Ben Wildavsky on the Career Arts

Hardly Working with Brent Orrell

Regrettably, the debate about post-secondary education has devolved into just another culture war issue with one camp saying “everyone go to college” and another saying “skip college learn a trade.”

Today, Brent sits down with Ben Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, who challenges this false dichotomy. In his recent book “The Career Arts,” Wildavsky argues that education, job, and career success require integrating broad-based skills (such as those acquired through a liberal arts and social science education) with more narrow, technical skills (such as those acquired through credential programs). Such integration, Wildavsky contends, supports well-rounded and resilient workers who can more easily adapt to an unpredictable and rapidly changing economy.

Mentioned in this Episode

Strada Education Foundation

College wage premium

Larry Katz

Tony Carnevale

Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce

Project Basta

Climb Higher

Western Governors University

Point Loma Nazarene University

Seth Bodnar, president, University of Montana

Society for Human Research Management

Skills-based hiring