"Major in English. Expect to live with Mom and Dad for life."

[OHMomof2]

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/05/new-data-what-humanities-majors-earn?utm_content=buffer79d8d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=IHEbuffer

That’s the stereotype that is constantly reinforced by reports on the hot job prospects for nurses or code writers or various other positions for which practical training is seen as the route to economic success.

https://www.amacad.org/content/research/dataForumEssay.aspx?i=21965

At a time of rising college debt and efforts to assign value to a college education in dollars, the humanities often find themselves on the defensive. In an effort to clarify these issues, the Humanities Indicators released new information today on the employment and earnings of humanities graduates in 2013. While the findings show that humanities majors often lag behind graduates from other fields in earnings, on average they earn considerably more than Americans without college degrees and often gain ground on graduates from other fields with additional experience and additional study.

Critics of the Humanities Indicators note that the numbers may respond to the prevailing questions, but they also facilitate the notion that numbers are the best way to measure the worth of a humanities education. For a fuller perspective on this concern, Christine Hensler (Professor and Chair of Modern Languages and Literatures at Union College) assesses a few of the issues left out of the numbers.

[OHMomof2]

Some interesting points re: double majors and cross-discipline majors/courses, like

What would happen to the results derived from the list of tabulated disciplines if they included the medical humanities, environmental humanities, programs in business ethics, studies in law or anthropology with strong humanistic content or computer science courses that focus on the storytelling features of video game design?

[cmsjmt]

I think colleges need to come clean and publish the starting salaries of all their graduates by major, including how many % graduated without a job offer, and how long it took them to get a job. I know of English majors who took over a year to find a job after graduation, and only getting offers in the mid $30k range, that’s not much higher than someone working minimum wage full time at a fast food joint.

[OHMomof2]

I don’t think that’s practical. Do you guys call your college when you get a job and tell them your salary? If not, does the college call you? Keep bugging you for the info? Verify your info?

Also,

on average they earn considerably more than Americans without college degrees and often gain ground on graduates from other fields with additional experience and additional study.

…the study suggests that being a “Humanities” major is better than not going to college even soon after graduation, and later on they get much closer to STEM majors in income.

The value judgement here would involve loan amounts, of course.

The articles also discuss the non-monetary benefits of such majors, like that more humanities majors go into teaching than any other majors besides education. Teachers don’t get paid a ton but I don’t think they’re unimportant.

[cmsjmt]

I would rather my kids’ teachers major in the subject they teach, so if more non-Education majors from the humanities go into teaching that would be a good thing. Education majors make the worst teachers.

[mathmom]

My college collected this information a year after we graduated. Carnegie Mellon’s computer school does (but of course they are all basically the same major.) Our college also sends out extensive questionnaires before each reunion. IRC they get about a 70% response rate.

[emilybee]

I’m really sick of these articles. Many, many English majors and other humanities majors find good starting jobs. S was a poly sci major and history minor and got a job before graduating last May with a multinational Fortune 200 company with a starting salary with a 5 in front of it. In the meantime, there are going to be a lot of petroleum engineers graduating who aren’t going to be finding jobs. It’s also anyone’s guess what the hot career is going to be by the time kids graduate. It’s like trying to time the stock market.

[dfbdfb]

4: In many states, that (a subject discipline baccalaureate, followed by a graduate certificate or master's in education) is the norm, at least for secondary-level teachers.

[mathyone]

It says that humanities majors are more likely than majors in other areas to go into teaching. It’s not really fair to compare the 10-month salaries of teachers to those who work a 12 month year. Also, a BS In many sciences doesn’t pay as well as people may think. Not much more than teachers in our area.

[ucbalumnus]

@cmsjmt

I think colleges need to come clean and publish the starting salaries of all their graduates by major,

@OHMomof2

I don’t think that’s practical. Do you guys call your college when you get a job and tell them your salary? If not, does the college call you? Keep bugging you for the info? Verify your info?

Some colleges do try, although sometimes the response rate is not that good. Different colleges may also use different survey and reporting methodology, so use caution when comparing across different colleges.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16559971/#Comment_16559971

[eastcoascrazy]

My English major son is employed as a teacher, and has been since he graduated two years ago.
His civil engineering major friend worked for Habitat for Humanity for 18 months and is now unemployed.
His finance major friend has been working (winters only) at a ski resort in the Rockies as a desk clerk.
My other son has an aeronautical enginneering friend and a mechanical engineering friend, both of whom are still unemployed 5 months after graduation.
Both of them have a few business major friends who are employed as wait staff.
Both of them have a number of science major friends who are trying to get into medical school, so are scribing or volunteering in hospitals.

They both have many, many friends (of many majors) who are happily employed at full time, self supporting jobs.

I don’t see Humanities Majors as having a lock on under- or unemployment.

[cmsjmt]

@ucbalumnus great info! Thanks for the link.

[BTMell]

I get so tired of articles like this. So should everyone major in STEM? And to be honest, I know several unemployed Ph.D.s with chemistry or biology degrees who now are not working in their fields. How dull our society would be if everyone did the same thing. The mind boggles.

[OHMomof2]

@emilybee and @BTMell

I get so tired of articles like this.

The articles are actually pointing out the value of a degree in the humanities.

[AlbionGirl]

I think colleges need to come clean and publish the starting salaries of all their graduates by major

These are the best data I have come across so far. Sadly only six states participate so far.

http://collegemeasures.org/esm/

Here’s a sample

http://esm.collegemeasures.org/esm/texas/area-of-study/profile/History-General-540101

[mathyone]

Thanks, I’ll show my daughter that the degree she’s planning to earn in writing will earn her $19,000/year. I’m sure it won’t change her mind.

[dbandmom]

“and only getting offers in the mid $30k range, that’s not much higher than someone working minimum wage full time at a fast food joint.”

That is actually double the income of a minimum wage full time worker. I’m not saying most college grads aren’t hoping for more and as parents, I’m sure we’d love to see them get more.

[compmom]

I read an article that said writing skills are much in demand and that English and writing majors can make good salaries as a result. I wish I could cite it, sorry. It may take longer to find the right employment niche (for instance, non-profits need writers for fundraising, newsletters and brochures and so on) but the possibilities are there.

[brantly]

Oh, please. The title of this thread is a bunch of nonsense. This is what my friends who majored in English, history, philosophy, and political science 30 years ago are doing, with no graduate degree:
-editor at the Wall Street Journal
-senior marketing executive at CBS
-head of corporate communications at a Fortune 100 company
-senior client-relations position at Google
-managing editor of a top women’s magazine
-sales at a sunglasses and accessories company
-real estate agent
-product management at a large publishing company
-executive director of corporate philanthropy at a Fortune 50 company
-investment banker

Those who went to grad school are doctors, lawyers, psychologists, and MBA-types.

[ams5796]

My daughter graduated with an English degree and is now working at Google.