James Engell, Gurney Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature

Before students may even have decided to apply to college, it still seems important to state that significant employment opportunities as well as opportunities for excellent further education in the professional schools are open to graduates of Harvard College no matter what concentration or course of study they elect. The record on that is clear.

Even in colleges of the liberal arts and sciences such as Harvard, an emphasis on majors believed to land a good job, or to favor being admitted to law, business, or medical schools, is usually justified by an appeal to "utility," to a supposedly clear-sighted appraisal of what the "real" world demands of college graduates. This has become a dominant myth of much American higher education, and some of its strongest advocates are parents. If it is assumed that these "occupational" courses and majors are superior preparation for adult life, and if no one steps forward to challenge that assumption, then they will seem more attractive.

Continue reading