Liberal Arts Education

BUSI 610

Abstract

This literature review directly addresses the growing debate as to the integration of liberal arts studies into a business degree program. This paper will look at the historical context that the debate has followed as well as outline major factors of the debate and how they relate to each other. Finally, based on these literary finding, suggestions will be made as to the advancement of research regarding the topic as well as future areas of exploration.

Insight Into Liberal Arts Education in

Business Schools: A Literature Review

Introduction

Liberal arts is best defined as an the collegiate education comprising of knowledge in the fields of arts, natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities (Hall, 1968). Numerous scholars and researchers have reviewed the effects this education has on the outcome of business students majoring in all fields of study from accounting, economics, marketing, to management and have found a surprisingly common rationale: liberal arts has a positive impact on the education of business students in all fields. The debate lies, however, in the implementation of the liberal art education as it relates to the fields of business.

There have been studies that suggest that the best form of implementation is to integrate liberal arts education directly into the course material while other scholars and researchers have argued that a more

separated approach should be taken in order to achieve the most beneficial result. Despite the amount of research conducted, however, there is seemingly no end to the flow of research conducted.

This literature review will examine the historical background with regards to the topic to hopefully shed light into the debate. As the historical view of the debate shows, a great deal of change has occurred in the last 75 years as to the focus of education in business schools across the nation. Whether it be the inflow of GI's from World War II or the literary influences of New York Times Bestselling books, education and the implementation and removal of the liberal arts structure has undergone significant changes.

This literary review will also look into the debate of whether to bridge practical and liberal arts courses or to replace the courses all together with courses designed to teach both ideas mutually. Another debate will be discussed regarding the amount to which theories, whether managerial, behavioral, or organizational theories should be or need to be discussed in light of the liberal arts integration. We will examine the current trends of liberal arts integration into the field of business taught in higher education as well as point out predictions as to how the future looks for the research of liberal arts integration. Finally, we will conclude by summarizing the findings of this literature review and point out areas for further research as well as shed light on the solutions for conducting research in the future.

A Historical View

A historical view of the debate between a liberal arts view and a practicality based education points out an uprising in the argument during the 1930's as GI's were found to be flooding college classrooms in an attempt to fulfill their GI Bill (Obermueller, 1993). GI's were not interested in a theoretical based view of business education, as they were more interested in landing entry-level jobs were practicality was the focus. This push of colleges to adopt the practicality based education model led the Ford Foundation to conduct a study looking into the effectiveness of this change (Schlossman, Sedlak, & Wechler, 1998). In the 1950's, the Ford Foundation, after much research and deliberation, concluded that a return to a greater liberal arts focus was needed (1998).

Although the research concluded that the education programs in the field of business needed a greater focus on the liberal arts, professors, institutions, and students alike tended to be comfortable with the practical education that had slowly been adopted. While there was a strong correlation between the benefitted success of students and a strong liberal arts education, colleges were being flooded with students and professors were settling into the comfort of an easier curriculum (Jones, 1986).

The thoughts and writings of scholars and theorists on the future, such as Mitroff's writing (1987) discussing the corporate environment and rethinking the focus and direction of

the environment of the times or Naisbitt's book (1982) discussing individualism's effects on the future of global development, changed the perspective of educators worldwide. After these writings, the educational field began to see a need to review the effectiveness of their liberal arts programs. This was coupled with an increasing concern into the communication and critical thinking skills of business graduates (Porter & McKibbin, 1988).

This resurgence, since the release of the Ford Foundation in the 1950's study, in into the topic of liberal arts was on the rise. In 1989, Stark and Lowther released a study on the liberal arts in the field of business and showed that there was a high level of graduates who were not able to comprehend information on a critical level, make ethical decisions when facing an issue, or relate to others both on a cultural and emotional level. Facing growing concern over the outcome of business students in higher education, universities began to once again view the liberal arts as a benefit in their programs. As the realization of the benefits of a liberal arts focused education grew, consequently so did the debate as to how the merging the two philosophies.

The Great Debate

Liberal arts education, with relation to the business field, has brought about much attention in the last thirty years. The scope of the liberal arts field with relation to the business environment, while discussed in length for over a century, has just recently established itself as a

larger debate than otherwise thought.

The theory behind the liberal arts philosophy is the betterment of ones self through the ability to critically think and reason with logic so that there can be a greater connection into social participation (Cohen, 2009). The purpose of using this theory and applying it to the field of business education is to provide students with the ability to use the business knowledge they possess and conform it to the situations that they may face in the present (King and Baxter-Magolda, 1991). Pinsker (2009) states