Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boys (particularly hetero boys) often have concerns that they earn an income significant enough to support a family, which drives them to business, computer science, data analytics, etc. I think few kids grow up and say my life's dream is pharmaceutical sales (or whatever the lucrative job may be).

It's not 1950 anymore. I am a woman, went to college back in the 80s and had concerns about how I would support myself and a family. I got an MBA after college. My DD switched majors 3 times but was always focused on working. My DS knew from the get go that he wanted to major in econ. Both of them were equally driven, perhaps because their role models at home did not play into 1950s gender stereotypes.

I am a woman too and I made no comment about motivations of women. I would agree many of them have similar concerns, including myself. My comments was singularly that the motivation of income seems to be a driving factor for male applicants.

Anonymous wrote:Boys (particularly hetero boys) often have concerns that they earn an income significant enough to support a family, which drives them to business, computer science, data analytics, etc. I think few kids grow up and say my life's dream is pharmaceutical sales (or whatever the lucrative job may be).

It's not 1950 anymore. I am a woman, went to college back in the 80s and had concerns about how I would support myself and a family. I got an MBA after college. My DD switched majors 3 times but was always focused on working. My DS knew from the get go that he wanted to major in econ. Both of them were equally driven, perhaps because their role models at home did not play into 1950s gender stereotypes.

Totally fine for a boy (or girl) not to know what they want to do by mid high school, or even mid college! My DS knows what he's interested in (non-STEM) and just at this point doesn't really know what his career options are so he is exploring that and various majors as a sophomore in college now.
My DD has always been very sure of herself, but changed her major freshman year. She knows now what she likes, but again, not sure how that translates into a career.

Most kids don't really now what the options are out there so it is not surprising that a high school or college aged kid is not sure what they want do.

I had no idea what I wanted to do until I took an internship between Junior and Senior year at college.

Boys (particularly hetero boys) often have concerns that they earn an income significant enough to support a family, which drives them to business, computer science, data analytics, etc. I think few kids grow up and say my life's dream is pharmaceutical sales (or whatever the lucrative job may be).

Anonymous wrote:People will disagree but there needs to be more emphasis on boys and finding their way. The number of men not attending college and not working is alarming.

What are the numbers? How many boys vs girls don't go to college and don't work after HS?

Lots of boys don't go to college because they go into the trades. Plumbers, electricians, etc. can make a lot more than lots of college degrees.

People will disagree but there needs to be more emphasis on boys and finding their way. The number of men not attending college and not working is alarming.

It's totally fine to be undecided at the start of college.

My son is majoring in data science, probably focusing on geospatial data. He has always loved and been very good at math. From an early age he liked to look at books like almanacs that had lots of charts, graphs and other data visualizations. And he loves maps. We signed him up for a pre-college data science program that solidified his interest in that and then he took a geospatial data analysis class senior year of high school that he loved. He's in the 2nd year of his program and still exploring the specific concentration but happy with his major.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy/girl has nothing to do with it.

Oh yes it does. This is applicable to boys in a way that it is not to girls.

My DD is exactly this way. She has ADHD, though, so a little less mature.

OP, don't stress about this. My son had no idea when he was in HS, and he went into college as an undecided major. He did decide on a major towards the end of his freshman year, and now as a sophomore, he's thinking of changing it to something else, under the broader umbrella of that field of study.

For the kids who know what they want at that young of an age and set off on that path, that's fantastic. But for the majority, being expected to know what they want to do for much of the rest of their lives, is crazy to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy/girl has nothing to do with it.

Oh yes it does. This is applicable to boys in a way that it is not to girls.

My college roommate changed her major 3 times . It was a joke. And complete change---to things not remotely connected. She did some summer courses to be able to graduate on time.

I also find so many people don't know what they want to do at age 18...and I actually think that is more the norm than the exception.

Anonymous wrote:Boy/girl has nothing to do with it.

Oh yes it does. This is applicable to boys in a way that it is not to girls.

OP I have a son who is a freshman in college who is exactly as you describe. Sort of wandering towards business, but I suspect that is the default for many boys who know they don't want/ can't hack STEM majors and want to keep their options open.

Encourage your son to go to a college where they don't have to declare a major until beginning of junior year. That has been a big help to my son. Core curriculum classes are wide and varied and allowing him to discover things he didn't know existed as coursework. He is loving a philosophy class, for example, and is looking forward next semester to more logic of courses.

Boy/girl has nothing to do with it.

I'm not so sure about that.

I remember my two favorite subjects were Biology and English in high school (girl).

I had zero clear idea of what I wanted to do in life.

My organic chemist father said to choose the science path as there would be more options for employment.

Even as I was going that route, I still was unsure. By junior year of college I started to find the niche part of science that I loved. But, it was after grad school that I even decided what to do.

I say the vast majority of kids (both genders) have no idea what they want to do for a career...and many adults still don't know or aren't happy with where they ended up.

It seems like girls are better and faster picking what they want to study in College. At least that's what I've noticed from my friends' daughters.

I have a HS Junior who has not idea what to study in College. He has good grades takes Honors and a couple of APs, plays sports, etc. A regular kid. He says all his friends are talking about Business, Finance or Entrepreneur.

My husband is a Software Engineer and I work in Marketing, he takes IT, Marketing and some business electives but he doesn't seem interested enough to make it a career for himself.

What helped your college kid find their path?

When are most boys ready to pick a path?

What path did you College son picked?