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BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS
November 22, 2013
How To Reach the Top
One of the most important concerns of parents who have children of school-going age is
help them to choose a post-secondary educational program that will enable them to reach the top
of their respective professions or occupations in the next twenty or more years. This task has
become more complex as the Philippine basic educational system moves to the K + 12
curriculum in which the last two years of senior high school will incorporate many of the
subjects in general education that used to be taught in the first two years of college in most
university programs. Let me share with these parents the views expressed by Annette GordonReed, a professor of history at Harvard University who serves on the National Commission on
the Humanities and Social Science created in 2011 at the request of the Senate and the House of
Representatives of the U.S. during a time of great economic uncertainty and insecurity. The
conclusions of Dr. Gordon Reed should be seriously considered by parents and educators,
considering the fact that the U.S. has had the K + 12 system for many decades. American high
school graduates have been entering college at the age of 18 or more years.
The current thinking of parents and students in the U.S. has been captured by Dr. Gordon
Reed in the following words: "Parents and students who have invested heavily in higher
education fret about graduates' job prospects as technological advances and changes in domestic
and global markets transform professions in ways that reduce wages and cut jobs. Under these
circumstances, it is natural to look for what may appear to be the most 'practical' way out of the
problem: 'Major in a subject designed to get you a job' seems the obvious answer to some,
though this ignores the fact that many disciplines in the humanities characterized as 'soft' often,
in fact, lead to employment and success in the long run." From my contact with numerous
parents who ask advice about their children's future career path, I get the impression that they
have similar attitudes towards the post-secondary courses that their children should pursue: take
a course that will land you a job as quickly as possible after your university studies.
Getting a job is without doubt an important goal of parents and students. It should,
however, not be the overriding consideration in choosing a university and a course. As Dr.
Gordon Reed pointed out employers everywhere have expressed a preference for students who
have received a broadly based education that has taught them to write well, think critically,
research creatively and communicate easily. In fact, the Dean of the School of Education of the
University of Asia and the Pacific, Dr. Celerino Tiongco, who obtained is Ph.D. in Education at
the prestigious Teachers College of Columbia University in New York, interviewed top
employers in the Philippines and arrived at the same conclusion: employers prefer to hire
graduates with a strong liberal arts foundation for positions that will eventually lead to top
management positions. Those who take up courses that are too narrow in scope and
specialization may get a job easily but they tend to stagnate at low levels of employment for the
rest of their career unless they take up more courses that will widen their perspectives and
enhance their analytical and communication skills.
The sunrise industries that will be in great need of qualified professionals as the
Philippines leads Asia in economic growth in the next twenty years are not difficult to identify.
Several studies of think tanks and industry organizations or chambers have come out with almost
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identical lists: agribusiness, tourism, Business Process and Knowledge Process Outsourcing,
health care, logistics, manufacturing, education, real estate and housing, mining, automobile,
infrastructure and construction, telecommunications and the creative industries. It is highly
tempting for parents and students to immediately focus on the skill sets required by these growth
industries. They must be reminded, however, of the following reality: "Students should be
prepared not just for their first job, but for their 4th and 5th jobs, as there is little reason to doubt
that people entering the work force today will be called upon to play many different roles over
the course of their careers. The ones who will do the best in this new environment will be those
whose educations have prepared them to be flexible. The ability to draw upon every available
tool and insight--gleaned from science, arts, and technology--to solve the problems of the future,
and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, will stand them (and the
country) in good stead.
Parents who want to help prepare their children for their long-term career changes and to
reach the top of any organization that they join should make sure that the university in which
their children will enroll give a lot of importance to such subjects as history, literature, social
sciences, philosophy, mathematics, the physical sciences or in other words, the humanities.
Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Aquinas, Augustine, Adam Smith, Jose Rizal, and
Confucius have a lot more to contribute to the long-term success of the future generation of
professionals than the latest textbooks in accounting, information technology, civil engineering
or electrical engineering. For our future leaders in the various sectors and professions of the
country, the general education component in the last two years of senior high school in the K +
12 program will not be sufficient for this liberal arts program required by anyone who aspires to
reach the top of his career(s). There must at least two additional years at the university level of
liberal arts formation that will match the improved psychological maturity of post-adolescent
youth. I can speak with some authority because I was part of the general education program of
one of the best universities in the world, Harvard University, and one of the pioneers of a
Philippine university that assigns the highest importance to the humanities as a preparation for
any professional career, the University of Asia and the Pacific. For comments, my email address
is bernardo.villegas@uap.asia.