No Dilemma at all: The Importance of Liberal Education in Developing Skills for Employability

140 A climate characterized by global financial instability, budgetary belt-tightening, and stringent public accountability has certainly contributed to calls for reevaluating the value and purpose of post-secondary education and, especially, liberal education. On the one hand, some suggest that post-secondary education should aim to provide students with specialized knowledge and credentials necessary for employment. Margarent Wente (2009), a columnist for The Globe and Mail, expresses this view when she writes that, “a vast proportion of the student body neither wants nor needs a traditional liberal education anyway. They have no desire to sit at the feet of cloistered masters debating truth and beauty. They are essentially there for the credentials.” On the other hand, many argue that traditional liberal education, with its emphasis on learning from the classical thinkers of western civilization and discussing fundamental issues such as the nature of beauty and truth, continues to be the best way to prepare well-rounded individuals for living a good and fulfilling life. My argument is that there is no dilemma. Liberal education does develop skills and abilities that are valuable in life and in the work place. Evidence gathered from graduates of an institution with an explicit liberal education philosophy, the University of Lethbridge, shows that they found their liberal education experience was important for developing skills necessary for success in the workplace. Debate about the aims of education is not new. In 5th century BC, Athens educators were divided. Some felt education should develop the skills 23