More than the Major

What if being a double major in French and political science was the perfect preparation to become an environmental technologies lawyer? What if your history degree and passion for technology meant you’d be CEO of a successful tech start up? And what if your degree in sociology or religion led you to a job as a city planner or a manager in healthcare?  

“Majors don’t determine careers,” says Matthew Katz, philosophy professor and the coordinator of the Career Pathways Center in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Hub.  

This message was central to the CLASS Hub’s grand opening celebrations in March, featuring an open house in Anspach Hall and conversations with authors Ned Scott Laff and Scott Carlson about their newly-released book Hacking College: Why the Major Doesn’t Matter—and What Really Does.

During their public talk and classroom visits, Laff and Carlson emphasized the importance of identifying students’ deep interests beyond the major and identifying jobs that tap into those interests. Once students do this, they can tailor their entire experience at CMU to that dream career. General education classes, internships, and RSOs become an essential part of a student’s training and development in addition to their major.

Students really loved the Hacking College message.  

Freshman Christy Gardener puts it this way: “I’ve had to make tough choices and take different classes to shape my future in a way that still works for me. It’s been difficult to navigate on my own . . . .  But after hearing from the authors, my perspective has shifted, and I feel less alone in this challenge.”

The CLASS Hub, named and modeled after the College of Business Administration’s center for student engagement and professional development, works primarily with prospective and current students, but also faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to empower students on their journey from applying to the university through entering their profession. 

By facilitating seamless transfers from community college to CMU and fostering collaborations with community partners, as well as offering services like résumé consultations, mock interviews, employer spotlights, and alumni engagement workshops, the CLASS Hub provides access to multiple types of expertise to help students prepare for a meaningful lifetime of work.   

Joshua Adams, coordinator of recruitment and community outreach, is excited for the CLASS Hub to be a launchpad for students’ careers. 

“It's a bridge that showcases the superpowers gained from our programs and equips students with the essential skills to uncover and land their dream jobs,” said Adams. 

The opening of the CLASS Hub and the visit by Laff and Carlson are all part of a larger approach in the college emphasizing the workplace value of students trained in the liberal arts. This “entrepreneurial turn,” as CLASS Dean Richard Rothaus calls it, is gaining national recognition for its career-ready innovation in the humanities and social sciences.  

With internships available for all majors in the college and a new, cutting-edge program in public and applied liberal arts—the first in Michigan and the Midwest—the college is leading the way in the state and nation for a career-minded liberal arts education.  

Rothaus believes we all do better when we all do better.  

“The exciting changes we are making in the college will guarantee that our students begin to actively practice their career skills the moment they arrive on campus through classwork, internships, and meeting field experts in our alumni or in the community,” said Rothaus. “By doing this, we are better preparing students to take that great knowledge they’ve gained here in the humanities and social sciences and turn it into a meaningful career. There’s nothing more important or exciting that faculty and staff in the college can do.”