A growing anti-college movement in the US suggests foregoing college altogether. Why? Costs are ridiculous. Employers hire people without degrees. Many believe colleges politically indoctrinate students, as seen in mandates to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Colleges are also seen as “bloat”— rife with bureaucracy and programs that do not result in decent jobs. Strada reports 52% of graduates are underemployed a year after graduation. Even 10 years later, 45% are still underemployed. It seems like a terrible return on investment (ROI).

A caveat exists. While 59% of people in the US believe colleges do not charge fair prices, the overwhelming majority (86%) believe the investment pays off within 10 years. Most people believe pursuing a college degree is worth it in the long run.

Don’t celebrate yet, anthropology. Another movement focuses on types of degrees. They calculate ROI from lists of salaries at graduation. “Majorism” results, where humanities and social sciences majors are viewed as intellectually and morally inferior to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and business majors. Even from some who value college, prospective students and our majors hear anthropology wastes their potential.

So, what do we do? How should anthropologists respond?

We need to say something.

Anyone not fanatically committed to the anti-college, ant-DEI, or Majorism movements will listen. That’s more people than you think, albeit surrounded by misinformation and politicized rhetoric. Like ethnographers, we must wander into their worlds to show what we’re about. We must signal to the world outside our silos and echo chambers.

Every anthropologist has an audience. Practitioners have clients, stakeholders, and sometimes policy makers. Academics have students, staff, administrators, and instructors in other departments. Students have all that plus family, friends, and home communities. Some can even reach the public through social media or the press. We each have an audience outside of anthropology.

Communicate with them. It can be as short as a sentence, or a long as a speech. Work a pro-anthro message into conversations, projects, speeches, lectures, slide decks, opinion pieces, radio interviews, blogposts, and art. One simple way involves acknowledging anthropology’s contributions to your accomplishments. Try it whenever you get compliments for your work. If you want help telling your story, remember anthropologists can teach you that, too. Here are some talking points.

1. Look at these charts from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median salary for a college degree is $66,000. For social science degrees, it is $70,000. Compare with Psychology ($55,000), Biology and Business (both $71,000), and Engineering ($100,000). We do relatively well among popular majors.
2. ROI should offer students more than just a salary. Research on majorism tells us many want more out of college than just out-earning their classmates. They want to make a difference. They want the fulfillment that comes from helping communities, improving people’s lives, and promoting positive change. These features are central to anthropology.
3. Anthropology students acquire valuable skills. An AAC&U survey of employers found employers want education to promote students thinking for themselves (93%), adapting to problems (94%), interacting with diverse groups of people (90%), liberal arts skills (80%), and both technical (92%) and non-technical skills (89%). A good anthropology curriculum offers all that and more.
4. Anthropology majors learn to analyze and navigate cultural difference. Race, gender, and class discussions terrify many people, as evident in the recent dispute over banned words. Some Americans cannot discuss fundamental aspects of society without starting a fight. Words like “underrepresented”, “underserved”, “understudied”, “sex”, “identity”, “diverse”, and “disabled” split them into distinctive warring cultures. Yet, anthropologists are trained to walk between cultures.

Graduates with experience researching and discussing contentious topics have a tremendous edge over everyone else. Use examples from Practicing Anthropology to demonstrate how we navigate tricky debates like health care, immigration, water policy, geopolitical violence, and, of course, education. These stories and yours demonstrate we possess the skills to have the challenging conversations that others silence, run from, or dominate. We know how to understand emic viewpoints, act as “cultural brokers,” and use data convincingly. Moreover, those characteristics make us prime candidates for leadership positions.

None of us can escape the anti-college, anti-anthropology climate we live in. The fact it exists suggests the skills we take for granted—understanding why cultures do what they do; mediating between radically different groups; pointing out the assumptions people cannot quite see they are making—are increasingly scarce. Story telling is no magic bullet, but it’s part of an effective response. We must communicate anthropology’s value and relevance to a public that needs us more than ever.

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