Bachelor of ArtsThink B.A. (Beginning of It All)

​According to an informative article in the Economist, “for the first time in history, the unemployment rate for baccalaureate degree holders in now consistently higher than the national average”[1] in the U.S. Canada and the UK. In short, this is more than just a short – term economic adjustment taking place. The knowledge services job market is undergoing a fundamental shift. What is occurring in the knowledge services sector is akin to what took place when automation replaced the need for many blue- collar workers in the manufacturing industries. Wages stagnated as jobs were reconfigured resulting in an increase in unemployment for unskilled blue- collar workers.
AI is reconfiguring work in the knowledge services sector. At the entry level, routine management jobs where baccalaureate degree holders got their start and earned while they learned are disappearing. In the tech industry AI is now capable of doing basic computer programing. In professional services fields such as law there is no longer any need to retain junior lawyers to undertake basic research and the drafting of routine documents. AI and sophisticated Chat GP can now perform those functions.
Moreover, research into baccalaureate degree education has found that
“many students with baccalaureate degrees are functionally illiterate”[2] Too many recent graduates have relied on I Phone centric reading (the 15 -minute quick click) and Chat GPT learning modules for writing assingments  and lack the capability to undertake critical reading and writing. They haven’t acquired the capability to actually read and analyse an entire text. 
In the opinion of experts involved with the research and writing of the Economist article, “Governments are subsidising useless degrees, encouraging kids to waste time studying”.[3] There are academic leaders in the Canadian post – secondary academic education community who tacitly acknowledge that there is a need to reform the Canadian BA.[4] They are proposing a double- edged approach.  At the baccalaureate degree level there are efforts are underway to align the B.A. architecture with the  learning needs and operational framework of the emergent new age.
 Baccalaureate degree level of study should be designed to provide students with personalized pathway to Masters of Arts (M.A.) degrees. This emergent new age and its attendant socio-economic environment contains what they label as wicked problems. “Wicked problems are ill defined, interwoven with other problems and do not have -tidy- or even lasting solutions”[5] Wicked problems are inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinar.. Climate change, inequality, environmental sustainability and transition from acute care to holistic health are examples. They are intertwined with public policy and extend beyond the application of expertise in a defined academic silo that is frequently associated with the traditional M.A. to multi-disciplinary and/or inter-disciplinary creativity. 
What is the difference between interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary degrees? Multi-disciplinary: people from different disciplines working together, each drawing on their disciplinary knowledge. Cross-disciplinary: viewing one discipline from the perspective of another. Inter-disciplinary: integrating knowledge and methods from different disciplines, using a real synthesis of approaches. Interdisciplinary work typically involves the linking or combination of two or more fields of study to create a synthesized whole. Multi-disciplinarywork draws on the knowledge from two or more fields of study as well, but is often used to describe work in which the boundaries of the disciplines involved are maintained.
The new age interdisciplinary/multi-disciplinary MA opens the door for university students to utilize their BA program of study as an opportunity to participate in an innovative series of ‘F.A.I.L.s (first attempts in learning) in entry level
An example of an interdisciplinary M.A. that is focused on a wicked problem is the M.A -Health and Law.
The new age is an era of previously unknown complex challenges requiring professionals with specialized knowledge to articulate and manage them.  A career oriented university education is now comprised of a combination of a B.A. and M.A.
 
·       Nursing and Healthcare management.
·       Architecture.
·       Accounting and finance.
·       Business Administration & Management.
·       Psychology and Counselling
 
What Skills Can You Develop in Multidisciplinary Courses?

• Critical Thinking: Analysing problems from different perspectives.
• Collaboration: Working across varied teams and disciplines.
• Adaptability: Navigating diverse fields with ease.
• Problem-Solving: Integrating knowledge to innovate solutions.

Which Fields Benefit Most from Multidisciplinary Learning?

• Healthcare: Combining medicine with technology for telemedicine and wearable health devices.
• Engineering: Integrating environmental science for sustainable solutions.
• Business: Merging marketing with data analytics for strategic decision-making

[1][1][1] Crammed and Damned – The Economist. June 21st, 2025 at P60.

[2] Supra

[3] supra

[4] Loleen Berdahl, Jonathan Malloy and Lisa Young. For the Public Good. Edmonton. University of Alberta Press. (2024).

[5] Supra at P.25.