I'm not going to read all of these posts, because this topic was sort of addressed in the thread about philosophy majors.

I started as a math major in college. I was very good at math. I enjoyed doing math.

But after speaking with people about what the high-paying math jobs were, I realized that I wouldn't want to do the jobs that pulled in the high salaries because I wouldn't want to do that 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (I'm talking about jobs with insurance companies, which at the time were the best-paying math-related jobs).

So I would likely go into teaching, and math teachers don't pull in salaries to write home about.

So I kind of decided at that point to just major in what really made me feel alive, and as much as I loved the comfort of numbers, my math courses were very dull (even higher level math).

In retrospect, I probably would have enjoyed physics more than math, but where I went to university, they didn't have a really strong physics program. The math department was stellar, as was the biology department, but they didn't have much in the way of a physics program. My understanding of biology was that you really needed more than a BS to get any kind of high paying job. And even physics isn't a sure path to a high paying job. There also was no engineering degree at my college, and while I was open to changing majors, I didn't want to switch to a different university.

So I switched to a liberal arts double major.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are usually harder.

Really? I was an English major and I distinctly recall helping the engineering/math/science/econ majors I met in my classes who couldn't write an essay about literature to save their lives. "Hard" is really defined by your own natural skills, and I think we can all agree that it takes all kinds to make the world go around. I have an advanced degree and am employed as a professional, by the way.

How many people need to "write an essay about literature" ever in real life? Maybe a NYT book reviewer?

The ability to write a good essay speaks to critical thinking and organizational skills that are necessary for success in any profession - even the sciences. You sound like you were a business major, and by that I mean dumb.

Sure, but almost everyone can be taught to write coherently. It is not a very difficult skill to master. The hard sciences and math are much more difficult for the average person and many people will never be able to hack it in those majors. They can barely get through Calc I. I would be that the avg IQ of hard science and math majors is far above the avg IQ of English or poli sic majors.

I am an editor and can assure you that the ability to write coherently is not an easy skill to master. If it were, my job would be so much easier. Then again, I might not be working as much as I do.

Why is the pay so bad

The basic issue has to do with the role of college/education. Does one go to college to develop the skills to get a good, well-paying job?

In days gone by, when employment opportunities were abundant, most majors could lead to a job. Today that is less the case. One cannot justify spending $100K to $200K+ for what would merely be an exercise in intellectual masturbation and then not be employable at a salary that would enable one to lead a comfortable life as well as pay off those student loans.

I was a humanities major, and ITA that STEM is much harder. I knew a lot of STEM kids who could write as well as I could, yet could do math/science I could not master.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because they are usually harder.

Really? I was an English major and I distinctly recall helping the engineering/math/science/econ majors I met in my classes who couldn't write an essay about literature to save their lives. "Hard" is really defined by your own natural skills, and I think we can all agree that it takes all kinds to make the world go around. I have an advanced degree and am employed as a professional, by the way.

How many people need to "write an essay about literature" ever in real life? Maybe a NYT book reviewer?

The ability to write a good essay speaks to critical thinking and organizational skills that are necessary for success in any profession - even the sciences. You sound like you were a business major, and by that I mean dumb.

Sure, but almost everyone can be taught to write coherently. It is not a very difficult skill to master. The hard sciences and math are much more difficult for the average person and many people will never be able to hack it in those majors. They can barely get through Calc I. I would be that the avg IQ of hard science and math majors is far above the avg IQ of English or poli sic majors.

I am an editor and can assure you that the ability to write coherently is not an easy skill to master. If it were, my job would be so much easier. Then again, I might not be working as much as I do.