The post-pandemic humanities boom: news from Latin America. From the article:

David Garza, rector of Monterrey Institute of Technology, said that countries were facing major challenges in areas such as economic growth, productivity, poverty and ageing populations, which may incentivise governments to prioritise science and engineering education. But he said that the complexity of the problems would require “well-rounded leaders” and the type of analytical and creative thinking more associated with arts, humanities and social science degrees.

Speaking at the Times Higher Education virtual Latin America Universities Summit, Professor Garza said there were three key trends that could lead to a rising demand for these non-science fields.

The first was the fourth industrial revolution, which will result in the automation of many technical jobs and the hiring of people who are experts in “creativity and empathy and design”, he said, during a panel on whether the arts, humanities and social sciences will be essential disciplines in the 2020s.

The second factor, according to Professor Garza, was a potential change in attitudes, habits and values of the “Covid generation” of young people who are currently at school and may have “another way of seeing what is really valuable in the world”.

Third, he predicted that there will be a need for stronger leadership to deal with the complex problems that have been exacerbated in the wake of the pandemic. Professor Garza said studies have shown that graduates from humanities and social sciences degrees tend to perform best against a range of leadership skills because of their “ability to see the whole picture”.