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Oh, the humanities
Jennifer Westacott
Business leaders tell conference Australian companies are crying out for more humanities students in a world gone mad with STEM.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott told industry leaders that society needs business and government, and business and government need humanities graduates.
“ The humanities is not about a list of subjects in an arts degree, [ it’ s ] about giving people an organised framework that goes to the heart of the human condition,” Westacott argued at a humanities forum hosted by the University of Sydney and the Australian National University.“ It’ s about giving people the philosophy and the understanding to apply values, ethics and morals to a range of situations.
She observed that many people in Western countries are anxious, disengaged and frustrated, and now“ question globalisation, migration, innovation and the value and virtues of technology”. She said universities need to produce“ leaders and citizens”, as well as people with skills. Furthermore, business should work with universities“ rather than simply complaining that graduates aren’ t well rounded”.
“ If universities produce narrow or technical people, not broad people, it’ s very hard to correct,” Westacott said.
Bob Easton, managing director of technology consulting firm Accenture Australia and New Zealand, argued at the forum that the current innovation debate is“ STEM gone mad”. He said Accenture Australia, which sponsored the forum, is looking to hire more humanities graduates.
The chairman of the CSIRO also weighed in. David Thodey, also chair of Jobs NSW, a former Telstra chief executive and an ex-chief executive of IBM Australia and New Zealand, advised that humanities faculties have to“ be relevant to business”.
“ You have to be able to talk the language of commerce and of government as well,” Thodey said. ■
USYD 4th for employability
Local institution places near the top in latest QS global ranking of university graduates’ job prospects.
The University of Sydney has placed fourth worldwide in the latest QS graduate employability rankings, putting it ahead of institutions like Cambridge University and the University of Oxford.
Above USYD were China’ s Tsinghua University( 3), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology( 2), and frontrunner Stanford University. The University of Melbourne was the next Australian institution, sharing the 11 spot with Peking University in China.
An institution’ s place on the chart is determined by employer reputation, partnerships with employers, alumni outcomes, employers’ presence on campus, and graduate employment rate. Ben Sowter, QS head of research, said STEM-heavy institutions were the most successful.
“ Efforts by Australian universities to establish themselves as industry-friendly knowledge hubs are paying dividends for their students,” Sowter said. ■
INSTITUTION |
COUNTRY |
1 Stanford University |
US |
2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
US |
3 Tsinghua University |
China |
4 The University of Sydney |
Australia |
5 University of Cambridge |
UK |
6 Ecole Polytechnique ParisTech |
France |
7 Columbia University |
US |
8 University of Oxford |
UK |
9 University of California, Berkeley |
US |
10 Princeton University |
US |
11 = The University of Melbourne |
Australia |
11 = Peking University |
China |
13 Cornell University |
US |
14 Fudan University |
China |
15 University of California, Los Angeles |
US |
|
ETH Zurich( Swiss Federal Institute of
16
Technology)
|
Switzerland |
17 University of Chicago |
US |
18 University of Hong Kong |
Hong Kong |
19 University of Toronto |
Canada |
20 = KIT, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie |
Germany |
20 = Imperial College London |
UK |
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