Old (2019) NYT article—“In the salary race, Engineering majors sprint, but English majors endure”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/business/liberal-arts-stem-salaries.html

College is not trade school! What you make starting out isn’t very relevant. Think long-term.

STEM majors aren’t in “trade school”. They are as highly educated as their humanities peers and have as many options for flexible career shifts long term.

Also, while salaries may eventually equal out, that fast start allows STEM majors to pay off loans quickly, save to pay cash for a car, and save for a down payment on a house. Compound interest and early investment in the stock market is a wonderful thing for retirement.

Which STEM majors are you referring to? I hope not biology, chemistry, botany, ecology, zoology or environmental science.

Not sure where accounting, finance, supply chain and MIS fit neatly into the STEM vs non-STEM debate (assuming the person majored in one of those subjects in undergrad; not talking about the sociology major from Harvard who made it into Wall Street).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/business/liberal-arts-stem-salaries.html

College is not trade school! What you make starting out isn’t very relevant. Think long-term.

STEM majors aren’t in “trade school”. They are as highly educated as their humanities peers and have as many options for flexible career shifts long term.

Also, while salaries may eventually equal out, that fast start allows STEM majors to pay off loans quickly, save to pay cash for a car, and save for a down payment on a house. Compound interest and early investment in the stock market is a wonderful thing for retirement.

This! The VAST MAJORITY of STEM kids are smarter/more intelligent than the VAST MAJORITY of English grads. The only smart kids that WANT to get an English degree are those that love English or are getting an 'easy' degree for a high GPA as a stepping stone to grad school (medicine, law or MBA). The first group will score high on job/career satisfaction and the latter, of course, will make money compared to a CS grad that didn't go to grad school. A third group will just coast on family connections.. Get into a decent school, study English or something equally fu fu, get a job with daddy's company or daddy's friend's and go up the ladder. The skills needed for a high level job are less cerebral and more interpersonal. I know someone who dropped out of college (English major) who 20 years later is the COO of a large company in another country (daddy's connections) and seems to be doing well (anecdotal, of course). I also know many, many STEM grads that decided to get an MBA and are rubbing shoulders with the C Suite.

If you were to measure the collective wealth of ALL STEM undergrads and compare that to ALL liberal arts grads adjusted for college pedigree, I bet the the STEM grads would be way ahead of the LA peers at any age group. Common sense.

The fact you think this way shows you have no real idea how the business world works, and I say this as someone with a graduate STEM degree from HYPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very misleading. The only people who study English at college are rich people with family money. Of course they do well over time with connections etc.

Yes from my experience Russian Lit is a hot major.

[Anonymous]

I think what people who look down at English majors are missing is that there is so much you can do with that major. It is not limited to publishing. It is a flexible degree and you need to keep an open mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think what people who look down at English majors are missing is that there is so much you can do with that major. It is not limited to publishing. It is a flexible degree and you need to keep an open mind.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think what people who look down at English majors are missing is that there is so much you can do with that major. It is not limited to publishing. It is a flexible degree and you need to keep an open mind.

+1.

+100

It teaches how to write, critically think, etc. Issue is that initially upon graduation, it can be harder to find a job---there are not tons of places hiring that say "we want an English major" so you have to be more adept and willing to navigate the job search. It also helps as an humanities major of any type if you are not afraid of technology---as all tech companies need technical writers, marketing/comms employees. And they will be more willing to hire you if you have a few techie courses/data science/stats. Basically you have to work harder to find the first job, but your opportunities are endless if you are flexible.

[Anonymous]

What is also less obvious about an English major is that it also teaches one how to be empathetic and how to interact with others no matter the situation.

[Anonymous]

I think school prestige is really important if you’re majoring in a “soft” subject. Doesn’t matter as much in STEM. But if your only option for college is Radford, I wouldn’t major in a “soft subject.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think school prestige is really important if you’re majoring in a “soft” subject. Doesn’t matter as much in STEM. But if your only option for college is Radford, I wouldn’t major in a “soft subject.”

I think what you say is also somewhat true for STEM perhaps not to same degree

[Anonymous]

LMFAO the majors that require the highest level of math are trade school??

Morons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. My Dh majored in English and is earning over half a million + in the tv and film industry as are several of our contemporaries.

What in the article runs contrary to what you've written here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is also less obvious about an English major is that it also teaches one how to be empathetic and how to interact with others no matter the situation.

Empathy is what always comes to mind when I am thinking about Norman Mailer....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. My Dh majored in English and is earning over half a million + in the tv and film industry as are several of our contemporaries.

What in the article runs contrary to what you've written here?

It was a response to the post directly prior. Why are hanging out pages back if you aren't reading posts in succession? - DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is also less obvious about an English major is that it also teaches one how to be empathetic and how to interact with others no matter the situation.

Empathy is what always comes to mind when I am thinking about Norman Mailer....

I'll assume you're being cynical. Not only do you learn from reading great literature, but you also learn from people, good and bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an English major. Very content at 40 to be making $150K in a communications field, writing a lot, leaving every day at 4. My work is wonderful, and it never comes home with me. I’m sure I could be making a lot more money, but I value peace of mind and meaningful work a lot more. I’m happy!

Did you get a graduate degree?

Most of the time it requires a graduate degree to reach $150K with an undergrad in English.

Whereas an engineering undergrad can easily reach $150K without needing a graduate degree.

The ROI for an undergrad degree in Engineering is much higher than in English.