by Julie Dodd
JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair
North Carolina mentor Martha Rockwell brings to our attention an article that appeared earlier this year in USA Today — Liberal arts education lends edge in down economy.
The article discussed the results of a survey that compared employment figures with standardized test scores that evaluate a student’s ability to think, reason and write.
The survey positive financial results for students “who had mastered the ability to think critically, reason analytically and write effectively by their senior year of college.”
Those students were three times less likely to be unemployed, half as likely to be living at home with their parents, and far less likely to have credit card debt.
Martha notes: “The three criteria for the evaluation (boldfaced above) are all skills that we emphasize in our journalism classes. That’s good information for administrators and for journalism teachers who are recruiting student staff members.”