Is an Interdisciplinary Degree Worth It?

These days, it’s not enough to just know just one subject— the jack-of-all-trades is taking over the workplace. Being trained in different areas of business can give a job-seeking individual a huge leg up. While becoming more common, interdisciplinary degrees are a far cry from the usual mold of picking a study and following all guidelines, and it's for the better.

Explaining my degree to someone who has never heard of one can be a difficult task. It usually involves me folding in frustration and just saying “I made my own degree.” Although a coarse way to say it, it’s not wrong. I had the ability to create an approved title for my interdisciplinary degree, assembled the areas of studies I would complete, and push for it to pass.

Interdisciplinary students have the advantage of learning self-advocacy and relatively limitless career possibilities. These students know exactly what they want, and how expand a future for themselves.

Imagine choosing a job not on money or even on career advancement, but as part of a life worth living. -Dale Dauten

The benefits may not show immediately through an individual’s resume and listed degree. An interdisciplinary student needs to advocate for themselves. Have past experience doing that? Check. See, selling yourself to a company is a must. Your skills are many, and your value is high. Knowing this while applying, or going in for an interview, can be the difference between an offer or a “we’ll call you later”.

The number of colleges that offer interdisciplinary studies are growing. To name a few:

Liberty UniversityNew York UniversityUniversity of California - BerkeleyUniversity of Southern CaliforniaGeorge Washington UniversityRussell Sage College (my alma mater)

Is an interdisciplinary degree for you? Before embarking on an interdisciplinary route, think of where your passions lie. For most people, those passions can be intersectional and combined into a dream job. For example: if you like Spanish, administration, and HR management, a degree in Multicultural Business Studies is viable. If you are like me, and are interested in fine art, art therapy, psychology, graphic design, and marketing, you can aim towards a Communicative Art + Design route.

As valuable careers skills become more and more intersectional, there very well might be a large spike in interdisciplinary studies. Will you have been a step ahead?