Comment by timje1 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by timje1 | Hacker News Reader

My friend has this exact same degree (spanish and french), she wandered off to get a masters in International Development and then went on to create various programs around north-east Africa and Central America. Who says it's a worthless degree? It just sounds like this author didn't manage to do anything with it.

Also good writing (taught by these 'useless' BA degrees) is a damned handy thing to have. I know people that have gone into marketing, tendering, publicity, reporting, technical writing ... the list goes on... it's possibly longer than the one for STEM degrees, which can pin your skills to one sector or role.

edit: quoting her response: "That is an absolutely preposterous article!! If I hadn't studied Spanish and French I couldn't have worked abroad and I wouldn't have the job I have now. Language skills are vital! If she had written this about a history degree then maybe..."

Your friend's career path is not that usual. in practice, most people with this sort of degree will not get the opportunity to make much use of it in the future. None of your listed jobs specifically require a humanities degree, nor is it true that you need to study such a degree to develop good writing skills.

You don't need to study CS to get good technical skills either. I didn't say a humanities degree is the only way to get good writing skills, only that a humanities degree develops your writing skills. I propose that gaining good reading, comprehension and written communication skills would come in handy in a wide variety of careers, including software development.

it's much more likely that a technical student has developed good communication skills than the other way round. in the real world, people are not required to write in depth literary analysis: most people have all the core reading and written communications skills they need after high school.

it's also important to point out that your friend's example is a special case. when looking at the value of a particular degree, it's important to consider the full distribution of outcomes.

Many places will ask for a graduate with excellent communication skills. Some places won't take you if you don't have a degree, whatever subject it is in. They may not ask for the specific subject on the bit of paper, but the transferable skills gained whilst studying e.g.: Critical thinking, researching, communication skills, the ability to collate a lot of evidence in a more succinct manner.

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