Originally Posted: June 19, 2018
Last month, a philosophy major from the University of Dallas carried his diploma straight from academia to a job in investment banking. He got this job not despite his degree, but because of it. A firm that manages trillions of dollars in assets contacted UD’s career office seeking a liberal arts major.
During the Republican presidential debates in 2015, Marco Rubio told America that “we need more welders and less philosophers.” But if that’s so, why would a major investment bank view a degree in the liberal arts, and in philosophy in particular, as an asset rather than a liability?
One explanation comes from Wall Street investor Bill Miller, who in January gave $75 million to the philosophy department at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. “Philosophy,” Miller said, “involves critical thinking and reasoning about highly complex issues. At its best it is rigorous and analytical. These skills are exactly what are required to think through and understand capital markets and the analysis of businesses. However good one is at this, philosophical training will make you better.” READ MORE