The main messages of this short INC piece, The Most Unexpected Workplace Trend Coming in 2020: the Return of the Liberal Arts Major, tally well with this analysis, Yes, Employers Do Value Liberal Arts Degrees, by the Harvard Business Review and also those of a piece I published in the Times Higher Education over a year ago – Critical thinkers honed in the liberal arts are in sharp demand.

The INC piece unfortunately employs the language of soft skills whereas the Harvard Business Review article simply notes that the graduate attributes employers rate as “most important are oral communication, critical thinking, ethical judgment, working effectively in teams, written communication, and the real-world application of skills and knowledge.” Nevertheless, both articles recognise that there is a deepening demand in this day and age for graduates who can think critically and creatively.

The world-wide crises we must continually confront today provide a constant reminder that we need flexible minds capable of sophisticated analysis, problem-solving and bold and timely decision-making. On a more pragmatic note, the article also points to research that challenges a longstanding stereotype about the poorly paid liberal arts graduates: it reveals that “while liberal arts majors have lower starting salaries, their salaries rise much quicker over the course of their lives than STEM majors”