By Richard LeComte
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Studying the liberal arts and sciences always have benefitted students as they seek careers. QA Commons, a company that matches college curricula to job skills, recently specified just what in the University of Kentucky’s undergraduate curriculum in the Department of History helps students develop their talents in eight basic areas.
Or, as Napoleon Dynamite once said, “Skills.”
"QA Commons puts its stamp of approval on programs that are providing students with these skills,” said Melanie Goan, Ph.D., professor in UK's College of Arts and Sciences and director of undergraduate studies in history. "For us in the humanities and history, it's especially important for us to reinforce that message to families and to students who are looking at college choices. And it's something we've been doing for a very long time in our department.”
The company recently examined the syllabi of the History Department's undergraduate courses, including assignments and learning goals, to see if what professors ask of students dovetails with the skills QA Commons identified as necessary to succeed in the job market. Those skills come under the heading of “Essential Employability Qualities,” or EEQ. Those areas are:
- Communication.
- Critical thinking.
- Teamwork.
- Creative and problem solving.
- Adaptability.
- Professionalism and responsibility.
- Motivation and initiative.
- Digital literacy.
The report mapped our curriculum in a way to help us think about employability,” Goan said. "How does this work translate? When students leave our courses, what are they able to do?”
In the report, the staff members of QA Commons cited as strengths the department's Canvas career website, called historyFUTURE, as well as faculty guidance on internships, service learning and community projects. It also praised the coursework highlighted in the syllabi for mirroring situations students may find in workplaces.
“As a result, graduates enter the workforce prepared to contribute immediately and grow within fast-changing organizational environments,” the report states.
More specifically, the report lauds the department’s stress on debate and free thinking, which contributes to honing critical thinking skills.
“From first-year courses through the senior seminar, students engage with complex historiographical debates and primary sources, building the capacity to synthesize multiple perspectives, navigate ambiguity, and make well-reasoned judgments in professional environments,” the report states.
And in terms of the digital area, the History Department digital educational systems in ways that echo how professionals use such apps as Teams and Salesforce.
“(Students) manage information through research databases, and create multimodal projects including podcasts, StoryMaps and digital exhibits,” the report states. “Assignments provide foundational practice with technology and basic ethical awareness around AI tools, while projects like the Smithsonian Learning Lab build entry-level experience in curation and online presentation.”
One course where these facts come into play is Introduction to African Studies, said Anastasia Curwood, director of the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies and professor of history.
“What the report says is that the class develops reasoning and bias detection skills as well as the ability to reframe narratives,” she said. “The workplaces where these skills in that course could apply to are international NGOs, community development, market research for Africa and global human resources work.”
On top of those efforts, history majors complete a 25-page capstone paper, which gives students experience in creating and completing independent projects, an essential skill for knowledge workers.
“Students doing the capstone are showing motivation, initiative and the ability to follow through on goals,” Goan said. “So we have all these examples that we can use. “It also gives students language they can use when they communicate with potential employers. They will have specific examples they can offer as proof of their preparation.”
Ultimately, the QA Commons report gives faculty members and staff language and evidence they can use to show how a history major can boost a student’s employability; points they can use to assure stakeholders of the value of a humanities degree.
"We give students the language that they can use to say: 'I was a history major, and I know that I have these eight employability qualities. As a history major, this is what I have to offer your company,’” Curwood said.