English Declines, Communication Rises: A Paradox

English contains the most vocabulary words of any language. It is the language of the business world, requiring almost any and every individual to learn it and use it effectively. The language of scholars and of modern science, English becomes ever more prevalent in America’s progression to the top of the societal ladder.

Though the need for English proficiency in applicants rises, the percentage of students taking on English as a major field of study declines across the board. This is not only true for English, but for all humanities majors. This trend seems directly linked to the rise of business majors over the past generation, which skyrocketed from 13.7 percent to an impressive 21.9 percent. The jump in business majors seen throughout American universities now makes business the most pursued major.

Print is out and screens are in, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that English still governs the world of business’s ability to communicate with its clients: the public. Why does the percentage of English majors decline while the percentage of business majors makes a leap so dizzying that universities are left wait listing students?

The answer to this question finds itself wedged secretly between 1957 and 1975. During this time, America engaged itself in a silent contest with the then USSR called the Space Race. The well-known conflict between the two world powers showed America’s math and science deficiencies compared to other countries at the time, leading to an emphasis on science and math curriculum in universities as well as elementary and high school level classrooms.

Shifting societal attention from the humanities to science and math was admittedly not a hard transition; the trends for college students’ desired fields of study had only increased since America’s own industrial revolution. But why the spark in business majors?

Students who were not proficient at math and science did not have much of a place to turn in the 2000s. Careers in math and science were and are considered the “successful” fields because of their high-income medians. Society then stamped English and the other humanities majors with a stigma: unemployable. Instead of turning to the humanities as an alternative to scientific and mathematical fields, students funneled into business majors.

Now as college-aged individuals begin their studies, it’s apparent they do not have the proper English skills needed to excel in their chosen business careers such as the job market found in the Communications field. This creates an increasing employment-gap between those who are talented in writing and those who are not.

Does this mean that English major enrollment will begin to increase at American universities? Maybe so. But first the English stigma must drop; as long as society continues to dub the humanities as hopeless in the job market, the gap between those qualified for careers in media writing and those who are not will continue to increase, leaving America’s business supremacy at risk.

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