Question: Why is it that in North America, essays are needed in every major?
Sorry for reposting this but here's the thing. Why is it that in North America, essays are required in every college major(even the ones that require mathematics like science or engineering)?. Essays are pretty much useless in my opinion because for every grammar mistake you make, you get below 60, and sometimes(not always) few teachers think you have a learning disability(and treat you worse if they think you do) just because you do badly in one paper. They are also boring and time wasting, generally speaking.
Relation Questions:
Answer:
To show that you have knowledge on a subject.
Science and engineering requires a high degree of writing proficiency. You are clueless if you think otherwise. Nearly everything done by scientists and engineers must be written. They don't just perform calculations. They have to publish their work publicly or internally to management. An engineer who can't write well will have a very difficult time to find work or to hold a job. If they don't write well, they look like ignorant, illiterate, idiots, which doesn't help establish credibility, and credibility is essential for success.
Therefore employers frequently demand that educators strictly enforce writing standards for graduations. It's costly enough to pay for technical training and employers have no intention to pay to teach engineers how to write. There are also a lot of foreign scientists and engineers in which English is their second language, so writing skill is particularly important for international students or students who are immigrants. Employers frequently have to reject engineers who can't write even though they have excellent technical skills, and the lack of fully qualified engineers is a major problem for companies.
The employers in North America pressure the universities to give students more writing assignments. The companies are fed up with morons who can't write.
Besides, it's tough to verify if the students really understand the materials if we just give them multiple-choice exams (some people just choose the best answers by eliminating some wrong choices; they are able to get high scores even though they really don't understand the materials that well).
being in the business world I can tell you, you will be doing a lot of writing.
I have read some emails from my husband's co workers, who were not educated in the US. Yes they are great at math, but they can not write a cohesive e-mail. Let alone a paper, or letter if needed.
If you are going to get a Bachelor degree, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to write well, no matter what your major is