Alex WellersteinVerified account

for 3 years I was the live-in faculty of a Residential College @VT_RC_WAJ. my family and I literally lived in a residence hall with undergraduates here at @virginia_tech. 3/

now I'm department chair of @VT_RLCL. throughout those times in particular but in my 13 years here in general, I've recruited (or tried to) A LOT of students. 4/

by far the BIGGEST thing stopping students from taking Humanities courses or adding our majors? Parents. 5/

I've had students talk to me nearly in tears because they did find meaning in our courses but were told they'd be disowned/ have to pay for college themselves if they changed majors, or even added a double-major. had 1 student do it anyway and they were indeed cut off. 6/

it isn't that the students themselves don't want them. it's their parents who are convinced (as the @TheAtlantic essay points out) that college is about certification, about job-training and that only certain majors get their kid a job. 8/

I don't have a good answer as to how to combat it. But I do think we should acknowledge the problem and that universities should target PARENTS in their education campaigns about what degrees can do for their kids. that's maybe the only way out. 9/9

As a humanities professor at a STEM school I spend a lot of my advising time helping students with the language for explaining to their parents and peers (!) why their degree will lead to a worthwhile career.