The other day I was reading about the recent trend of IIT Jee toppers opting for B Tech in mathematics or data science stream rather than computer science which they were opting for the past many years. It is a clear indication of how manpower in different fields is being valued in industry. These days we place premium on STEM education — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Much before this, India has attached importance to science and mathematics. The evidence was the cut off marks at H Sc. level for different streams — the science stream demanding very high cut offs. STEM option creates a vibrant knowledge economy, and an individual is armed with market-dynamic opportunities.
However, there is flaw in thinking here. Liberal arts such as sociology, economics, sociology etc. are necessary to build up our holistic personality. The liberal arts invest us with critical faculties. They make us adapt to the environment. They give us the abilities to do heuristic thinking. Such individuals can take decisions without following mechanical algorithmic thinking.
Liberal arts give individuals insights which they cannot get just by a cost-benefit analysis. Cardinal Newman wrote two books called Idea a University (1852). They were Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite books . Newman advocated liberal education till a certain level — say the intermediate or SSC level before starting skill education in crafts and sciences. A university must have a college of liberal arts and sciences and professional schools. It makes the students broadminded. Liberal Arts give the kick to infer intent behind decisions, unobvious patterns and less evident issues.
The ‘liberalist’ is more malleable and is liberal in all senses. He has an operating system that values freedom of choice, multiple pathways emotional considerations and intellectual empathy. He has intuitive knowledge. In a post-AI world, he will go much farther than the formulaic.
New education policy thus allows science stream students to study humanities courses and vice versa. Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) followed this method of education since long. Engineering students must have exposure to economics, and medical students must have exposure to psychology. In fact, education should be cross-disciplinary.
In civil services, the IAS cadre is a generalist or liberalist. The other civil services are IPS, IFS, IRS and so on. Here there is a mix of generalists and specialists. In industry also we have technocrats and generalists. In decision making process, at the lower level, more technical skill are necessary, but as you move higher in hierarchy, you require more conceptual skills. These days management courses have students from diverse backgrounds (degrees in different disciplines) but are given broad-based generalist training in their MBA degrees. Many good executives are, therefore, B-Tech, MBAs. However, over the years, there was overwhelming number of engineers in the MBA courses of IIM. Therefore, as an equalisation measure, the non-engineering degrees were given some added weightage.