Money tempts French students away from literature

The French, who are known for their love and respect of literature, are noticing a horrible trend among college pupils in France that is beginning to mirror what the US has seen for decades: college students are shunning literary studies in favor of more "practical" subjects (I’ll pause here for dramatic effect).

France’s cultural heritage is in peril because students are shunning literature in favour of more practical courses that they believe will help them to secure well-paid jobs, the Education Minister said.

As one who majored in English literature myself, I can attest that those who believe this to be true are looking no further than the surface of what literary studies can offer a student. One French education official obviously agrees with me and makes a few good points:

"We need literary people, pupils who can master speech and reason," he said." They are always in demand." As for the aspiring economists and sociologists, they often ended up on overcrowded university courses with few openings in the employment market, he added.

Bravo! The skills that a literary education provides can be transfered to just about any industry. The mistake many people make, especially those who pick English Literature as a major as a "way out" of having to study math, science and business (these people are out there, giving the rest of us a bad name), is that they fail to look beyond the benefits of what they are studying.

Here’s a quick list of skills that a literary education provides:

-Critical thinking
-Reasoning
-Logic
-Communication (especially written)

And the list can go on, but those are the most basic and, what I believe, to be the most important. Name me one business or industry where those skills aren’t important? In fact, as an example, at the university I attended, the Engineering Department had to have professors and even grad students from the English Department come in and teach the engineering students how to write a proper sentence! And these are the people we trust to build our bridges, buildings, planes and everything else – yet they can’t communicate effectively.

Okay, enough of my ranting. My point is that a literary education is transferable to just about anything. The opportunities are endless! Just don’t ask me if I’ve found a job yet.

Read the Times Online article here:
French Literature pays price as the language of money lures students

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