Attending a private school that offers a fully liberal arts education has its pros and cons. A huge pro is that you get to experience a holistic curriculum, writing is valued in practically every subject, and classes tend to be small enough that you actually know the names of everyone in class and so does your professor. I enjoyed each minute of my undergrad and miss it dearly.
However, this education came at a high price, and for those students who don’t receive substantial scholarships and help from parents I am not sure it is worth the cost from a career standpoint. I was lucky to have had both a scholarship and full parental support for my education, I am grateful that student loans are not something I have to worry about unless I pursue grad school. In my opinion, however, I wonder about the value of my education and it’s application to the real world. Much of the real world experience and career building I got from school, was built out of my own ambition to seek lots of internships and publication opportunities.
Moreover as I entered the world of Sales and Marketing I felt that my business program had not adequately prepared me with the common terms used in the industry. Something as basic as the Marketing Funnel and Sales Pipeline were not covered in what was considered an “honors” business program.
Marketing Funnel
Sales Pipeline
Why is it important to know these basics? Why do I think schools should teach them?
Most students pursue a college degree to increase their chances of employment after graduation. Research supportsthat those with a college degree are less likely to be unemployed than those without a degree, one study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics revealed that in 2014, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree was 7%, whereas the unemployment rate for those with only a high school education was at nearly 20%. Since college is viewed and meant to indicate skills that are more worthy to employers, education institutions, particularly the most expensive private institutions ought to prepare students for employment. Universities and colleges can do this by having a heavy application based curriculum.
Some may argue that those attending a school like mine, which specializes in liberal arts, are attending college for the experience and not to gain workplace skills. My response to this would be that, although students choosing to major in more traditionally liberal arts fields may be looking to read and discuss great literature and write deep philosophy papers as opposed to gaining knowledge pertinent to future careers, someone enrolled in a business program is seeking to gain applicable skills.
Understanding the basics of any profession can empower students to be less confused and have an edge into the business world and in internships. An understanding of the big picture and basic concepts will help make the specifics more simple. In school you learn about numbers, then, basic math functions, then algebra, then calculus, and then multivariable calculus, and so on. The least colleges can do is take students through the basics of business concepts, for example a basic understanding of the funnels and pipelines clearly allows students to see more intricate details. For example with a simple glance at the funnel and pipeline explains to students the difference between sales and marketing, sets the foundation for an understanding of lead generation and conversion.
One year out of college, and much of the concepts I have learned and held on to about marketing conceptually were not taught to me in school. Instead, I learned about SWOT analysis and the Marketing Mix, much of which is outdated in the world I am part of now, or meant for strategic marketing and sales analysis, which at least in the tech industry is something only high level executives play an active role in defining. Maybe companies need to provide training when they hire recent grads, however I do think that most companies, particularly start-ups do not have the bandwidth for such efforts. As such, I believe that colleges, universities and industry ought to keep in sync and up-to date about the latest concepts related to real world jobs for students. Higher education should strive to provide both intellectual exploration and serious real world application and skills to those who pursue it.
Vish Gupta 