By Ryan Kramer, Newswire Intern
When first looking at Xavier’s required core curriculum, many pejorative words may come to mind, but these classes are the things that will get students’ jobs.
Biochemistry majors should wonder why they must take theology classes, and business majors should ask why they have been enrolled in philosophy. College would be easier if students just had to focus on one discipline and become extremely knowledgeable about their one field. Yet core classes are some of the most important.
Xavier is very candid about this.
“Liberal arts schools require students to take courses in a wide variety of subjects, whereas other institutions may have fewer general requirements, allowing students to dive into their major sooner,” Xavier states on its website.
At the end of most students’ first year, they will have less knowledge about their chosen field of study than those at other universities who are enrolled into their major classes immediately.
Additionally, another main reason core classes are criticized is because they are not likely to be used in jobs later in life like major-specific classes are. However, this does not mean that Xavier students are less knowledgeable as a whole. Taking core classes is a lot like diversifying a stock portfolio.
Spreading out money between many areas is beneficial. Even if one company is supposed to do better than others, it is a sign of a healthy portfolio to include many investments. In the same way, classes closely relating to a major will be the classes that get jobs for alumni, but first-year seminars are important too.
Undecided majors also see benefits of core classes since they can explore many different topics while figuring out what major to declare.
Even though liberal arts educations are praised for their broad utility alongside being criticized for their seeming uselessness beyond higher education, no one can agree on how AI will shape the job market.
Xavier classifies some courses by flags, where the categories are writing, quantitively reasoning and solidarity/kinship
While writing skills can be replaced by using a well-worded prompt into ChatGPT, the other flags shed light on why liberal arts will be beneficial for graduates.
Automation can replace manual labor, and AI can make predictions on data. The most recent versions of ChatGPT can consistently pass the Turing Test, where AI attempts to trick a human reader into thinking that it is human. One thing AI cannot do, however, is be human.
Newswire Intern Ryan Kramer believes that amidst a competitive job market it is those students with diverse knowledge that will ultimately land the jobs.
The other flags that Xavier identifies are specifically oral communication, ethics/religion and society; which are all notable for being uniquely human activities.
Gemini can answer a prompt with ethos, pathos and logos, but it cannot be described as trustworthy, emotional and reasonable. What the core classes seek to do is diversify students’ education so that they gain skills beyond those of their majors, skills that support well-rounded newcomers to the workforce.
When looking at resumes which have made it past the Applicant Tracking Systems, employers are faced with options who are all equally employable. What makes one accounting major stand out from 15 other accounting majors is the core skills that can be demonstrated during interviews.
In a world where AI can analyze data and write reports better and faster than humans, the differences between mankind and robots are accentuated. This goes beyond a firm handshake. The ability to express critical thinking and demonstrate ethical decision-making will serve Xavier graduates well even in seemingly unrelated fields.
Students can get degrees from any university, but colleges which push students to diversify their specializations will come out on top when the dust settles.