they are willing to put forth an effort. (O'Bryan) 0 Majors