College Grads Regret Majoring in Humanities Fields

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

sure you might have to "work harder" to figure out what jobs you want than a CS major but that doesn't mean there are NO jobs to find. And trust me when I tell you, my anthropology major has zero desire or ability to code or be a software developer etc, so if I were to force her into that, she'd fail. What she IS, however, is an exceptional communicator both written and verbal, who knows how to analyze a situation, debate, find common ground within a group of people and make a plan to go forward. This is a very marketable skill and one that it not always incumbent in a CS major or even engineering. No she is not going to walk out of school and get a $120K SDE job, and she does not want one. But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc. There are different skills needed for different roles and as far as I know, a huge part of the world still operates on human relationships, not AI.

We obviously need humanities majors. Your kid is obviously well versed in job opportunities for their major and understands the financial options when exiting college with a degree like that. I just wish more people did!! So as I stated before, your kid would benefit from a business minor/marketing/data analytics (business analysis) to help strenghten their job opportunities and help them find internships while in college. I would never forces anyone into CS (it's definately not for everyone). But if my kid wanted to major in Art history/anthropology/philosophy, I would encourage them to do so, but think bigger picture and find a strong minor to help put them on a path for employment/internships. Because the critical thinking and writing skills they will learn as a humanities major will go further if they have a minor such as business. Business pairs extremely well with most humanity majors.

This is completely backwards and senseless. If you want to work in business... major in business. Minor in art history/anthropology/philosophy. If your kid is capable of "critical thinking" then they will surely learn that by majoring in business and minoring in some other humanities thing. I don't understand this attitude that in order to learn "critical thinking" then you must major in a humanities subject. (Fun fact: STEM majors also learn critical thinking. If you don't do critical thinking as an engineer, then the bridge falls down or the computer program crashes, etc.)

An example of "big picture thinking" would be to major in something useful to the whole rest of your life and to minor in the other "fun" stuff that you have the privilege and luxury of doing in college.

Humanities majors have nothing to come back with other than the tired 'Humanities majors are excellent communicators and STEM majors communicate at middle school level' argument. So predictable and tired old argument. STEM majors have better critical thinking skills than Humanities majors and STEM majors certainly can communicate effectively as well sometimes even better than non-STEM run of the mill average Joe and Jane graduating with any (easy) majors.

STEM is low class, always will be. I don't make the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

sure you might have to "work harder" to figure out what jobs you want than a CS major but that doesn't mean there are NO jobs to find. And trust me when I tell you, my anthropology major has zero desire or ability to code or be a software developer etc, so if I were to force her into that, she'd fail. What she IS, however, is an exceptional communicator both written and verbal, who knows how to analyze a situation, debate, find common ground within a group of people and make a plan to go forward. This is a very marketable skill and one that it not always incumbent in a CS major or even engineering. No she is not going to walk out of school and get a $120K SDE job, and she does not want one. But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc. There are different skills needed for different roles and as far as I know, a huge part of the world still operates on human relationships, not AI.

We obviously need humanities majors. Your kid is obviously well versed in job opportunities for their major and understands the financial options when exiting college with a degree like that. I just wish more people did!! So as I stated before, your kid would benefit from a business minor/marketing/data analytics (business analysis) to help strenghten their job opportunities and help them find internships while in college. I would never forces anyone into CS (it's definately not for everyone). But if my kid wanted to major in Art history/anthropology/philosophy, I would encourage them to do so, but think bigger picture and find a strong minor to help put them on a path for employment/internships. Because the critical thinking and writing skills they will learn as a humanities major will go further if they have a minor such as business. Business pairs extremely well with most humanity majors.

This is completely backwards and senseless. If you want to work in business... major in business. Minor in art history/anthropology/philosophy. If your kid is capable of "critical thinking" then they will surely learn that by majoring in business and minoring in some other humanities thing. I don't understand this attitude that in order to learn "critical thinking" then you must major in a humanities subject. (Fun fact: STEM majors also learn critical thinking. If you don't do critical thinking as an engineer, then the bridge falls down or the computer program crashes, etc.)

An example of "big picture thinking" would be to major in something useful to the whole rest of your life and to minor in the other "fun" stuff that you have the privilege and luxury of doing in college.

Humanities majors have nothing to come back with other than the tired 'Humanities majors are excellent communicators and STEM majors communicate at middle school level' argument. So predictable and tired old argument. STEM majors have better critical thinking skills than Humanities majors and STEM majors certainly can communicate effectively as well sometimes even better than non-STEM run of the mill average Joe and Jane graduating with any (easy) majors.

STEM is low class, always will be. I don't make the rules.

It may have been before but certainly not now and not in the future if you want to make a decent income. Even majority of kids going into MBB consulting or bulge bracket IB front/middle office positions are STEM majors unless humanities degree is from top 10 schools. Surprise!

[Anonymous]

I can’t think of a more BS job than “consulting”

My good friend (who happens to be an ex, but that is beside the point) majored in anthropology. He was also on scholarship at one of those T30s that doesn’t give much merit money. He could have majored in anything. He went to law school afterward and has done very well for himself.

His best friend (also a friend of mine) majored in philosophy and was into theater. He also went to law school and is now a corporate lawyer.

So you can take a leap with that “what a waste” nonsense.

I have one more good one. One of my sorority sisters was a physics major in undergrad. She then majored in EE in grad school. Not completely done, she decided on more school to become a patent lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t think of a more BS job than “consulting”

My good friend (who happens to be an ex, but that is beside the point) majored in anthropology. He was also on scholarship at one of those T30s that doesn’t give much merit money. He could have majored in anything. He went to law school afterward and has done very well for himself.

His best friend (also a friend of mine) majored in philosophy and was into theater. He also went to law school and is now a corporate lawyer.

So you can take a leap with that “what a waste” nonsense.

I have one more good one. One of my sorority sisters was a physics major in undergrad. She then majored in EE in grad school. Not completely done, she decided on more school to become a patent lawyer.

consulting is bs but being a corporate lawyer is...what exactly? pick a lane lmao

[Anonymous]

Corporate lawyers make good money. He works for a bank and lives in Miami.

Look, it’s not my cup of tea, but I figured making corporate law money was pretty good for those on this board who think the only jobs worth doing are the ones that start you at 6 figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t think of a more BS job than “consulting”

My good friend (who happens to be an ex, but that is beside the point) majored in anthropology. He was also on scholarship at one of those T30s that doesn’t give much merit money. He could have majored in anything. He went to law school afterward and has done very well for himself.

His best friend (also a friend of mine) majored in philosophy and was into theater. He also went to law school and is now a corporate lawyer.

So you can take a leap with that “what a waste” nonsense.

I have one more good one. One of my sorority sisters was a physics major in undergrad. She then majored in EE in grad school. Not completely done, she decided on more school to become a patent lawyer.

consulting is bs but being a corporate lawyer is...what exactly? pick a lane lmao

+1000

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

my anthropology major [LOL. LMAO. Hope you didn't pay a lot for that.]

But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc.

If you're the kind of person who is interested in anthropology, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting.

If you're the kind of person who wants to be in human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting, you should major in business or economics.

I get it that you're trying to cope your way into believing your kid's anthropology major wasn't a stupid waste of money, but it shows a massive lack of planning and foresight. If I were hiring someone to do marketing, business analysis, or consulting and some anthro major applied, that would go right into the reject pile. Plenty of applicants majored in something sensible, after all.

Do you even know what anthropology is? It’s ALL about what makes us human, culture and society. It’s VERY applicable to HR and she is interested in that potential career path. I interact daily with successful C level execs who come from a variety of majors and most not even from what this board would consider a “top school”. I myself have a humanities major and have never been without a a job and been well over six figures for twenty years. So I think you’re the one that is deluded.

Sadly people like you will never understand and again it’s pointless to have this discussion over and over on this board. It feels like people on the stem only career side are demonstrating exactly what we humanities majors say is an issue with stem majors, a closed mind and inability to make a sustained and coherent argument rather than just resorting to insults and belittling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

my anthropology major [LOL. LMAO. Hope you didn't pay a lot for that.]

But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc.

If you're the kind of person who is interested in anthropology, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting.

If you're the kind of person who wants to be in human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting, you should major in business or economics.

I get it that you're trying to cope your way into believing your kid's anthropology major wasn't a stupid waste of money, but it shows a massive lack of planning and foresight. If I were hiring someone to do marketing, business analysis, or consulting and some anthro major applied, that would go right into the reject pile. Plenty of applicants majored in something sensible, after all.

Do you even know what anthropology is? It’s ALL about what makes us human, culture and society. It’s VERY applicable to HR and she is interested in that potential career path. I interact daily with successful C level execs who come from a variety of majors and most not even from what this board would consider a “top school”. I myself have a humanities major and have never been without a a job and been well over six figures for twenty years. So I think you’re the one that is deluded.

Sadly people like you will never understand and again it’s pointless to have this discussion over and over on this board. It feels like people on the stem only career side are demonstrating exactly what we humanities majors say is an issue with stem majors, a closed mind and inability to make a sustained and coherent argument rather than just resorting to insults and belittling.

Count me as confused: anthropology is a social science. Political science is a social science. Social sciences are not humanities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

my anthropology major [LOL. LMAO. Hope you didn't pay a lot for that.]

But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc.

If you're the kind of person who is interested in anthropology, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting.

If you're the kind of person who wants to be in human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting, you should major in business or economics.

I get it that you're trying to cope your way into believing your kid's anthropology major wasn't a stupid waste of money, but it shows a massive lack of planning and foresight. If I were hiring someone to do marketing, business analysis, or consulting and some anthro major applied, that would go right into the reject pile. Plenty of applicants majored in something sensible, after all.

Do you even know what anthropology is? It’s ALL about what makes us human, culture and society. It’s VERY applicable to HR and she is interested in that potential career path. I interact daily with successful C level execs who come from a variety of majors and most not even from what this board would consider a “top school”. I myself have a humanities major and have never been without a a job and been well over six figures for twenty years. So I think you’re the one that is deluded.

Sadly people like you will never understand and again it’s pointless to have this discussion over and over on this board. It feels like people on the stem only career side are demonstrating exactly what we humanities majors say is an issue with stem majors, a closed mind and inability to make a sustained and coherent argument rather than just resorting to insults and belittling.

Count me as confused: anthropology is a social science. Political science is a social science. Social sciences are not humanities.

Ha good point! There is difference of opinion from what I’ve read on anthropology on whether it fits because you’re right it is a social science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Investment banking, medical schools, law schools and management consulting have high percentage of humanities majors.

Investment banking =Must attend target schools usually top 15-20
medical schools = Humanities majors lack the requisite courses (organ. chem, physics etc.) to apply to med schools (also need 3.92+ GPA)
law schools = Must go to top 10 or bust now days
management consulting = Look at IB answer.

BS

Plenty of humanities majors go to medical school. All that is required is the core/required courses (10-12 courses). Med schools would rather see someone who majors in something they love and take the requisite courses for med school than someone who just majors in Bio because it covers all prerequisites (or most).

https://www.aamc.org/media/6061/download

Oh yeah, "plenty" of humanities majors go to medical school. Looks like a whopping 3% of applicants majored in humanities. Good luck to those folks who majored in "something they love" LMAO.

Meanwhile 58% majored in bio. Hmmm yeah looks like med schools don't want to see those boring old bio majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t think of a more BS job than “consulting”

My good friend (who happens to be an ex, but that is beside the point) majored in anthropology. He was also on scholarship at one of those T30s that doesn’t give much merit money. He could have majored in anything. He went to law school afterward and has done very well for himself.

His best friend (also a friend of mine) majored in philosophy and was into theater. He also went to law school and is now a corporate lawyer.

So you can take a leap with that “what a waste” nonsense.

I have one more good one. One of my sorority sisters was a physics major in undergrad. She then majored in EE in grad school. Not completely done, she decided on more school to become a patent lawyer.

Uh huh. Cool story, sis. Everyone has an anecdote that one person they once knew who majored in something stupid and then went on to great things. The only better story than that is "Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and is now a gazillionaire". All of which definitely proves that majoring in anthropology or philosophy - or better yet, getting into an Ivy and then dropping out - is a totally excellent life plan that any bright student can follow because it is bound to lead to great wealth in corporate law or the IT world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/college-grads-regret-majoring-in-humanities-fields/

Lack of critical thinking in choosing a major which is a very important thing. They focused too much on 'college experience' was

Humanities majors need to have a plan, more so than a traditional STEM major. They need to be proactive and find a path that interests them career wise. It is also beneficial if they add in a minor in business, data analytics, CS, math, really anything that will help them find direction and possible internships. They also need to realize that while they can make as much as STEM majors, it will take a few years to do that. Very few art history majors start out making $75K/year.

This. The pathways out of humanities are harder and many students don't have a good sense of what their career is supposed to look like. It's a bit of a black box.

I think many universities also do humanities students a disservice because many humanities departments treat academia as the default career path and it's very much not. There are many ways to use a history or English degree that don't involve graduate school or teaching. But you are unlikely to meet people working in your college major department who have a sense of what those uses might be.

Universities should be telling kids getting humanities degrees about this early on and part of getting a degree like this should actually include developing a career plan, and that career plan can also influence what classes you take, what minors or double majors you pursue, etc. We actually do need people who are experts in literature, history, political science, etc. Lots of jobs to be had. It's just very hard to know what they are when you spend 4 years mostly working with people who think the main option is "Professor of Humanities Subject" and not, like, doing historical documentation for a major corporation or training new hires on the internal writing style guide or whatever actual job with benefits these people are qualified to do.

Totally agree! There has been very little effort on the part of colleges to define what types of jobs students should expect to do if they get a _____ degree. That is SLOWLY changing by colleges requiring students to do an internship/externship experience. But, colleges are STILL putting the burden on the 20 yr old student to figure out how/where to get an internship with a partial degree in anthropology, psychology, history, English, etc. Colleges have figured out that internships are crucial to getting a job AFTER college. But they still aren't doing enough to define (up front -- when HS senior are applying for admission) what one can expect to do with ____ degree. And still not doing enough to help kids get ACTUAL TRANSFERRABLE, INDUSTRY-DESIRABLE SKILLS while they are getting the degree.

It is really up to to student to figure this out. I'd argue that a coop focused school is a good choice if you want to be a humanities major----they expect all their students to do coops, so you get real world experience. If you want to major in Humanities, you need to work harder to figure out what you actually want to do. Humanities are fine---they are great. They teach critical thinking skills and the point of college (IMO) is to develop critical thinking and love of learning. But yeah, if you are gonna be an anthropology major and don't want to be a professor/get your PHD, then you need to think seriously about what you can (and want to) do with this degree. Seriously look at minors in business, data analytics, cs, etc. and realize that you really need to find internships in something so you do have the transferable skills for employment after a BA. You need to realize that there are not going to be tons of companies searching for someone with a BA in anthropology. So you have to work harder than a CS/Engineering major. You have to market yourself and it will not be as easy, but it is totally doable.

my anthropology major [LOL. LMAO. Hope you didn't pay a lot for that.]

But she will be able to do plenty of other jobs, that guess what DO exist, including but not limited to human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, consulting etc.

If you're the kind of person who is interested in anthropology, I have a hard time imagining you enjoying human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting.

If you're the kind of person who wants to be in human resources, sales, marketing, business analysis, or consulting, you should major in business or economics.

I get it that you're trying to cope your way into believing your kid's anthropology major wasn't a stupid waste of money, but it shows a massive lack of planning and foresight. If I were hiring someone to do marketing, business analysis, or consulting and some anthro major applied, that would go right into the reject pile. Plenty of applicants majored in something sensible, after all.

Do you even know what anthropology is? It’s ALL about what makes us human, culture and society. It’s VERY applicable to HR and she is interested in that potential career path. I interact daily with successful C level execs who come from a variety of majors and most not even from what this board would consider a “top school”. I myself have a humanities major and have never been without a a job and been well over six figures for twenty years. So I think you’re the one that is deluded.

Sadly people like you will never understand and again it’s pointless to have this discussion over and over on this board. It feels like people on the stem only career side are demonstrating exactly what we humanities majors say is an issue with stem majors, a closed mind and inability to make a sustained and coherent argument rather than just resorting to insults and belittling.

Do I know what anthropology is? Yes, it is a dumb waste of money. Just like philosophy, which is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, is a dumb waste of money. Go ahead and read about those subjects in your spare time if you like, but if you spend $300,000 to study them in college then you are a fool.

Anthropology is one of the worst-paying majors. If you (or more importantly, your daughter) do not know that, then you are deluded.

You are the one with a closed mind. You are busy wishing and hoping and praying that somehow your DD will end up in a great job after majoring in anthropology, and you are completely uninterested in the very logical and coherent argument, which is abundantly sustained by facts, that this is a bad choice from the standpoint of future career and salary.

[Anonymous]

Huh. I majored in philosophy and make over $1 mill a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh. I majored in philosophy and make over $1 mill a year.

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison....all dropped out of college and they're so rich! I'm totally encouraging my kids to drop out!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Investment banking, medical schools, law schools and management consulting have high percentage of humanities majors.

Investment banking =Must attend target schools usually top 15-20
medical schools = Humanities majors lack the requisite courses (organ. chem, physics etc.) to apply to med schools (also need 3.92+ GPA)
law schools = Must go to top 10 or bust now days
management consulting = Look at IB answer.

BS

Plenty of humanities majors go to medical school. All that is required is the core/required courses (10-12 courses). Med schools would rather see someone who majors in something they love and take the requisite courses for med school than someone who just majors in Bio because it covers all prerequisites (or most).

https://www.aamc.org/media/6061/download

Oh yeah, "plenty" of humanities majors go to medical school. Looks like a whopping 3% of applicants majored in humanities. Good luck to those folks who majored in "something they love" LMAO.

Meanwhile 58% majored in bio. Hmmm yeah looks like med schools don't want to see those boring old bio majors.

Only 36% of bio majors that applied got accepted. 44% of Humanities majors were accepted.
Only 36% of people who applied were accepted overall. So biology majors were just average.
Humanities has the highest overall acceptance rate of any category. Seems like they did well majoring in "something they love". Statistically a much higher chance of getting Med school acceptance as a Humanities major.