<p>The old days of starting with any major and catching up later are disappearing.</p>
<p>The law of supply and demand at work.</p>
<p>Yeah, we definitely need more lawyers, engineers, and accountants. Art, music, literature, education, architecture, urban planning, economics, agriculture, food safety, work safety, environmental activism, political activism, etcetera … who needs 'em?</p>
<p>If this study does nothing but makes some kids think twice about taking out $75,000 in loans to get a degree in social work, it will be invaluable.</p>
<p>I’m NOT denigrating that major, nor do I think the everyone should major in petroleum engineering. I am saying that some kids/families need the wakeup call that they should take into account whether they can realistically pay for their education when (if) they find a job in their chosen field.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that it has always been easier and more lucrative, especially right out of school to be majoring in a career route major like engineering, accounting, nursing, etc. But if the kid doesn’t want to do any of those things, it’s not particularly relevant. Getting through an engineering curriculum is not easy and the drop outs are many. Getting into a nursing program is difficult. Becoming an accountant is not for someone who doesn’t like that kind of work. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that just majoring in many of the liberal arts is not going to mean a job that pays well for you. Even from some of the top schools.</p>
<p>Couple of points I’d like to make:
- What about a double major? Mine was in Art History and Economics. What’s wrong with studying 2 things you like?
- Where’s the study that goes further and analyzes the emotional and personality characteristics of people who major in engineering or accounting. Are they perhaps usually more concrete thinkers who are drawn to careers that emphasize income over job satisfaction or value to society?
- Why not prepare kids for the truth – you may have several jobs in your chosen career, and you may change careers (more than once), and you may be unemployed for part of your working life, and you may need to work from home or have some flexibility in your working life. Thus, preparing our kids for a job or type of work that can be done from home or via consulting jobs or with some inherent flexibility would the goal, in my opinion.
- Which type of education prepares you to handle change and adapt and learn a variety of topics? Liberal arts</p>
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<p>Please tell me you are not serious about the phrase “value to society”. You are typing on a computer, using the internet. Presumably at some point this week you will be driving a car, traveling over a bridge or two. These human innovations are brought to you compliments of various engineering and related professions.</p>
<p>This reminds me of when some jackass berated me for studying biochemistry and molecular biology some decades ago “instead of studying something socially useful”. I was, at that time, working with a group that was attempting to develop a low-cost vaccine for a mosquito-borne virus that plagued tropical countries and some swampy coastal areas of the U.S. I wasn’t making much money and it seemed ‘socially useful’ to me.</p>
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<p>As long as “liberal arts” includes math and science as well as humanities and social studies.</p>
<p>Given the degree requirements at the various schools, there is more assurance that a graduate of MIT or San Jose State has taken courses for a broad liberal arts education than a graduate of Brown, Amherst, or Grinnell.</p>
<p>As the parent of an aspiring accountant, I can assure you that she is completely satisfied with the field of accounting and will not be a drain on society. Why would the qualities of “high income,” “job satisfaction,” and “of value to society” necessarily be mutually exclusive? I actually find the attitude behind this concept a little offensive.</p>
<p>I can also assure you that liberal arts graduates do not have a stranglehold on the ability to change, adapt, and learn. And I say that as a liberal arts grad myself.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse hit the nail on the head…</p>
<p>I love being an accountant. But if you dont enjoy numbers it will be torture. EVERY SINGLE DAY. </p>
<p>Some kids dont have the ability/inclination for quant stuff. Thats life.</p>
<p>I don’t agree. I think many still clung to the belief that later in life it won’t matter much what you majored in. Also when a middleclass lifstyle is on the line some things that seemed unattractive start to look much better. You still have time for a private life. Loving what you do is a luxury many can no longer afford. Tolerating it well and making room for other activities may be the key to overall happiness.</p>
<p>Barrons, many kids will have a choice, graduate with a liberal arts degree or dont graduate. What is the better choice???</p>
<p>So, kayf, are you actually saying that you, an accountant, LOVE your job? You didn’t just choose it because you crave income over job satisfaction or value to society?</p>
<p>I agree that you have to like numbers to be an accountant, just like you have to love chemistry to be a chemist. However, choosing a career like accounting or engineering does not necessarily reflect some kind of flaw.</p>
<p>I think a lot more people have the ability to do “quant stuff” (post 11) than realize it, and a lot more of them would have the inclination, if our K-12 schools did a better job of preparing students for the modern world. Math and science education really stinks for the majority of our students, and even students who do have the raw skills necessary for engineering studies have little exposure to the field prior to college.</p>
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<p>I don’t know, in my experience technical majors seem to take a lot more liberal arts classes “for fun” than liberal arts majors do with technical classes.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about these findings since the thread started a few hours ago. For the life of me, I can’t think what I, as a mother, will do with them. </p>
<p>I would never try to persuade my kids into or out of a major track, so there’s little point in showing them. As far as money’s concerned, we’re approaching college with a “debt awareness” angle, not an income potential angle. </p>
<p>So now what? 
::shrug:: I guess these findings are interesting. But they fall short of useful for me.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>^Are you suggesting that engineering jobs have lower value to society than humanities/history?</p>
<p>Yes, scout I love my job. I like income, but I love my job. I love numbers, but got Bs in calc (pls dont ask how many years ago).</p>
<p>I dont think chooosing accounting is a flaw, but it wont work for everyone.</p>
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I disagree with the implication of this statement (maybe not meant purposely by the poster) - i.e. that an engineering major or scientist, for example, is somehow less capable of handling change, adapting, and learning a variety of topics. It’s not true at all. My engineering (CS) kids, thanks to the ability to think analytically can adapt to change better than most people and despite taking a lot of engineering, math, and science classes also took history, opera, and other classes one might assume engineering majors don’t take. In many cases the engineering major simply takes more classes than some of the liberal arts majors since it’s requiried to take such a heavy load. </p>
<p>I also fail to see why one assumes the liberal arts major is somehow going to ‘benefit society’ and the engineering major is only in it for the money and won’t benefit society. I think if one wanted to generalize it’d be the reverse since engineers/scientists tend to be in the business of solving real world problems experienced by society. Some liberal arts majors will end up benefiting society as well but some won’t - some will will be focused on the profits the business they’re running makes and some will be working at the mall. I guess in the end most jobs benefit society in some way if you look at it from the right angle.</p>