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Your thoughts about humanities major? >>> Stop Worrying About the ‘Death’ of the Humanities
BelmontVA
86 replies8 threads Junior Member
Sorry this article is behind paywall. I am interested in hearing from other parents about your prospects or real life stories of recent humanities major (or more broadly non-STEM majors) graduates, either successful or never again type. Thank you for sharing.
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https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/stop-worrying-about-the-death-of-the-humanities-11556290279
Literature, history and related subjects are becoming less popular in college classrooms, but that isn’t the only place they live.
By Adam Kirsch
April 26, 2019 10:51 am ET
Colleges across America are beginning to prepare for graduation season, but in some corners of campus, you’re more likely to hear sounds of dread than of celebration. These are the humanities departments—English, history, philosophy, classics and others—where enrollments have dropped precipitously since the financial crisis of 2008. “This wasn’t a gradual decline; it was more like a tidal wave,” as the president of Macalester College, Brian C. Rosenberg, told the Atlantic last fall. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for instance, the number of students graduating with humanities degrees fell from 1,830 in 2008 to 1,025 in 2016. Nationwide, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, English departments have lost some 20% of their majors over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, students are flocking to STEM subjects: At the University of Pennsylvania, the number of students majoring in biology went up 25% between 2005 and 2014.
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34 replies ——-
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/stop-worrying-about-the-death-of-the-humanities-11556290279
Literature, history and related subjects are becoming less popular in college classrooms, but that isn’t the only place they live.
By Adam Kirsch
April 26, 2019 10:51 am ET
Colleges across America are beginning to prepare for graduation season, but in some corners of campus, you’re more likely to hear sounds of dread than of celebration. These are the humanities departments—English, history, philosophy, classics and others—where enrollments have dropped precipitously since the financial crisis of 2008. “This wasn’t a gradual decline; it was more like a tidal wave,” as the president of Macalester College, Brian C. Rosenberg, told the Atlantic last fall. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for instance, the number of students graduating with humanities degrees fell from 1,830 in 2008 to 1,025 in 2016. Nationwide, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, English departments have lost some 20% of their majors over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, students are flocking to STEM subjects: At the University of Pennsylvania, the number of students majoring in biology went up 25% between 2005 and 2014.
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This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Your thoughts about humanities major? >>> Stop Worrying About the ‘Death’ of the Humanities
https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2112613-grim-outlook-for-history-number-of-ba-graduates-dropped-30-over-the-last-decade-p1.html
There's no reason humanities majors can't find jobs, but they do need to acquire hard skills and work experience. You can't wait until the fall of your senior year to start career prep.
It's foolhardy to get a PhD in the humanities with academia as a goal, though. Colleges across the selectivity spectrum are downsizing or eliminating their humanities programs.
THIS. And it's true for the STEM majors too.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Liberal-Arts-Majors-Have/236749?cid=trend_au&elq=9980ad498b7f45f5842649beb36b0f8a&elqCampaignId=3318&elqTrackId=6e4f5f9950b8487c9ddbc00eb19e4474&elqaid=9408&elqat=1
http://www.burning-glass.com/wp-content/uploads/BGTReportLiberalArts.pdf?platform=hootsuite
My son and daughter-in-law are both sociology-major BAs (which is how they met, as classmates). My son also has an MA in sociology, which he paid for himself with scholarships and loans. He is a survey research expert who works for a large research organization. Coming out of college, before getting his MA, he worked multiple jobs for relatively little pay, including working nights in a theater (his other love). It was a struggle, but he managed to support himself pretty much without parental subsidy, other than a couple months of rent and some second-hand furniture (and also paying for his college degree). His wife went to medical school after a year in Americorps, which was always her plan, and is currently in a post-residency fellowship and also getting a masters degree in health care management. She was supported by her parents through med school.
My son and daughter both worked a lot during college and college breaks. (During high school, too, for that matter, but not in profession-track jobs.) Much of my son's paid work during college was in theater, but he also worked in survey research and did volunteer editorial work for an academic sociology publication. My daughter had planned to become a journalist/writer, and built an extensive resume to support that while in college, but life took her in other directions. Her writing, analytic, and communication skills are central to the work she does now, and her reputation for those things got her the job, which is a plum in that field.
The anecdotes here are generally from students who went to top colleges for humanities and then got a professional degree post undergrad.
I have one history major who is on her 3rd job since graduation last Dec., and she's as happy as can be. She's a wrangle at a ranch, leading trail rides. She doesn't make much but doesn't care. She's happy with her college experience.
When I graduated college (late 80's), a Bachelor's Degree in the Humanities was pretty much a ticket to a job. Not your dream job, but is was assumed you would get entry level management, finance, sales, etc. You only saw the Career Office your Senior year and not very extensively. Not so anymore. Employers now look for significant internships, and research skills (depending on the jobs). Most colleges are preparing students to think laterally, have solid writing and analysis skills and work on group projects and presentations. However, the secret sauce is experience. What's needed now is a more career-focused and resume building approach even for Liberal Arts majors. Internships and research are the differentiating factors. As it was said, you can't really start to think about your career your senior year of College. Your choice of a major and the internships and research will prepare you for you job interviews and possibly offers (based on your internships).
It's probably the same thing with a Chemistry or Biology major. When I graduated school, my friends who were Chem or Bio majors got jobs in major Pharmaceutical companies with BS degrees, with...note...NO internships. Not so anymore.
You can get a job in Finance or Management Consulting with a Bachelor's Degree, but Even Econ, Business, Accounting and Finance majors will need internships to make them attractive to employers.
There's also the trend, for some time, that the Master's Degree is the new Bachelor's. Humanities majors can have fruitful careers in Medicine, Business or Law if they go to grad school. Even Comp Sci and some Biological Science/Environmental Majors are specializing with their Master's to have very marketable skills.
I think this is true of almost every major. Do most engineering or accounting majors without any internships or work experience get hired out of college all the time?
Even nurses have internships built in to their programs.