Monday, February 22, 2016
Research Blog #3
My topic talks about how being a member of a Greek organization has benefited me personally. More specifically the 'soft skills' that being a member of a fraternity has helped me develop. These skills include communication, interpersonal relations, and leadership. I am not entirely sure how privatization connects with my topic. I have one connection in mind but it might be more of a loose correlation than a strong connection. In The Neoliberal Arts by Deresiewicz, he makes a point to talk about the decline of liberal arts majors such as English and the rise of more 'practical' majors such as business and communication. He also goes on to make a point that students invest more time in extra curricular (hence my involvement in a fraternity) over going to class and studying. These extra curriculars, whether it be greek life, various clubs, sports etc. can all help develop soft skills. These soft skills are very useful in more practical majors such as business and communications. Privatization of colleges has made practical majors much more popular. This benefits me because I plan on going into a business field and these soft skills which I have developed through greek life will help me be more successful. Privatization may not be directly correlated with this but it definitely played a role.
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One thing you might consider is that the liberal arts are often seen as a training ground for "soft skills" -- something you can find widely discussed online:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.christendom.edu/2015/05/26/employers-seek-recent-graduates-with-soft-skills-found-best-in-the-liberal-arts/
http://emhstrategy.com/soft-skills-and-clear-thinking-the-value-of-a-liberal-arts-education-in-a-business-context/
The argument for the value of fraternities as a training ground for soft skills in a time when liberal arts are in decline makes a lot of sense.
If you found some academic research on this, or just on the liberal arts as the traditional training ground of soft skills, it could add an interesting dimension to your project.