Why are the preconceptions problematic?
I think a more cogent question would be why gender studies? What is the end goal? Most reasonable people I know look askance at any major with the word āstudiesā in it. It tends to imply that the major is less rigorous than others.
More importantly, college degrees are primarily a means to an end. While some reasonable people do not need jobs to eat, most of us do. How is the major going to help her toward being a productive member of society. In my view, if the degree does not provide a solid background toward employment, it should not be pursued. Rather, major in something more useful and take those courses as electives (or a minor) if the provides that much of an interest.
I guess I would not assume someone in gender studies and any particular sexual preference.
āMost reasonable people I know look askance at any major with the word āstudiesā in it. It tends to imply that the major is less rigorous than others.ā
Iām sorry but this is nonsense. Most reasonable people I know donāt think this.
"More importantly, college degrees are primarily a means to an endā¦In my view, if the degree does not provide a solid background toward employment, it should not be pursued. "
4 year college isnāt vocational school. One would learn critical reasoning, verbal and written communication skills, research skills, etc. which do help one become employable. Most jobs in this country donāt have a certain major necessary for said job.
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I think maybe you need to look at current job descriptions. What you are saying was true 30 years ago, but employers are looking more and more toward specialized degrees. Even in cases where they are not, they look for a family of education. For example: they may be willing to take an engineering degree in lieu of a business degree for an analyst position. The would not, however, take a Philosophy degree in the same stead.
Those who do not understand that college is at least partially vocational are part of the reason that so many are underemployed and unhappy. Some fields are interesting, but do not provide a solid basis for earning on their own. Without a family source of income or some other means (Talents such as art or music to a degree they can be lucrative), the choice of degree can be exceedingly limiting. It is an injustice to tell impressionable youth that they should pursue a degree in something that will leave them unable to compete in the job market.
@Torveaux I have my feet firmly planted in todayās job market, not one 30 years ago, but thanks. 
I have my own kids and nieces and nephews and all their friends of that age approaching the process, in the process, having gone through the process. A vast assortment of majors, a variety of colleges. They are all finding jobs. Some pay better than others but that is nothing new. My advice remains the same - study what interests you but have a plan. Get solid work experience, get internships, develop skill sets. The only people I know who have had a challenge finding work havenāt been strategic in their job searches and lack substantive internships/summer jobs that show employability prior to graduation.
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I wish I could love your post @doschicos. Maybe even embroider it on a sampler and give it out as a gift to new high school graduates. I could not agree more.
I have a daughter who majored in English with a creative writing emphasis. She had internships and employment that complemented that major and when she graduated from college, she found a position doing what she loved. Sheās a working journalist today and she is very well compensated.
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It never occured to me that studies meant less rigorous. Studies generally mean that the major consists of multiple disciplines. This is especially true when a major is a committee that teaches a few courses, but farms out the rest to other departments. For example in international studies, you may study a language, take economics, poly sci and history courses which all count toward the major. My IR major is also good with spreadsheets, has worked at two well known NGOs, has helped organized conferences including one overseas. He got quite a bit of useful experience from summer jobs.
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The difference is 3girls3cats D is a journalist - makes perfect sense what she studied and what she is doing. There is nothing inherently wrong in womenās studies or gender studies if oneās goal or interests relate to that as a major. That particular major is less helpful or at minimum a āharder sellā to a prospective employer who is filling a general entry level business position that isnāt directly related to being a female or maleā¦as I said itās more akin to a language major or an astrology major or a history major or an art conservation major some such major that is narrowly defined. Or someone whose goal is to remain in academia and teach that subject area. Or someone who intends to get an MSW or advanced degree where that undergraduate degree adds value. The person getting those majors generally intends to āuseā that major to enter a particular career trajectory. It is a very narrow major - which can be just fine for the right person.
Iām not heard of āstudiesā being a softer major. If anything its become a trend for what used to be called interdisciplinary majors or majors you designed yourself.
Someone earlier said this major had been around for a long, long timeā¦not true - it started in the early 80sā¦maybe the very late seventies. I think IU had the first doctoral program and that wasnāt until 2000 something. This is a very new area of university study.
My observation- the number of unemployed and underemployed kids today directly relates to a highly unrealistic set of expectations about the work world- and has nothing to do with majoring in Renaissance Studies (which is just history, likely fluency in Italian, and art history/literature) or Asian Studies (again, history, fluency in one of the Asian languages, some political theory and art history) etc.
I counsel recent college grads as a favor to friends/family/acquaintances. I could write a book on the moronic reasons young grads have for not pursuing various jobs, or for having turned down perfectly reasonable entry level job offers. I graduated from college into a terrible recession āback in the dayā and down to a person- all my friends were insanely grateful to get an offer (even an interview). Now I see kids who will only work in Seattle, SF, DC or Austin. Kids who think an entry level role (with advancement, training, health insurance) is ābeneath themā. Kids who consider management training programs as āa waste of two yearsā. Young people who refuse to move away from a significant other- even when that significant other is similarly unemployed. A kid who recently turned down the offer for a final round interview because āI wasnāt feeling itā.
The focus on vocationally oriented degrees (Recreation management, Event Management, Leisure Studies, Fashion Merchandising) takes parents eye off the ball that theyāve just paid four years worth of university tuition for a program which could have been covered by a two year certificate from a community college. But hey- as long as the kid comes out with a job, right? Who cares about getting educated when you can get your ticket punched?
If your kid doesnāt want a university education-- and there is no shame in that- then for godās sake, help them find a program in culinary arts or one of the trades or an apprenticeship. Why waste four years and umpteen dollars so they can study a certificate level subject at a university?
Good lord, I hope astrology is not a major anywhere. What would the astrology major minor in? Tarot card readings?
Total agreement, @blossom.
Another comment Iāve heard - one of my kidsā peers - college grad working the counter in a bakery (hey, more power to them if thatās what they want to do) looked askance at them because they took a ādesk jobā. Quelle horreur!
Whoops sorry - astronomy LOL. That is what you get when you post between work calls, work e-mails and meetings!
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OK, I think we might have found some common ground to agree on - Astrology would be a bad major! 
The African American Studies department at UNC was.
That oneās on the athletics department, though, @twoinanddone .
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Absolutely not. There were a lot of non-athletes taking those classes. The department was run by a person not in the athletic department. I think the athletes enjoyed the easy classes, but the African-American studies department enjoyed the benefits of having more students take its classes, thereby allowing the department to grow, hire more professors, sending their professors to conferences, etc.
There was a large group of white fraternity boys, not athletes, who discovered the department and the easy Aās.
@momofthreeboys, Dās first postgrad job was a research position at a small think tank. It was her writing skills, familiarity with statistical analysis, and general education that got her hired. Nor did she study journalism in any way. She had internships with different online publications and radio podcasts but she did not have direct coursework in that major. I think there are ways to build a compelling resume with a broad range of majors.
Why are the preconceptions problematic?
Bump
Wow, now I feel better about why so many reasonable people raise an eyebrow at frat boys and sorority sisters