<p>
</p>
<p>While the economy and industries have their ups and downs, biology and chemistry majors tend to have a rough time even in better job markets. Note that biology is the most popular STEM major (a rough approximation is that STEM majors are 1/3 biology, 1/3 engineering, and 1/3 everything else), so the constant flood of new biology graduates into the job market depresses biology job prospects.</p>
<p>Of course, one should also note that majors with better job prospects often have job prospects mainly in certain areas, which may not necessarily be of interest to the student. E.g. many of the job prospects for math and statistics majors are in finance, while many of the job prospects for geology majors are in mining, oil, and gas.</p>
<p>Please note that I am not saying that job and career prospects should be the primary reason to choose a major. However, students should be aware of different majors’ job and career prospects so that they can plan their internship and job seeking strategy early, and not be surprised at graduating into the unemployment line.</p>