Abstract
Selections from the career counseling literature indicated that the undergraduate psychology curriculum is a potential source of generic liberal arts skills—for example, numeracy, literacy, critical thinking—said to be useful to baccalaureates entering the workforce. A “meritocracy hypothesis” stated that psychology and other liberal arts graduates having comparatively high levels of such skills should obtain relatively more desirable first-year-out employment. Alumni survey responses from a university sample (c. 2003–2006, N= 305) served to test the hypothesis, but revealed only weak and inconsistent support. Discussion touched on issues of adequate research design regarding the impact of acquired skills on employment outcomes, and the implications of accountability measures for improved career advising.