It was an off-the-cuff observation coming from a governor known for off-the-cuff remarks. Asked last fall about the direction Florida higher education should be going in, Rick Scott, a former successful venture capitalist elected in 2010, came down on the side of promoting programs that teach skills that he said were valued in today’s job market.
Scott specifically mentioned science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines as programs he thinks Florida should put more money into. He then launched a broadside against liberal arts education when he asked: “Is it a vital interest of the state to have more anthropologists? I don’t think so.”
Speaking before a regional business group in Tallahassee, Scott also remarked: “How many jobs you think there are for anthropology in the state? You want to use your tax dollars to educate more people that can’t get jobs in anthropology? I don’t.”
Scott’s remarks set off a firestorm of controversy throughout Florida’s higher education community, a controversy that didn’t go away when Scott, in his January State of the State address, commented: “Florida has a rich cultural history surrounding its colleges and universities.”
To laughter, the governor added: “Don’t take my word for it. Ask any anthropologist.”
Educators put out by Scott’s remarks, says Lane Wright, the governor’s spokesman, have missed the point.
“All he was saying was, ‘Look, I don’t know how many jobs there are out there for anthropology, but I know there are a lot of jobs in the STEM field,’” says Wright, “and people took that out of context. He wanted to start a conversation about STEM because that is where the market is, that is where the jobs are.”
