In our current day and age, the role of technology is as intertwined in our everyday lives as our daily cup of coffee or tea. The need for a steady supply of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates from colleges in this country is an absolute necessity to stay competitive in this technology-driven world. Left-wing and right-wing politicians alike have at least agreed on this need and have encouraged the youth of the U.S. to study engineering, physics, and math-related degrees to ensure America’s strength does not wane on the global stage. However, as this increase in STEM education investment continues, the question of the role of humanities and social science education has arisen.
Rise of the Right and Decline of Humanities Studies
The current climate of the political right has accelerated a departure from liberal arts and humanities. Bachelor’s degree completions in the humanities as a share of all bachelor’s degrees have faced a steady decline since the Great Recession of 2008 and a decline overall since the middle of the 20th century. Of course, since wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living, it makes sense that people are turning toward degrees that are seen as having higher starting salaries. However, a link between a decrease in humanities education and the rise of authoritarianism has been found in the past. In fact, liberal arts and humanities education tends to be a deterrent to far-right ideology.
More Tech Jobs Does Not Equal Better Life
This STEM trend is not necessarily going to bring about more stable jobs for our future generations, and it will not necessarily improve tech to help us deal with problems. More recent graduates from STEM degree programs, such as computer science, have had great difficulty finding employment. Humanities and social sciences are often blamed for misleading students to accrue student debt while not gaining tangible skills to prepare them for the world. Although this may just represent a temporary decline, as AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace, the need for certain technology-related jobs may decline as well, only making it more competitive to get an entry-level job. These spikes in unemployment are nothing new, but a decline in humanities will not help our human-led government to keep industry in check. The government is meant to keep innovative companies from creating monopolies, practicing price fixing, and looking out for the common citizen. If industry is allowed to run amok and innovation is placed above all else, then certainly ordinary people take a back seat. Additionally, journalists keep our leaders honest, sociologists study and quantify social problems and use science to do so, and psychologists attend to our mental health woes. Humanities and social sciences are in everything we do, from critical thinking to communicating and teaching civic engagement.
Humanist-led Tech
Even creators of certain technologies warn of a non-humanist approach to tech and the dangers of AI continuing to learn and develop with less human guidance. More top universities, such as Virginia Tech, MIT, Stanford, Oxford, and Carnegie Mellon, are leading the charge toward a more human-centered approach to technology. While humanity has benefited in a myriad of ways from the advancement of technology, we notice a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots. It is estimated that a quarter of school-age children do not even have access to broadband internet or an internet-capable device. Furthermore, studies have shown that human-created bias is baked into algorithms in AI, showing race and gender-based biases. Digital technologies are estimated to contribute one trillion dollars to the global GDP over the next ten years. It can be assumed that this wealth creation will not be enjoyed by all unless a redistribution of wealth is employed. Additionally, what will happen to jobs replaced by AI now and in the future remains to be seen. Even the so-called “Godfather of AI” warns of the speed with which AI is improving. Geoffrey Hinton is a Nobel prize-winning computer scientist and former Google executive who has said it is vital for humanity’s survival to embed AI with a maternal sense toward humans. He believes this is the only way to keep control over it and to override instincts he believes will develop with time; to stay alive and to gain more control.
It was once the goal of universities to provide a balance between science and literature, the hard and soft subjects. The goal of invention and technology is to make life easier. We tend to, as a society, tighten up when threatened and react. We elect tough rulers and implement tough laws when we are uncertain. The economy has been harsh to our more recent graduates, with job prospects dwindling across all majors. STEM degrees do not have quite the shine they used to. Many graduates found they could not necessarily land a high-paying job right out of school as was advertised to them. The harsh realities of a quickly changing economy demonstrate the need for humanities and STEM. Perhaps this is a period where we see this happening, and, as a result, we end up overcorrecting too much in one direction. Of course, this push for STEM has been incentivized for decades by our government and has brought us many benefits in terms of accelerating the advancement of technology. Additionally, the impact of advancing tech, specifically in AI, could lead to replacing jobs that have been outsourced abroad to developing nations. Low-skill jobs in manufacturing and customer service would be impacted furthering economic disruption abroad. Many nations in Africa do not have access to the internet, making these advances better for some but not all. However, we should recognize the obvious gains in wealth across the world will be a long-term win for all. Clearly, both sides are needed for survival and innovation. We cannot have improved technology to be used by citizens if those citizens are never considered when creating it to begin with. The experts in the fields ranging from education to technology agree. Clearly, both sides are needed for survival and innovation. We cannot have improved technology to be used by citizens if those citizens are never considered when creating it to begin with. The experts in the fields ranging from education to technology agree.
Dayal is a guest blogger at UITAC Publishing. UITAC’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, and socially responsible online course materials.
Images Used in This Blog:
- “Books, Library, Room” by StockSnap is free to use and licensed under the Pixabay Content License. This image has not been altered.
- “People, Students, Nature image” by naassomz1 is free to use and licensed under the Pixabay Content License. This image has not been altered.
- “Facebook, Woman, Presentation image” by geralt is free to use and licensed under the Pixabay Content License. This image has not been altered.
