Education as a Source of Jobs or Economic Development

I understand the traditional link that is made between higher education and job preparation. This is probably the most consistent theme in public discussions about higher education in Puerto Rico. When I first started studying college back in Massachusetts, I tried to be very practical and only take courses that would lead to getting a degree suitable for a job.  But luckily for me something happened along the way: I actually discovered I had specific interests and passions that I wanted to study, and they weren't necessarily job-related.  This did cause a fair amount of stress and guilt at times though, because I always thought of these interests as "not being focused" on getting a job which was the purpose of university work. Even my so-called counselors said as much.  The family definitely did not see why I should take courses that weren't required.  So I took them as a guilty pleasure - maybe that made them all the more enjoyable - who knows?  In the end I ended up pursuing the study of literature into graduate school - and all the way to getting my PhD.  Despite this success story, I know there are many people with PhDs in English literature that cannot get regular work at a decent salary and benefits.  Even though universities need English professors, they don't want to pay them a fair, living wage.  So while I am one of the lucky ones - I am a full time regular professor -- I know that it is not common.  And so for too many of those who studied it because we loved it and were good at it, in the end it was just a frivolous undertaking. Now very few students want to study literature or any discipline in the Humanities, because there are no jobs.  Even professors with jobs are getting worried about losing them, for if there are no students for classes, there are no profs needed.  So it seems that the need for practical work is pushing aside interests and passions.  This makes me very sad for the future.  A university turned into a training school for workers is sure not what I envisioned when I dreamt so long ago of being a professor of literature!