The tech industry is booming in 涩里番 鈥� from big names like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, to startups and mid-sized companies too numerous to name. Many 涩里番 graduates work in technology. And for a growing number of SPU alumni, the key to a successful technology career is coming from a surprising place: a philosophy degree.
Yes, really. In fact, the connection between philosophy and tech is more logical than you might think.
The connection is just that 鈥� logic. 鈥淚t teaches you how computer science and philosophy go together,鈥� says philosophy major Qadar Omar 鈥�16.
Associate Professor of Philosophy Rebekah Rice meets with philosophy majors Kelsey Tuohy and Qadar Omar.
Logic plays a key role in both disciplines. Armed with a two-course series in logic (among other skills) SPU philosophy majors have been highly successful in tech careers, says Associate Professor of Philosophy Rebekah Rice — even though it’s not a traditional career choice for their major.
For the past six years, Rice has been keeping track of philosophy majors’ career paths.
“Graduate school of some sort is common,” she says, “but when we look at the folks that are working, we see a heavy emphasis on business in tech.”
Even through the economic recession, SPU philosophy grads’ careers remained steady.
“They are used to putting forward arguments,” she says, “and so our students interview really well. Our students get into entry-level positions, and then they are very promotable.”
Now, tech-inclined philosophers have a major designed just for them. Beginning in the 2016–17 year, the philosophy major’s new technical track combines courses in topics such as logic, ethics, and metaphysics with key computer science and programming courses.
While creating the new track, Rice and other faculty spoke with SPU alumni working in tech to figure out which courses and skills would be most valuable. Ben Olsen ’09 says he uses the skills gained in his philosophy major every day. He’s founder and CEO of Analytics Guild, a startup that provides training in data analysis. Olsen works with two other SPU liberal arts majors, including the company’s director of advanced analytics, Christo Lute ’11, a fellow philosopher.
“The ability to focus on a given problem for a long period of time is an underrated skill,” Olsen says. “What philosophy does is give you a problem that’s almost inscrutable to begin with and requires you to spend time with it.”
Working with big data, Olsen says, is the same. “It requires an incredible amount of focus and mental discipline.”
With the tech-philosophy combination, new grads will be prepared for a variety of career roles — especially for positions that work with both technical staff and non-technical 涩里番, like sales or clients.
Qadar Omar 鈥�16
That鈥檚 the role Qadar was seeking after graduation. At SPU, he added computer science courses into the mix with his philosophy major, and taught himself a programming language 鈥� Python 鈥� on the side. Upon graduation, he already had a potential job offer on the table.
So what stood out to Jeff Gough 鈥�02, the philosophy and communication double major who extended that job offer?
鈥淐haracter,鈥� he says. As founder of two tech companies, True North Service and Vehicle, he鈥檚 hired a number of SPU graduates into technical and business roles. He looks for a spirit of humility and a hunger to learn new things.
鈥淭he liberal arts (major) is good in that you often get 涩里番 that are well-rounded,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou can take someone like that and they鈥檙e effective at many different things and they learn to specialize on the job.鈥�
For Qadar, that path is a perfect fit. 鈥淭ech is booming in our city, so it made sense for me to pursue it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to be challenged more than anything.鈥�