By Rhea Hirshman

Mark LaVoie’s favorite course at Trinity was The Culture of Cold War America . Now LaVoie, who graduated in 2011 with an American studies major and a legal studies minor, is happily doing
strategic communications for hedge funds, mutual funds, and private equity firms for the Abernathy MacGregor Group in New York City. “I mainly did finance-focused internships at Trinity,” he says “but had an epiphany in my senior year that I would rather work with words than numbers and began pursuing a different direction within finance.” It’s a job, he says, in which he uses his liberal arts education every day.

“Most of my course work was geared to what one of my professors called ‘unpacking’ texts and
understanding their meaning,” LaVoie says. He notes that his classroom experiences  encouraged problem-solving and collaboration and elevated his ability to assess and interpret real-world  situations—something he has to do all the time for his clients. “Plus,” he continues, “the discussion format refined my ability to articulate my thoughts clearly—a skill highly valued in the business world.”

LaVoie’s experience mirrors that of other Trinity graduates and of liberal arts graduates overall. But you might not know that, between mainstream media headlines that present “The 20 Most Useless College Degrees” or “The 13 Most Useless Majors,” and statements from some public officials about re-tooling colleges and universities into industry-specific training centers for what are thought to be the areas of highest employment growth.

In fact, research shows strong support for both the inherent and the practical value of a liberal arts education among not only liberal arts graduates, but among employers nationwide.

A view from both sides
Liz Elting is one of those employers. A 1987 Trinity graduate who majored in modern languages, she combined her passions for languages, international affairs, and business to cofound TransPerfect—now a family of companies employing 2,400 full-time workers and several thousand freelancers in 85 offices worldwide. The firm offers language and business services in 170 languages to Fortune 1000 companies, banks, law firms, ad agencies, and the U.S.  government.

“My education absolutely set the foundation for my work,” Elting says. “Professors guided me to follow my passion for languages rather than to select something more obviously linked to a professional path. And my father told me to immerse myself in what I loved—that a specific major would not determine my entire life.”

As an employer, Elting holds that same  perspective. Among more than 900 of the U.S.-based employees hired by TransPerfect between 2009 and the middle of this year, there are many
who majored in areas like accounting, business administration, finance, and marketing. But a
majority of hires came with majors that include English and journalism, foreign languages and
international studies, history and political science, psychology and sociology, anthropology
and archeology, and concentrations ranging from biology to theater arts.

Elting notes that her company is less interested in a candidate’s college major than in factors
such as paid and unpaid work experience, leadership, integrity, open-mindedness, and flexibility. “Intelligent people with the right attitude can learn our business in a month
or two,” she says. “But workplaces, particularly entrepreneurial ones like ours, require curiosity,  versatility, and the critical thinking and communications skills developed through a strong
liberal arts education.”

Mark Leavitt ’80, managing director and head of media, entertainment and telecommunications
investment banking at Piper Jaffray, adds, “I’ve always pushed my firm to hire those with liberal arts training. Many of the skills you need in financial services are learned through the liberal arts: making judgments about what is and isn’t important; engaging in research; synthesizing information from many different sources; and the ability to present ideas and information clearly.”

Employers weigh in
Elting and Leavitt are not alone in their assessments. A survey of over 300 private and nonprofit sector employers conducted earlier this year for the Association of American Colleges and
Universities showed that 93 percent agree that “a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major,” while 80 percent agreed that every college student should acquire broad
knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences.

When asked whether having field-specific knowledge, a broad range of skills, or both is most important to recent graduates’ long-term career success, only a small proportion indicated that field-specific knowledge and skills are the most important. The majority say that having both is
vital. Among the broad skills cited as particularly essential: demonstration of ethical judgment and integrity; comfort working with colleagues, customers, and clients from diverse cultural backgrounds; and the capacity for ongoing professional development and continued new learning.

Setting out
Trinity’s Career Development Center (CDC) helps students prepare to apply those broad skills as they seek satisfying employment and meaningful lives after graduation. “Part of our mission is to help students explore and to remember that the first job out of college does not define them,” says J. Violet Gannon, director of the CDC. Elting notes that jobs now are drastically
different from what they were 20 years ago, and says, “We can’t predict what jobs will be like 20
years from now.”

That message is not lost on other recent graduates, who echo LaVoie’s experience of using his
liberal arts education in both anticipated and unexpected ways.

Remi Evans ’11 , a neuroscience major who minored in math and computer science and
completed all pre-med requirements, is currently an investment banking analyst at Citigroup, Inc. “When I decided not to go into medicine,” she says, “I looked for something challenging that offered an opportunity to keep learning. Most of my co-workers come from programs that had them focused on one topic for all four years of college. When you start a job after college, it can feel like that narrow focus provides an advantage, but that quickly changes. Liberal arts students spend four years asking questions and exploring subjects and ideas beyond what would have been their default comfort zones. In one year or twenty, I may be doing something entirely different—and I’ll be prepared.”

Laura Komarek ’11  works near New Orleans as a special education resource teacher for fourth- through eighth-grade students with a range of cognitive, emotional, and learning disabilities. A
political science major and writing, rhetoric, and media arts minor, Komarek volunteered at local magnet schools during her time at Trinity. She says, “My education exposed me to a wide array of knowledge, people, and issues. I don’t know that this is necessarily what I saw myself doing, but I know why I wake up every morning and want to go to work: my life has a purpose.”

Blake Tyler ’12 , who began at Trinity studying the culture and politics of the Middle East, decided to major in public policy and law when he realized that major offered access to courses in the wide variety of subjects he was interested in. Now, he works as a paralegal in the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice, assisting with investigations of mergers and acquisitions that pose anti-competitive threats in the technology and financial services industries. “I learned to think broadly across subject areas,” he says. “Trinity promotes an
understanding of teamwork in a way that helps us transition to, and succeed in, any work
environment.”

Preparing for a life of change
Gannon’s list of workplace competencies supported by the liberal arts is a list also of essential life skills. “In both the classroom and co-curricular activities,” she says, “a solid liberal arts education provides opportunities for students to build self-confidence while learning humility, to generate their own momentum, to learn to communicate and negotiate, to listen and to compromise, to appreciate the world around them, and—very important—to manage change and uncertainty.”

To that list, Elting adds, “I want to know what moves and inspires someone. My first-year seminar—Legal History of Race Relations —changed my perspective forever. So did a course I
took on the literature of World War II. I love my work, but the pleasure I get out of life relates not only to my career, but to everything else I was exposed to in the liberal arts environment. Has someone worked hard? Can they communicate clearly? Do they have passions and interests? Those are the people we’re looking for.”