Exactly, and the grads in the last couple of years were affected by Covid. So only part of this data seems applicable to a somewhat normal economy and job market (defining “normal” very broadly here).
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The thing that jumped out at me from the article was the contention that, once a new graduate settles for a “pay the bills” job in another field, then he or she may have trouble getting past the online algorithms that screen resumes and job applications. It’s great to have well developed critical thinking and communication skills, but what if you can’t get past the initial screening process where you can show off those skills? If you come from a well connected family (like the Obama kids), that’s not a problem, but for Joe Average, it is.
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This is where I think having a specific field or job is helpful. That gives you a smaller universe to focus your efforts, network, & make connections that can help you get past the auto screeners.
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I think the article didn’t break it down enough: selective schools v. less selective schools, more about the connection between internships and career success, etc. And what about grad school? What about the difference between, say, a degree in history and a degree in “liberal studies,” which is usually less rigorous (there are plenty of other studies to suggest that there’s a difference in outcomes here). All of those humanities and social sciences degrees seem lumped together, but the outcomes are not the same from major to major. And how are we defining a job that uses a degree? For history majors, the main outcomes that directly use the history degree are teaching (at any level), historic preservation, museum work, and maybe archival work. But what about law, policy, nonprofit work, various kinds of research, journalism, editing, and – yes – even fields that seem to need a different degree, like business, consulting, the arts, media, management, etc.? Generally speaking, I think this study didn’t ask enough critical questions or take into account nonlinear career paths. And it needs to be much more clear on what constitutes a job that uses a degree, because different jobs make use of different degrees in different ways.
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I think if you want to stay in the field your degree is in, you probably should take the highest paying job in that field or something related that you can get - even if it’s really low pay. If you go in a whole other direction, then yeah, it’s probably going to be harder to find something in the original field again. Take law. If you know you definitely want to stay that course, instead of taking an entry level job in advertising because it’s available, you might sign up for a volunteer program for new attorneys that lets you help low income clients for below market rates/ not quite pro bono but not much money - I think our state has something like this). That lets you stay in the field and build experience. If you take the entry level in advertising you might still grow but in a whole other direction. Just an example.
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The linked page says:
Regarding another aspect, on how first jobs can determine career directions…
This implicitly disadvantages those from poorer families who are unable to support a new graduate through an extended job search or a low paying first job in the desired area, and whose parent contribution was not enough for the new graduate to avoid student loan debt.
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It’s great to hear success stories about suffering through 5 or 10 years in a low-paying menial job and then finding a great job. But it really sucks to be suffering through those 5 or 10 years in a low-paying menial job. I worked to put myself through school, and no amount of aspirational stories could convince me to pursue a degree that could potentially land me exactly where I already was for another 5 or 10 years.
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It is not easy. I lived in a terrible area when I was underemployed because that’s what I could afford. And it may not be possible for everyone. There are times when your established career becomes outdated too and you have to reinvent yourself. I think there’s generally a difference between underemployed working in a restaurant and underemployed working in a different career but at the bottom. You can work your way up in the latter.
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I don’t disagree. My own anecdotal story wasn’t meant to suggest people should choose unemployable majors. I advise my kids against say, Latin studies (I’m sorry if my example offends anyone!) But you could choose a “good” major and still have issues because you didn’t get internships or you weren’t at the top of your class in a fairly saturated career market. In most cases, I would think if you chose an in-demand career, you should be able to find something though you may have to be willing to move.
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I would love to understand all those bio majors…
But overall, the article pays short shrift to the various intangibles (MDParent mentioned it)- being willing to move. I’d posit it’s not “you may have to” to “you must”.
I’ve posted before about the kid trying to break into TV production. Of course s/he wants NY, LA or DC. But to turn down an opportunity to start at a public television station in Minneapolis, Dayton, San Antonio? Especially when the station manager has a solid reputation of training and developing young people who get snatched up by bigger markets in three years?
Or Museum education. Everyone wants the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, MFA Boston. But guess what- there are fantastic institutions in Fort Worth and Tulsa and if you’ve got an opportunity there- TAKE IT.
It would be wonderful if every 17 year old knew what they wanted to be when they grew up and were hyper focused on a professional track. (tongue in cheek- I think it would be terrible for a lot of people). But having counseled hundreds of new grads who haven’t or can’t seem to launch, the issue isn’t their degree- it’s their attitude, their flexibility, their grit.
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So those with engineering and finance degrees show the requisite amount of initiative, flexibility and grit to land a job, while those traits are apparently less common in the humanities majors, causing their underemployment?
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I have met and worked with many of those underemployed college graduates over the years. I can only speak for my state and my metro region. But here is what many of them have in common:
They were FGLI and had no guidance at home. Their under resourced high schools and much of society just tell them “get a college degree and you will be fine” . They don’t know about the importance of relationship building and internships, because nobody tells them, not their parents, not their high schools and not their colleges (!). They often graduate from directional publics and HBCUs who seem to never talk about internships either (although many departments of our flagship don’t either).
Another group I frequently see in the underemployed college grad category are those who are neurodiverse and/or have mental health issues. They have great degrees (often in the sciences) but due to personality quirks or mental health have a hard time getting a job and keeping a job.
So there is a lot more to this than just choice of major.
Also, Stephen Moret, who is mentioned in the article, was an influential member of a former administration here in Louisiana who cut a lot of money from higher ed budgets.
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Per the study, HBCU grads fared above average.
That’s why I said I can only speak for my region and I doubt that that is true for my area. But I should go and dig for local numbers.
47% of biology majors being under employed seems pretty good…given the dislike on CC for biology as a major (what would you do if you didn’t get into med school).
I expected that number to be much higher. I guess there are factors that I am not taking into consideration.
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There’s a dislike for it on CC? How come?
The outcome data for biology at one of the schools on my daughter’s list showed a very low percentage employed, a low percentage choosing further education, and the salary for most is very low too. Most seem to be in the healthcare industry, but it doesn’t indicate what they do. They could be doing anything. There are a few lucky outliers though. My guess is that those were the lucky few that fell into the business and engineering side with the degree.
Maybe I used a word that is too strong. A better word would be “discouraged.”
It seems (?) biology majors do not have good job prospects for those who do not continue their education. I thought the number of those under employed would be higher than 47%.
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If the definition of “underemployed” means not needing a bachelor’s degree, then it is likely that many biology graduates employed in low end lab tech jobs with little potential for career growth and low pay do not fit this definition, because those jobs actually need and use the content of their biology studies.
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I don’t disagree- but I promise you that the content and rigor of the Bio 1 class at a typical CC which all Pharm Tech, Radiology Tech’s, Path Lab analysts, and Ultrasound tech’s are required to take is NOT the same content and rigor as Bio 1 at any flagship university. So the argument that the grads are “using” the content is stretching it a bit.
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