Career Opportunities
The philosophy courses at Langara College are designed to promote an appreciation of philosophy and to train students to reason and write effectively about philosophical issues. The courses provide students with opportunities to acquire one of the key foundations of a liberal arts education and to prepare them for further studies in philosophy, including completion of an undergraduate degree in philosophy.
Philosophy is an excellent background for pre-professional training, for example, in law, journalism, or business management and administration. There are also specific careers in philosophy. In addition to academic careers, there are career programs in many universities for training ethicists in health care, business, and human and animal research. Some high school teaching certification programs now have philosophy as a specialty and require undergraduate training in philosophy. However, British Columbia does not yet have such programs.
Philosophy majors rank first in verbal ability on the standardized graduate school admission tests (GRE). They rank second and third, respectively, in overall performance on business graduate admission (GMAT) and law school admission (LSAT) tests. (Mathematics students rank first on the GMAT; mathematics and economics graduates rank first and second on the LSAT.)
The best reason, however, for studying philosophy remains that it will develop your critical and analytical reasoning skills. In short, studying philosophy will give you a better mind. These skills are needed in all contexts requiring problem solving and effective communication of ideas and arguments – which is to say they are applicable to all aspects of human life.