Think so? The single best predictor of longevity, according to the journsl The Gerontologist, is job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction is also the most significant predictive factor for anxiety, depression, and mental illness according to NIMH research, More recent research finds correlation between job stress and risk of stroke, obesity, and heart disease.
If there’s an amount of money that you find worth some years off your life, that’s a choice one can make. But my soul’s worth more to me.
of course everybody wants a job they love that pays well. but then the discussion seems to focus on finding a job you love because the dreaded alternative is a job you hate – even if the job you hate pays well.
nobody seems to recognize that the actual worst alternative is not having a job at all.
Job satisfaction and poverty don’t mix. Passion fades quickly with poverty - I’ve seen this happen to far too many people I know who “followed their passion” in their job search. That’s the problem with that “what would you do if you won the lottery” approach.
About the math content of an econ degree, I will point out that at most the usual expectation is that students can do simple derivatives and work with integrals. And usually there will be a review of these concepts because many students might have taken their calc class a few years earlier. Although econ majors might take lots of math courses (and some take real analysis if planning on getting a PhD), the math you really need at most is one semester of calculus.
I agree that an econ major from Wellesley along with some IR courses (or a double major) would be more employable than the IR major alone.
One factor that does come into play is how careful one is with money. Some people can live well on modest incomes, while others can overspend and feel poor even on very high incomes. The former will have more career choices available that are sustainable from a household finance perspective.
I agree wholeheartedly with ProfD about the torture of working in a job you dislike. What’s the point of life if it is miserable most of the time?
Likewise I disagree with the OP’s father about going into engineering since the OP isn’t may not even pass the classes required given her dislike. There is no way I would have chosen engineering over my Chemistry major, and I am a woman who likes science.
A proposed major of Economics and the other social science is an excellent choice for someone who likes that. In today’s world econ is a lot more mathematical than the OP may think- be prepared for some math classes, including calculus at most colleges.
The OP needs to start with her freshman year classes. This will include those needed for an economics major, such as calculus, and other courses that meet breadth requirements regardless of her major. These also likely include a start towards a STEM major which will satisfy her father. As a Chemistry major I included two semesters of Economics, no reason the OP can’t start her college career with that as well. Once she is at her college she can more easily find more information on job possibilities with whatever major she likes and inform her father.
OP- at this point don’t worry about your father. You will start with courses that meet your needs. Later you will have more ammunition with which to argue your case for the major you choose. btw- there can be a glut of engineers, no certainty with any field.
i don’t agree (shocker) because the advice from ProfD was black-and-white either-or with no accounting for degree or nuance.
he/she said:
[QUOTE=""]
Find what you would do with your life if you won the lottery. Then figure out a way to get paid a reasonable wage for doing that. <<
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and the ONLY alternative presented was:
[QUOTE=""]
You will spend approximately 40 hours a week, for the next 40 years, at your job. That adds up to 80,000 hours, or the equivalent of 9.13 years. Is there any amount of money on earth, any amount at all...that I could offer you, which would make it acceptable to torture you, 24/7, for over 9 years solid? <<
[/QUOTE]
huh. so if you cannot paid to pursue your lottery-dream life, then you might as well find a Soviet gulag to waterboard you for nine years. it’s a silly false dichotomy.
how about developing the necessary skills for a career that is in demand that – horror or horrors – you don’t mind so much but you don’t necessarily love. and you derive you true enjoyment from your marriage, children, friends, hobbies, family …
nah, doesn’t count. it’s the same as 9 years of torture.
You don’t need a STEM degree from Wellesley to do well in the world – I can think of a couple of their graduates who have gone a long way with political science majors!
Yes, I’ve been thinking about that reading this thread. If only young Hillary Rodham had gotten the benefit of the supposed “insight” of some on this thread, upon graduation from Wellesley she might have started a career that, while uninteresting to her, would have supported a basic middle class lifestyle.
Heart of the matter, from Pheebers: “your drive and attitude are WAY more important than your major.” That’s the reality, with exception when you want a career that requires some specific academic experience and/or certification.
My older sure isn’t earning her living translating ancient Greek. Like others, she’s in business, uses thinking, analytical, time management skills and more. She studied what she loved and developed the skills employers want to see.
And she doesn’t hate her job. Nor does she regret, for one second, choosing, a *major/i that intrigued her and completed that part of her education. But she did have an understanding of what it takes to become employed.
H is an engineer, and I have a hybrid management/engineering degree - D certainly could have been an engineer had she wanted to be. She didn’t want to be one. My H used to tease our D because she choose a liberal arts school & a social sciences degree. The joke is on him, because D has a great job with more earning potential than she would have had as an engineer - and she loves what she does. I think people should do what they like. The rest will fall into place.
You’re right. Maybe we should drop out of college because that’s what Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did, and they both became billionaires. Maybe we should go to Stanford for a year, leave for 3 years for a Mormon mission, then go to BYU and get an English degree because that’s what Mitt Romney did, and he’s a millionaire and a former presidential candidate.
Or maybe we should realize that this is a gross oversimplification and you’re taking the success of famous people out of context.
i did like the suggestion of pairing International Relations with an in-demand foreign language. would a triple major with Economics be possible?
i don’t see how engineering is going to work considering science and math are not your strong suits, and you are not even going to a school with an engineering major.
I think, maybe, econ with an IR minor or double major, sell Dad on business or intl business. Don’t mention an NGO til you have a good job offer from one. Summer internships in business won’t stop OP from moving to an NGO, at some point.
We have high paying non-profit jobs here. Some salaries surprise me. But you don’t walk into them cold. You build your resume (summer work, internships, low level) to show them you understand the context and demands. And you learn from those.
If the IR studies requires lang classes, fine, take them. Keep taking them. But don’t expect a usual set of lang classes in college, even as a major, to lead to perfect fluency or even the vocab needed for the particular international work.
OP - Ask your Dad if he would be happy if you took a programming class (or two). You can then honestly promise him that you will consider changing to a CS degree if, while taking the course, you realize that you love it and are great at it. Just knowing that you have what people consider a solid, marketable skill under your belt might put his mind at ease.
Anyway, knowing a bit of programming is a good skill to have, especially if you’re considering Econ. Many people who aren’t into STEM enjoy it…just takes the ability to think logically. You clearly are thinking much more logically than a lot of young people who are going blindly into STEM now without regard to their actual aptitude or interest in the fields.
That statement sounds very cynical to me. Most 18-year olds are not sure what they want to do with their lives. They need to be able to earn a living, so an undergraduate education should be a time to explore their interests, develop skills, and find out what they are good at. For a smart and ambitious student that process eventually will lead to employment. Plenty of English majors and history majors from Wellesley do very well in the world.
Not everybody needs to become an engineer, a physician, or an accountant.
If you are not a strong STEM student, I suggest to try CS. Take some programming languages, see how you like to code. It is more or less a game, but you got to feel that it is. If you are way too frustrated with it, then it is not for you.
