Overspecialization:

Overspecialization is a bit of a loaded word; its negative connotation communicates that specialization has been taken too far. How does one determine how far is too far? This question is subjective and hard to answer. Nevertheless, we have all encountered people whose expertise or knowledge in one subject area delves so deep that we can't possibly imagine how it could be at all useful for anything. In some cases, these same people lack basic skills and breadth that would enable them to operate effectively in the workplace or the classroom.

The Costs of Overspecialization:

Overly specialized training and education has a number of costs for society. People expend considerable time, money, and energy furthering their own education, and society expends resources as well. If someone develops highly specialized skills that are never applied in a productive manner, this type of preparation represents wasted resources.

However, it is important to recognize that even if education or training is never directly applied, it is not necessarily wasted. For example, I have rarely used any advanced mathematics in a practical setting, but the process of studying a great deal of higher mathematics has honed both my patience and problem-solving skills. And sometimes specialization can actually be associated with too much of a focus on practical applications. General and cross-disciplinary approaches often pay off in unexpected ways and involve a considerably larger amount of risk and uncertainty.

Perhaps more importantly, intense specialization develop's one's way of thinking, way of learning, and way of approaching problems and situations so as to emphasize progressively increasing depth and focus on details, and de-emphasize a holistic way of looking at things, often ignoring relationships between different subjects, problems, or ideas.

Overspecialization in Education:

My personal experience has been that overspecialization is a serious problem in the higher educational system in the U.S., primarily at the graduate level, although it also appears to some degree at the undergraduate level. I believe that the overspecialization in higher education can be attributed to a combination of factors, including both overspecialized academic research, and a lack of focus on teaching and a disconnection between students and professors at research-oriented universities. The issues with academic research I will explore below.

It is very difficult for education to become ineffective or impractical (in any way) so long as there is continual feedback between students and teachers. Overspecialization thus only becomes a problem when there is a disconnect between students and teachers. This disconnect, unfortunately, is common in Universities, especially when classes are dominated by large (100+ student) lectures, and when both professors and students are overworked and thus focusing exclusively on tangible results, and not spending much time casually socializing and speaking candidly with each other. The focus on grades, degrees, and credentials, rather than on learning for the sake of learning, further compounds this disconnect.

Overspecialization in Academic Research:

Overspecialization is not limited to any one subject; it can be found in fields as diverse as literary theory, mathematics, economics, and history. The manner in which overspecialization manifests itself is different in these different fields.

What are the root causes of overspecialization? Academic tenure could be a contributing factor in some circumstances, but I personally believe this to be unlikely. The social atmosphere in many academic environments glorifies specialization, and tenure could thus free professors to pursue more general and accessible research even when faced by colleagues. I have known many such professors from my personal experience.

The New World Warblers are a diverse
family of birds.

Overcoming overspecialization:

I find that there are numerous ways that one can keep education from becoming overspecialized, as well as personally keeping from becoming overspecialized in a job, career, or business setting. In education, self-confidence on the part of students is important: good communication and assertiveness on the part of both students and teachers can create a system of feedback which can keep the specialization in classes relevant. In business, continual investment of a small amount of resources in new products can keep a business from becoming overly dependent on a single niche product.

Overspecialization in Nature:

Many aspects of human society are reflected or paralleled to some degree in natural ecosystems, and the continuum between being a specialist and a generalist is no exception. In nature, many species are specialized to fill a particular ecological niche, whereas others are generalists.

When a species is so specialized that it is dependent on a very narrow, highly specific niche, the species can become vulnerable to extinction. An example would be the two most endangered species of New World warblers native to North America, Kirtland's Warbler and the Golden-cheeked Warbler.

The Golden-cheeked warbler has very specific requirements, requiring a mix of Juniper, oak, and other plants, in fairly specific proportions. This bird is naturally confined to a small area of Texas, and has become endangered as humans have encroached upon its habitat through agriculture, suburbanization, and construction of artificial lakes. The closely-related Black-throated green warbler is able to breed successfully in a broad range of different habitats, and accordingly, has fared much better in response to human-induced changes in the environment.

Kirtland's Warbler is also highly specialized. It can only breed in an intermediate stage of forest succession in forests dominated by a single species, Jack pine. As the forest matures, it is unable to breed; it thus depends on continued disturbance. Furthermore, although Jack pine is a very common, wide-ranging species, Kirtland's warbler is only adapted to the warmest part of the range of this northern pine. Although its populations have recovered somewhat, Kirtland's warbler is still listed as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list.

Although humans have played a role in most species extinctions, highly specialized species tend to be most vulnerable to human-induced changes in the environment. This phenomenon parallels the manner in which highly specialized people and businesses often have trouble thriving in a rapidly changing environment.

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