Liberal education and workplace preparation

In a move to placate business interests, Japan is requiring its 86 national universities to submit restructuring plans to focus more on preparation of graduates for the workplace. The anticipated result is that resources previously directed to liberal education will move to business and vocational areas.

This move raises the fundamental question of why higher education officials have allowed liberal arts to be disconnected from the reality that students need to be prepared for work. Some would say it is all about where you place the emphasis - on intellectual pursuit or vocational preparation. As a liberal arts graduate, I cultivated workplace dispositions by coupling my courses with loads of cocurricular and extracurricular engagement. Perhaps we should get back into the conversation about holistic educational experiences...