Hello. I’m a student at a university majoring in the humanities. I don’t need to get specific here. But the point is that when began a year and a half ago I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to be. I do well in classes but I’m very discouraged. I know the reputation we have. I used to not let it get to me but it’s really begun to. I feel useless. I attend a tech school (I had my reasons) so am in contact with engineering students often. Most of them are really passionate about their chosen field and don’t hesitate to show it. But the thing is I think maybe they’re right. What good is someone with good writing and language skills? That’s not a rhetorical question. I genuinely want to know. Or are the engineering kids right? Anyone who’s not doing what they do is wasting their time. Yeah, I know I’m going to get many negative replies but hope to get some insight as well. Just needed to get this off my chest before I turned in for the night. Because shockingly, we often stay up late working on assignments too.
What are your future plans? I have a bachelor’s degree in humanities, I certainly don’t think it was a useless degree.
Well, for someone who wants to be an engineer, a humanities degree wouldn’t be the most helpful way to prepare. That’s probably the lens they’re looking at it through. It’s all about what’s right for you, though, and there are hundreds of useful careers to choose from with a humanities degree. And the great news is that you’re less likely than your engineering counterparts to be pigeonholed into something particular. Which, let’s face it, probably is appealing for both them and you!
Everything is going to be alright.
I think if you’re looking to get an MBA or a postgraduate degree, a humanities degree might be very useful. Good language skills are essential for lawyers and business people since they can make or break certain cases or deals. Besides, can’t you minor in a S.T.E.M. field as a safety in case your worries don’t end? You can still find a good paying job with a minor in comp sci or some other engineering field. But what do I know, I’m still a high school senior struggling to get into a college lol
My kid got a very good job with a consulting company in a research position after graduating with a humanities degree. She heard later from the hiring manager that her work as a writing center tutor helped them decide to being her in for an interview. Four years later she has been promoted a couple times and is doing well at a job she enjoys. You aren’t doomed. 
Year after year, survey after survey, the number one skill demanded by hiring personnel at every major corporation is “Communication skills.”
Good writing and language skills are important to any job. A mediocre engineer who has high levels of those skills will be hired over an excellent engineer who does not. Your best bet is to go to graduate school.
Like I said, I DID have a clear goal in mind but now I’m just going to finish up this semester and see how I feel then. If nothing’s changed I’ll look into a trade school.
Do you want to do engineering instead? Do you want to pursue the kind of careers they have?
No, not smart enough for that.
It’ just as hard to do humanities well as it is to do engineering, but it’s a lot easier to BS your way to a B in the Humanities and to pick “easy” classes.
If you want to be taken seriously you need to have A’s and to take those hard classes - Philosophy, for instance, has a good reputation for rigor. You’re free to take some intro to CS and elementary stats classes - even if you take the “class for non majors”, the easiest CS and easiest Stats class will be a plus on your resume (always list the hard classes in the “relevant classes” section of your CV).
Now, you need to be really good at your major.
A so-so programmer can do something.
A French major who can’t reach a high level of fluency in French, has never lived in a French-speaking country can’t do anything.
A sociology major who has not taken statistics and has never done “field research” can’t do anything.
Essentially you can’t afford to be average or mediocre. If you’re excellent, all doors are open.
There are plenty of fields you can enter with a humanities degree (law, business, education, politics) but you sound more like you don’t know “what you want to do with your life.” I graduated with a degree in classical studies then did a year of public service work before going into radio broadcasting. Later I went into journalism and then social media. Take a good look at yourself and what you want to do with your life. Trade school is a fine option … if you enjoy that kind of work. Also, you should probably spend less time around the engineering students if they make you feel bad about yourself.
For me at least, it was more important to set up a career I was excited about than to study something I was excited about. English and history were always my best subjects in HS, but I switched to pre-med in college, and the classes really aren’t enjoyable, but I feel very satisfied with my future prospects. Maybe not what you were looking for…
Engineering is a fine profession IF that is where your talents like and IF that is what you want to do with your life. Anyone who preaches that any one profession/major is best for everyone is myopic or just ignorant of the opportunities elsewhere. You seem to have laid out a path that works for you so don’t be dissuaded by people who have made other choices. I understand that in a technical school you will be with a lot of STEM/engineering types, but that in no way means it is right for you. Develop an plan for your future that can work and go off then pursue your dreams, not the dreams of some of your fellow students.
I really dislike the assumption that only people in math and engineering are smart. Has it occurred to you that maybe a lot of people in math and engineering aren’t “smart enough” to analyze a piece of literature? Maybe they aren’t smart enough to write a competent and persuasive essay? Maybe they aren’t smart enough to understand how past historical events affect us all even now? Maybe they aren’t smart enough to be teachers, lawyers, social workers, authors, playwrights, psychologists, business managers, etc…
Many professions require people who are critical thinkers, who can be persuasive, who can understand all the material they will be reading in their future professions. Engineers are not the only one “smart enough” to do that. You will be well equipped in life to do many jobs if you can analyze and write really well. And maybe people who study humanities are also a lot better at understanding other humans.
Drop your major if you want to, but drop it because you really want to study something else, not becasue others are making you feel useless. And maybe consider transferring to a more accepting school.
HI ,
My D is a humanities (sort of ) major at a Tech School.
She has had to deal with that kind of mild discrimination throughout her college life . She is a senior now. She is applying to grad schools.
She chose to let it motivate her to do really well. They aren’t right. There are jobs -the starting salary may not be as high but there are jobs.
I am sending you a PM
Please don’t send me private messages. If you have anything to say, tell me here. Thank you.
“What good is someone with good writing and language skills?”
It is a rare skill to be able to distill a complex topic into its essential elements and then communicate that quickly and effectively to someone who is unfamiliar with the topic. This is particularly true in the presence of technical complexity, a complicated history, uncertainty about the alternatives, and the need to make a decision. Humanities are a good training ground for building these skills.
here are what i tell me friends are backup options to life:
teach and get your employer to pay for a masters degree (try applying for jobs again… or just be a teacher)
get a masters degree in accounting and become an accountant
work in underwriting
I must say that the last 2 options may be boring to you, but are by no means too difficult. They require simple arithmetic. There are many jobs nowadays that pay the bills and don’t require you to be a genius or have a specific degree… theyre out there but youll have to search. underwriting or working in a bank is a good example of this.
If you believe what parents and engineering students say about the superiority of jobs in their field…and you choose to proceed with humanities anyway? Then you have one quality in abundance that they may lack. It’s COURAGE! A person that does not value the humanities (poor soul) may be even more impressed by the defiant show of confidence that you are making in pursuing philosophy, art, or the like. Good for you! Not sure what your reasons are, but I have to say that trade school seems to be a great option these days also, but there is a special place in my heart for humanities majors.