"English degrees, on the other hand, do not ordinarily teach or imply possession of commercially valuable skills." Writing is an integral (I'd say a keystone)

"English degrees, on the other hand, do not ordinarily teach or imply possession of commercially valuable skills." Writing is an integral (I'd say a keystone) component of an English degree: The critique and analysis of others' writing as well as your own. Additionally, the development of said writing skills is supplemented with supportive activities such as peer review of others' papers and theses as well as incidentals such as submission to academic journals and creative writing periodicals, both on- and off-campus. That's why newsdesks and tech writing bullpens as well as copywriting departments often require an English degree; it infers a seasoned level of both creative and expository writing and a supposition of deadline steadfastness (in the context of writing) that is simply not taught in any other concentration. But, you're right. Degrees of any stripe shouldn't determine the fitness of one's abilities in the real world. After all, Larry Wall studied music and linguistics (with the intent on transcribing and creating a writing system for indigenous African tribal languages) in college, then turned around and created Perl while working at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.