Think Diversity Big – Why the Humanities and Multidisciplinarity Matter

At times, I am frustrated with my job search. No, not true.

I am really good at researching job openings and interesting companies. Also, I am getting better and better at selling myself – I mean selling my skills and talents and various qualifications and bla. The job search is not what I am frustrated with.

I am actually rather frustrated with the inability of the Human Resources departments in Germany to learn to be more flexible when it comes to candidates’ academic background.

I am fed up of constantly reading that I should have studied Economics, Engineering, or any of “the other school” sciences to be eligible for work in the fields of marketing, project management or consulting. The ridiculous amount of job postings that require pseudo-relevant qualifications reminds me of how insignificant it is to discuss the relevance of diversity in companies.

People don’t care about diversity when it comes to multidisciplinary teams. At least not in Germany. Albeit diversity is not limited to gender, culture or disability, it is often treated as such. Rarely does one discuss the diversity of disciplines, of academic backgrounds or vocational backgrounds.

Hailing from an academic background that many would deem “useless” – Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Culture, as well as Master of Arts in Social Sciences – I am once more confronted with a harsh reality during my job search. While countries such as Ireland or the United Kingdom* have established a practice that seems to allow soft skills, experience and actual interest in the job to have precedence in recruiting in a variety of fields-including the finance sector- countries such as Germany appear to be way behind. Thomas Sattelberger, a renown top manager in Human Resources, has recently infiltrated German media with the thought that diversity matters. During an event on diversity in companies which I attended at the LEAD | Mercator Capacity Building Center for Leadership & Advocacy in Berlin, Mr. Sattelberger acknowledged that the German tradition of recruiting only those with similar backgrounds (“cloning” those already in leadership positions) and focusing more or less exclusively on so-called “STEM” majors, is outdated and detrimental to diversity. He admitted to have switched to this type of thinking only after decades of experience in the Human Resources of large, international companies. Clearly, numerous studies prove that multidisciplinary teams work better than homogeneous ones.

Let me be honest: When I got my A-levels (“Abitur”) in Germany, I was initially more interested in studying something Political or Social Science related than anything that seemed even more useless, such as Arts, Literature or Philosophy. When I applied at Jacobs University Bremen, I stumbled upon the concept of interdisciplinarity. I loved how much the university valued interdisciplinarity and (cultural) diversity as main pillars of its academic spirit. Interdisciplinarity at Jacobs meant that I was able to study Literature for my Bachelor’s degree, without being doomed to take Literature classes only. Comparable to a Liberal Arts education in the U.S., I took classes in the fields of Social Sciences, Psychology, Arts, History, Media, even Economics, Logistics and Computational Sciences.

When I made the choice to be a student in the Humanities, I realized: you can broaden your horizon. Start with your own self. Don’t judge those who study something that does not necessarily lead to gaining immense sums of euros, dollars, liras in the first place. There are pros and cons to any major out there. Why scapegoating those in the field of Humanities is so widespread tells a lot about our values in societies, in which the individual being and its unique interpersonal strengths, as well as human values, are neglected.

What do I mean by this?

Firstly, I am fully aware that parts of the discussion on the lack of women in leadership positions circulates around the so-called irrational choice of females to choose “useless” and “soft” majors, as those in the Humanities. The argument goes that, if women chose mathematics, engineering and economics instead of arts and love and shit, they would make it to the top more often. Anybody who has seriously dealt with the topic of why women are still disadvantaged in advancing to leadership positions in various countries knows that this argument is ridiculous. Even women who study in STEM majors and work in fields relevant to these majors are underrepresented in the upper levels of the hierarchy. They complain about factors other than their academic background which impede their higher career goals. Scapegoating being number one: people assume that women who choose majors in the Humanities impede their careers in top positions. They fail to see that the major is not the main criterion for a lack of women in leadership positions. Secondly, people don’t care about the strengths of an education in the Humanities.

Germany, the country of poets and thinkers (“Deutschland – Land der Dichter und Denker”). Really? Like, 200 years ago, maybe. Now, Germany is the country that deals with an increasing number of employees suffering from depression (or what is commonly refered to as “burnout” but in effect, is a depression). We are living in a world, in which thinking has become less than silver and ‘accomplishing much during constrained time’ has become pure gold.

Thinking, such as creative thinking, requires moments of tuning out of the stressful workaday life. At times, thinking means taking time. This does not only apply to thinking. Likewise, your productivity can only be maintained in a sustainable, long-term fashion if you are allowed to take breaks for inspiration, for reflecting upon your work and contribution, finding ways to sense yourself, instead of sliding right into the flames of the burn-out hell.

I do not mean to say that it is a Humanities major only who knows how to value an employee not as a pure production machine, but as a human being with needs and wishes. Yet, I dare say that the school of Humanities is more likely to teach an understanding of values other than the widespread doctrine of “time is money, so hurry the f*** up”. Studying something out of passion, instead of studying it out of better job prospects, shapes an understanding of the employee as a human being that functions best, if he or she is given recreational breaks, air to breathe and a vision to hold on to, instead of constant stress and pressure and more and more of it.

Furthermore, the value of critical thinking is characteristic of the Humanities. In a work culture, in which creative thinking, let alone critical thinking, is fostered only as long as it does not interfere with your boss’ goals, those coming from the Humanities can provide a breath of fresh air.

Many of you reading this will strongly oppose and accuse me of being biased. Why should a person from the STEM majors not be able to think critically, to care about work-life balance, to value treating employees in a humane way? And you are absolutely right. There is no reason why this should not be the case.

So, why is it then, that Humanities majors are often belittled and smiled upon, as if they would not be able to take on managerial tasks, or jobs in consulting, project management or finance.

Who says, I can’t deal with excel, with numbers or with economic thinking? Why is it a question of presumably lacking abilities for a Humanities major, but not for a major from Computational Sciences or Logistics, whom one could in turn accuse of a lack of communication skills, a lack of critical thinking, a lack of being able to lead with a vision? How would a Management and Economics major feel, if I assumed that, due to his or her academic background, the person would not be able to understand larger societal contexts outside of their main expertise, or understand psychological motives that drive different team members?

Let’s face it: Schmalspur denken (pronounce: shmal-shpoor dankin), as the Germans call that type of thinking that is really narrow, does not welcome diversity in disciplines. And by doing so, the economy and society lose much.

Suna holds degrees in Literature, Cultural Studies and in Social Sciences. Having lived in Ankara and NYC, she looks for (professional) opportunities not only in her hometown Berlin, but for any place offering an international career and new friends. As a shorty, she appreciates growth. She loves food, books and crashing Turkish-Kurdish weddings.

Photo credit: Wall_Food_10464 by Michael Stern, found on flickr.com