A major in history develops
communication (oral and written), research, and analytic skills that
are in great demand in business, government, and other fields. According
to business leaders and educators, the liberal arts degree, with a major
in history, is just as sure a path to success as any alternative. Large
corporations are looking for individuals who are both creative and analytical
for their management programs. A spokesperson for the Bell System maintains
that "employees with liberal arts majors have shown stronger management
skills and have advanced further than those with other college majors."
Procter and Gamble also prefers liberal arts recruits: "It doesn't
matter whether they studied Germanic history or philosophy as long as
they have gained some understanding of what the world is all about."
A recent report from General Motors says that "GM values a broad
based education that cultivates creative, analytical and communication
skills and encourages self-motivation, persistence and self-discipline."
A few years ago, a survey of the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies showed
that a majority of these top executives had liberal arts degrees and
that history was the most frequent major.
Moreover, the traditional markets
for history majors should not be overlooked; new teaching jobs open
up every year, as well as positions in publishing, archives, and museums.
For those people who are thinking
in terms of graduate school, history is also a most suitable major.
Graduate programs in history welcome undergraduate majors, and TRU history
majors who have chosen this route have been accepted by some of the
finest schools in Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. Law
schools are also very receptive to history majors since law, after all,
is historical in nature.
In short, both graduate schools
and business want well-rounded individuals who have been taught, as
William Bennett, chairman of the pharmaceuticals firm Schering-Plough,
asserts, "how to think, not what to think". Whatever students
may be planning or considering, the historians at Thompson Rivers University
are more than willing to talk things over with them.