The 4 Points: Making the Case for a Liberal Arts Background in the World of Work

I was an 'Undeclared' major when I first started at UCLA. I remember only having the idea of possibly going into the traditional fields of business or law. Going into education was something I never really fathomed. One thing was for sure--I did not want to touch anything having to do with advanced mathematics which automatically canceled out STEM and riding that wave of tech after I graduated during the recession. I also decided not to be the "good" Filipino American son and go into the field of nursing or health care, broadly. Me and blood?--NOPE!

Ultimately, after shopping around, employing processes of elimination, and figuring out what I liked and did not like at that moment of being 19 years old--I decided to double major in Sociology & Ethnic Studies--Asian American Studies. Although I had no clue what I wanted to do after college when I declared, I just knew what resonated with me: the interest of investigating society as it relates to identity and inequality, fighting for social justice, and finding my own voice and identity in the world.

By the time I graduated, I really enjoyed academia and thus ventured off to pursue a masters degree in Asian American Studies. My end goal: obtain a Ph.D. and tenure-track professor job at a research university or state college. I wanted to do research and become a university professor. But like what I said in my first LinkedIn article, I was tired, exhausted, and met with questions of family priorities and full financial responsibilities by the time I finished grad school. Ultimately, I needed to grow up and start making decisions to take control of my life, but what was I to make of my nine years of higher education in Sociology & Ethnic Studies with two degrees?

After I graduated at the tail end of the recession, I struggled. I moved back home with my mom and I worked odd temp. agency jobs in customer service, retail, and even picked up a server job. I felt lost and depressed because I didn't know who I was and what my worth was for professional employment. Through all my schooling, I felt I had nothing to show for it. But by random chance, a college friend came at the right moment to offer a job that would allow me to begin my journey of professional and career development. Although this moment of professional networking definitely made the difference (which I will elaborate on in future articles), my professional experience thereafter and even now stands upon the foundation of my liberal arts education and the experiences that I had while a student.

Now, it should be common knowledge that work experience and the number of years working at a job (or jobs) is seen as one's capital in navigating the job market and one's career.

"So what is the point of college and getting that degree in [enter arts, humanities, and social science field] anyway?"

Although it took me awhile to realize it, my undergraduate and graduate education have set a crucial foundation of my values of work, my purpose, and the ways in which I understand myself as an agent of change--as a leader and colleague in a team. The valuable skills and experience gained emerged from my authentic interests within these disciplines. With all this said, I will now posit...

The 4 Points: Making the Case for a Liberal Arts Background in the World of Work

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Reading between the lines, investigating for contextual understanding, and synthesizing new knowledge is probably the essential takeaways and transferable skills from my academic background in Sociology and Ethnic Studies. Being able to break down heavy text and theories from Marxism to Critical Race Theory and to posit its real world application (or if it all) is no small feat. To engage in critical inquiry requires one to define their framework(s), develop questions to investigate, do the research, organize/analyze findings, and propose new knowledge in forms of solutions (problem-solving!), limitations, and new problems to consider.

In the world of work, problems come up every day and although it may not be large systemic social issues we are posed within a "Sociology of Race" class, your process of critical inquiry can still be applied.

1. Identify the problem, explore the context of the problem
2. Define the points of the problem you wish to address
3. Research & develop what you think the "best" solutions should be
4. Create a plan of action
5. Execute plan
6. Evaluate for impact
7. Make appropriate adjustments if/when needed

The difference between academia and the world of work now is that the problems are not in the text, but they are now in your face and so the trick is to strategically engage in the same problem solving critical thinking methodology in this new real world situation.

Entrepreneurial-Design Thinking & Innovative Practice

In addition to critical thinking & problem solving, both the entrepreneurial mindset and design thinking are skills that have been subtly developed and taught during my academic training in college. I may not have realized it at the time, but ownership of my ideas, thoughts, arguments, and intellectual productions have all emerged and been sustained through these mindsets and guess what--I have Ethnic Studies to thank for that.

What is "entreprenurial mindset" & "design thinking"?

I define entrepreneurial as being able to see a problem or gap and being compelled to solve it. It also requires taking risks on new ideas never been done before in the name of seeing challenges and gaps as opportunities of growth. So as a mindset, it is the framework of thinking about limitless opportunity and developing solutions and/or projects constantly. (You can read more about it here.)

As for design thinking (such a buzz word these days!), I define it as nothing is fixed, not even the solutions we hope to be permanent ones. We live in a rapidly changing world and everything is connected, thus problems become nuanced, dynamic, and require new sustainable solutions (until the next shift). Tools, thoughts, methods, systems, and theories are up to be challenged, reconsidered, and redesigned to match the dynamism of everyday realities. Design thinking recognizes that we must constantly be creative and innovative in our thinking to inform dynamic application and devise "courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones” (See here).

How do the liberal arts provide development in these mindsets? Well, the liberal arts provides students with opportunities to think broadly about problems and, moreover, to pose the questions as "What do you think we should do about this?", "How?", and "What are the benefits and limitations of this proposal?"

It is through posing these questions to students this way, that you allow students to think entrepreneurially--to posit a solution or argument that they stand by and that they must defend its validity despite gaps and risks. If they are met with flaws and risks in their thinking, then they have the opportunity to redesign their solution or argument.

Ultimately, what this means in the world or work is that these mindsets are crucial in how one approaches their own work and problems they tackle day to day and project to project. To take risks, have ownership of one's projects, and be open to mistakes as moments of opportunity to redesign--for better results and mastery of one's role whatever that may be in any career/field.

Dynamic Leadership

Why is leadership important? If you look at historic social movements that challenged oppression and brought forth positive social change--from civil rights, the labor movement, LGBT rights, etc.--you will find leaders who not only had conviction, but understood that social justice could only be achieved by working in community with others who also seek the change they wish to see. These leaders understood that there is not only power in numbers, but that each person has a role to play as a leader--an agent of change--in their own right. This leadership must be compassionate, reflective & reflexive, forward thinking, and collaborative. Thus, this type of leadership is dynamic in comparison to the dominant top-down traditional form of leadership that is commonly practiced and reproduced in many social structures, organizations, and institutions.

Bruin allegiance aside, I would like to reference the "Social Change Model of Leadership Development" developed by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA (1994). Under this model, the self, one's peers, and the community/organization/society to which they all participate in are components of leadership development with the goals of social/community change in focus. You can look at these components as interdependent on each other as illustrated in the visual above. As individuals connect to problems they see around them, they can then connect with others who not only see the same issues, but who seek change and are willing to work together in impacting the greater community at large. THIS is dynamic leadership.

What does this mean to the world of work? Companies and organizations today are diverse than they we're a decade ago and along with that, they are finding the value of inclusive and collaborative work environments to be one of the key elements of good talent management, business strategy, and reaching their organizational mission. Thus, this leaves employees with the invitation to engage in high level conversations; to connect with the problem or issue a company or organization is trying to solve for, state their proposition statement as a leader in the effort, and to build strategic relationships with others in the organization to move the needle forward on the matter.

How does a liberal arts education facilitate this type of leadership development? I think one of the most valuable, and at times unintended, results of a liberal arts education is discovering the problem(s)/issue(s) that ignites passion in you to become an agent of change for a cause. Whether that's learning about environmental impacts of industrial economies in an Regional & Urban Studies course to educational inequities among inner-city youth in a Sociology course, as students become enlightened on issues together, they have the opportunity (and many take it) to work together on producing solutions and/or new ways in understanding the issue at hand. This same process of collaborative problem identification and solution design is essentially no different from how colleagues on a work team approach a project.

Learning & Growth Mindset

When I was a college student, I probably said this many times along with many others, "College is my time to find myself." This statement of seeking self-discovery, while it is a good approach in one's development in college, it leaves out what comes next. The "and once I find myself, then what?"

Now, life comes with many challenges and it is how we meet them that defines who we are. But I would like to further posit that one's framework or mindset is crucial to informing how one confronts challenges.

I would like to reference American Psychologist, Carol Dweck's (2006) work on "Fixed v. Growth Mindsets" to convey this importance of mindset.

Fixed Mindset: One's belief that intelligence is static, thus leads one to desire to look smart which results in avoiding challenges, giving up easily, not willing to try, and ignore feedback for improvement.

Growth Mindset: One's belief that intelligence is developed, thus leads one to desire to learn which results in embracing challenges, persisting in the face of setbacks, seeing effort as the path to mastery, and learning from criticism.

As one can easily conclude what "Mindset" I'm alluding to for my arguement, the Growth Mindset is not only good for one's development, but I'd posit as critical for survival and the catalyst for thriving. The mindset not only informs relentless mode of operation, but it address the aforementioned question of "and then what?"--actually, it renders that question as a given! Because the possibilities are endless, one must be in for the plunge and willing to work through it for a new way of being and living.

What does this mean for one's career and the world of work? Ever heard of Blockbuster? Once a thriving video rental company, it was a household name that cornered a market for a time. But with the advent of technological advances that brought us to the era of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, Blockbuster quickly became a memory as it could not keep up to the changing technological landscape and the consumer market demand. You could say, Blockbuster lacked in grasping the problem as a opportunity of growth.

Replace Blockbuster, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime with normal everyday American workers. As a workforce, we are confronted with external forces such as the economy, technology advances, and political & social changes. Moreover, we are met the internal challenge of having to make sense of it all (or not if you are in the camp of being fixed); navigating one's evolving professional purpose, identity, and passions. If Blockbuster operated under a growth mindset, asking itself the following critical growth questions could have helped them emerge successfully:

• Who is my current consumer market? How are my competitors meeting them?
• What is my mission as a company or organization? How is this mission still relevant to my costumers today?
• What new technology is out there? How might that tech optimize the way I do business and/or reach my mission?

A growth mindset allows one to transform by asking and addressing tough questions; to be resilient time and time again while keeping in mind one's sense of self--their values, purpose, and mission. In a fast and ever-changing work landscape, one can't afford to be fixed in thinking and approach. We can't afford to be Blockbuster. We have to be nimble and embrace change as a constant, and that also means embracing the inevitable transformation of ourselves.

How does a liberal arts education play a part in engaging in a growth mindset? Well you see, the liberal arts is all about inquiry and producing new knowledge about our world (in all aspects and perspectives of it). It is anything, BUT being fixed. To understand a field and discipline of the liberal arts, is to actually approach it open and with the intent to grow one's understanding in that field of study. Thus, the liberal arts teaches us the most valuable lesson of life, that nothing is complete and absolute, we and our wisdom are ever-changing and growing like the disciplines we study. Our relationship to the world and others changes by how we make sense of who we are and how we interact with it.

As one might finally conclude, these 4 points are connected and complement each other. For example, critical thinking and problem solving takes innovation, is successful through dynamic leadership, and is best approached with a growth mindset. All 4 points, together, are also values as much as they are skills; they are grounded in transformation, social engagement, and building a better world everyday. These are values/skills that not only bring individual gains, but have limitless potential in any organization.