Does It Really Matter What Major You Choose
Choosing a major in college is one of the most important decisions in your academic career – or not. Facts are, many, if not most, people wind up working in fields that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with their undergraduate areas of concentration. Indeed, the world is full of physicists-turned-cabdrivers and English-majors-becoming-sales-managers.
The phenomenon is especially pronounced with people that spent their time in the humanities, including specific social sciences for example psychology (but not economics). Many students, not to mention their long-suffering parents, bemoan the fact that they graduate with massive amounts of debt while job prospects are few or non-existent and certainly by no means financially rewarding.
But in point of fact, nothing at all is amiss. The promise of the liberal arts education was never a guaranteed meal ticket, but that of a well-rounded individual, able to alternately distinguish and appreciate nuances. Generally speaking, those who are more intelligent will make a lot more money, especially in a knowledge-based economy.
This knowledge or information economy demands that folks be far more analytical, that they have a command of the facts. On the other hand, such an economy – in such a world – raises the bar for all, such that a college degree is but the equivalent of a high school diploma decades ago.
Thus despite the need for education, it’s actually worth less, in terms of financial recompense down the road, than it used to be. Individuals with degrees will still tend to make much more money over their lifetimes than people that don’t, but such statistics, governing whole populations, tend not to promise anything to any particular individual.
And simply because an undergraduate degree is now in effect the minimum standard for ever more entry-level jobs in more and more fields, it truly doesn’t matter what you choose to major in – unless you’re doing software engineering (and even then an employer will likely decide on real-world experience over mere paper credentials).
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