{"690441":{"#nid":"690441","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Recruiters Rate Candidates with Liberal Arts + STEM More Hirable","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraduates with liberal arts degrees are typically associated with skills increasingly in demand as AI\u2019s influence grows \u2014 creativity, critical thinking, and communication. But how do hiring managers react when those liberal arts graduates also have enhanced science and technology training?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo find out, Georgia Tech\u2019s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts surveyed 1,200 U.S. hiring managers in a variety of industries. The survey found that managers rated candidates for an entry-level analyst role with resumes that included a liberal arts degree from a technology-focused institute as more hirable than candidates with a liberal arts degree from a traditional state university.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe heard many anecdotal examples, from industry contacts and alumni, of our Ivan Allen liberal arts graduates with STEM skills having a career edge over graduates from traditional liberal arts institutions,\u201d said Amanda Murdie, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Regents\u2019 Professor, and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair in Liberal Arts and Technology. \u201cSo we set out to test that hypothesis with an old-fashioned science experiment.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe survey was conducted in spring 2026 with Georgia Tech Institutional Review Board approval. The survey, conducted through \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.prolific.com\/polling\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EProlific\u003C\/a\u003E, gathered responses from U.S.-based adults prescreened for having prior hiring experience and recruited using an even mix of men and women.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHiring managers randomly received one of four slightly different resumes: a baseline resume, saying the students has a liberal arts degree from a traditional state university; a resume saying the student had completed STEM coursework (computer science and mathematics); a resume saying the student\u2019s liberal arts degree is from a technology-focused institute; and a resume saying the student has STEM skills and went to a technology-focused institute. All other aspects of the candidate profile, including work experience, skills, and performance indicators, remained the same.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe used the four different resumes in order to look at how the coursework common at a technology-focused institution \u2014 math and coding \u2014 helped hirability, as well as just the name recognition of a tech-based university,\u201d Murdie said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe hiring managers were asked to rate candidate attributes that included communication, engineering team fit, ramp-up time, and technical competence. Respondents were told the theoretical position they were hiring for was not a technical role and did not require STEM or technical skills.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe survey found that any resume that included STEM skills and\/or a liberal arts degree from a technology-focused institute improved hiring managers\u2019 rating of the candidate\u2019s hirability. For example, compared to liberal arts-only candidates, candidates with technical coursework received higher ratings on perceived technical competence and team fit, and were viewed as requiring less ramp-up time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is a lot of buzz among my peers about how being at a tech-focused institution affects our job prospects, so it was extremely exciting to get the opportunity to examine that with data,\u201d said Adiba Syed, a recent Master of Science in Economics graduate who coauthored the survey. \u201cOur findings suggest that hiring managers really do value the combination of liberal arts training and technical skill development that Ivan Allen students bring to the labor market. I think it\u0027s important for our students and broader community to know this because it speaks to the unique edge Ivan Allen students bring within Georgia Tech\u2019s broader ecosystem.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResumes that included a liberal arts degree from a technology-focused university and advanced mathematics and computing coursework had the highest likelihood of being advanced for an interview \u2014 an 11-point increase (on a 0 to 100 scale) in how respondents rated the hirability of the candidate over the baseline liberal arts resume. Candidates from this category were also substantially more likely to be moved forward to an interview relative to the baseline liberal arts degree-only candidates.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat\u2019s what we like to call the \u2018\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/advantage\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIvan Allen Advantage\u003C\/a\u003E,\u2019\u201d said Murdie. \u201cIt\u2019s a unique advantage to study the liberal arts at a technology-based university. The combination of the liberal arts and a technology-infused environment benefits both the tech-related programs and the liberal arts programs, preparing students to lead in a complex world.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team is also working on a soon-to-be-released survey experiment of how hiring managers rate resumes for an engineering position when the candidate has additional liberal arts coursework compared to a candidate with solely engineering-focused coursework and degree. Preliminary results show a hiring advantage associated with liberal arts training.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn our AI environment, hiring managers know that skills like critical writing analysis and ethical decision-making are even more foundational,\u201d Murdie said. \u201cAs the world is becoming more technical, core liberal arts training can be what sets a new jobseeker apart.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHiring managers are more likely to schedule job interviews for liberal arts graduates who studied at a tech-focused university and have advanced math and computing on their resumes, according to a new Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts survey.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Hiring managers are more likely to schedule job interviews for liberal arts graduates who studied at a tech-focused university and have advanced math and computing on their resumes, according to a new Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts survey"}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2026-05-22 14:07:15","changed_gmt":"2026-05-22 14:10:41","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680333":{"id":"680333","type":"image","title":"resume-hiring-survey-169.jpg","body":null,"created":"1779458841","gmt_created":"2026-05-22 14:07:21","changed":"1779458841","gmt_changed":"2026-05-22 14:07:21","alt":"An interviewer holds a clipboard with a resume on it while discussing qualifications with a candidate sitting across the desk.","file":{"fid":"264581","name":"resume-hiring-survey-169.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/22\/resume-hiring-survey-169.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/05\/22\/resume-hiring-survey-169.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":569397,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/05\/22\/resume-hiring-survey-169.jpg?itok=efkjbg-X"}}},"media_ids":["680333"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:megan.mcrainey@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMegan McRainey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["megan.mcrainey@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}