<p>@fauxmaven congrats on having a daughter in Harvard. I am sure she is very bright and knows exactly what she wants and where she is going. My son however doesn’t have a set goal as far as career. I want him to be career ready and actually get a career.</p>
<p>Ask him to take a math class first semester next year, if he hates it, at least he gave it a try, right? Until then, shave him try and find an internship in a field he’s interested in (like business) so he can test the waters and see where he wants to go. If he does pursue a LA degree, try and remember that it is really just a stepping stone and that he will go to grad school for something useful.</p>
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<p>Then encourage him to get as broad an undergrad degree as possible, and not one that leads to a single job. Preparation for a career is much different from preparation for entry-level jobs. The most useful major will be one which develops a capacity to think things through, using insights from multiple disciplines. CS, Business and Engineering are pretty useful for entry-level positions, but in 10 or 20 years your son could be awfully frustrated watching those in his field with broad critical thought and communication skills get promoted. Plus, many jobs in your son’s lifetime will be in fields that have yet to develop. Being equipped for maximum versatility over the long haul is the most useful asset you could have in the 21st century.</p>
<p>My daughters have come through Harvard with degrees in Government and Gender Studies. They’ll get some work experience, then go back to grad school in programs that offer not only career skills but career connections. And the diversity of their undergraduate studies will enable them to move up in or move beyond any particular field.</p>
<p>"…in this economy…"</p>
<p>So what happens when “this economy” is gone in a few years? Also, what happens when the market is flooded with STEM majors looking for jobs because their parents and peers forced them to go into those fields just for the good job prospects? Oh yeah, those with social sciences and humanities degrees will be in shortage and it’ll all balance out, like always. Oddly enough, equilibrium applies to more than just science.</p>
<p>How aboutnursing? It’s a little science intensive but not too bad, and everyone knows we need nurses.</p>
<p>Also, FallenAngel is right. We’ve already seen it with biology degrees; they’re the third Or fourth most popular major now (under business and psych and probably one above accounting).</p>
<p>They really Gould offer a cooperative bio/nursing program because the bio field is so saturated.</p>
<p>You have the impression that forcing your son into a math-related major will be beneficial. What if he does poorly in his classes? Fails? Loses financial aid? Drops out? Or graduates and can’t find a job because he’s just mediocre in the field or doesn’t care?</p>
<p>His best chance for success is to find something he is GOOD at. Chances are, if he’s good at it he’ll also enjoy it and succeed.</p>
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<p>As someone with a degree in psychology, I can assure you that income has very, very, very little to do with happiness. Actually, disliking one’s job is a large contributor to depression and long-term unhappiness and stress levels, as well as correlated with poorer overall health. We spend the majority of our day at work - how god-awful it is to spend that time at a job you hate and aren’t any good at! </p>
<p>Yes, those who are at the poverty level link money with happiness. Once we come out of the poverty level, there is almost no correlation between money and happiness. Supporting oneself is different from being wealthy. One can live on $25-30k/year if they are smart and budget. If they enjoy what they do, chances are that they will be happier (and thus often healthier, more successful, etc.) than if they made $60k+ in a job that made them miserable. </p>
<p>Success is not equivalent to income. Yes, you want him to have a plan. You don’t want him to major in English (for example) just because it’s fun for him - you want him to know what kind of jobs he’ll look for with the degree, whether he’d be interested in pursuing graduate school, and to start marketing himself well before graduation. Taking advantage of internships is important in many fields. Getting to know professors so he has solid recommendations is important. Majoring in a field he hates will do nothing at all for him. </p>
<p>So, to sum up my point: majoring in STEM for someone who’s bad at it/dislikes it? Very bad idea. Making him develop a strong plan (and sticking to it) for what major he does choose? Very good idea.</p>
<p>Your judgmental views on majors make no sense. Obviously there are other jobs out there that do not relate to math and engineering. They may not be as growing but jobs open up everyday in different fields. I am a visual arts major and I already have many job opportunities waiting for me after college in both graphic design and advertising fields. You are trying to guarantee your kid a job and I get that but if your son is forced into something that he doesn’t like he will have a miserable life. Accounting and Engineering require a lot of devotion because of the vigor.</p>
<p>Yeah, nursing and business are both good degrees where you don’t need much math and you can always get work.</p>
<p>If he likes English, he could try for marketing</p>
<p>^^please explain^^</p>
<p>We’re not wealthy either and we have three children pursuing the arts. Here’s what we’ve done. We made sure they got a good education- I homeschooled all of them with a classical curriculum. My older daughter got a full scholarship in Classics, and is now a working actress at a Rep. theatre and is pursuing grad school. She won’t go anywhere without a scholarship and is realistic about not taking on huge loans. My son is a performance major in music also with a full tuition scholarship so his only expense is living and he’s in an apt. and saving money well, so all is good there. He plans on grad school and he too knows it must come with a scholarship or no go. My youngest is a violinist and is planning a conservatory education- and you guessed it- scholarship or no go. Why tell you all this?- because we’re not impractical people but we know this was their choice in each case…they are following the paths they chose and our only stipulation was you have to get scholarships. Now I ask you…what harm are we doing them by letting them follow their passions and interest? Nothing- it is their lives- they need to take these chances and guess what… the world doesn’t end if they make other choices down the road or if it just doesn’t pan out as they would like. At some point you have to give your child the freedom to find what he is truly excited about and interested in and then let him try it- but hey, if the colleges don’t award him the money the reality is he’ll have to either work harder to make it happen or change his plans. But then it will be HIM changing his plans, not you telling him what is best before he even gets a chance to find out what his best even is. I know you want the best for him, but at some point you will have to shift your focus from telling him what is best to helping him discover what is best. And you are a smart lady … surely you can see there are actually successful people in fields other than those based in math.</p>
<p>Great response, mymble.</p>
<p>mommy, in reading your posts, one thing I noticed is not once did you mention what your child wanted. It was all about what you wanted. I do understand your concerns as I have a son who is a junior in high school and trying to figure out his path in life. He is not one who has a technical aptitude so engineering is out. He has zero interest in business subjects such as accounting (which by the way is arithmetic and not math - I have degrees in accounting and engineering). His main leanings are history, languages, and music. He also wants to travel. So my job as a parent is to help him sort through the various options and helping him to find pros and cons and give ideas how he may find a good path. For example, he has interest in being a history teacher but he also knows that it will be difficult to land a job and he may need to work at Home Depot and be a substitute for a couple years before landing a full-time job. But I am not going to force him down a path that will not make him happy. </p>
<p>And from personal experience (I am 56), I can tell you even though my parents did many things right, when it came to choosing a career, they spent more time worrying about what made them happy as aprents then what would have made their sons happy. We are fine, but it took a long time to find the places closer to where we thought we should be and even longer to get past the resentment.</p>
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<p>Mommy1964-
A cautionary tale. A close friend of mine came from a family that insisted he major in engineering because, like you, they wanted him to have a practical degree. Although he had good math skills and did well in his program, he never really liked engineering and when he graduated he ended up in an engineering job he HATED. Because his heart wasn’t in it he didn’t progress very quickly within the company and thus didn’t end up making a great salary. One day he was expressing to me how miserable he was at his engineering firm and when I asked him what kind of work he had done that he did enjoy he lit up as he spoke about the volunteer ESL tutoring he’d done at the local community center. Long story short, 6 months later he was admitted to a graduate teaching program and he’s now the assistant headmaster at a private school, extremely happy and making more money than he ever would have if he’d stayed in engineering.</p>
<p>Hey, I think that using any means necessary to convince your kid to major in subjects that he doesn’t do very well in in order to match the kid up with the dominant demands of today’s economy is a fantastic stratgey.</p>
<p>In 1990 the “hot” careers were
chef
health care manager
computer graphics artist
environmental engineer
software developer
internatrional lawyer
industrial designer
physical therapist
management consultant
infertility doctor</p>
<p>Top careers for 2011 . . . [Top</a> 10 Careers for 2011: Ten Best Careers - BusinessWeek](<a href=“http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110114/top-10-careers-for-2011/#]Top”>http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110114/top-10-careers-for-2011/#)
massage therapist
athletic trainer
interpreter/translator
computer support specialist
meeting planner
court reporter
PR specialist
mediator
film and video editor
financial analyst</p>
<p>Obviously, the top careers for these jobs, whether for 1990 or 2011, almost all required a deep and commmittted understandin of math and hard science. </p>
<p>How else will the translators, PR specialists and mediators of the future be able to compete effectively without a degree in chemistry or mechanical engineering? That will surely give them an edge in tomorrow’s competitive world.</p>
<p>I would like to reply and I hope I don’t come off as defensive or mean spirited because I truly do not want to be. I just want to explain my side of things and our experience. First of all, I can’t do math at all. I purposefully chose a major that had one math requirement, in addition to economics and statistics and that was social work. I love what I do, not the pay necessarily but I have been employed for the last 25 years in my field and find much more benefits than in my paycheck. Then there is my husband, his Dad sat him down when he was choosing majors and told him, “you don’t go into engineering I will not pay for your college.” My husband loves theatre and history. So, with that threat he majored in computer engineering. He has been quite successful financially. However, he has always been jealous of those who majored in their passions. He made a promise to himself, at the age of 18, that if he had a child interested in the arts he would always support them in their choice. He writes plays as a hobby but he would give anything to be able to do that full-time but feels as you do that he has to be in a money-making type of field. Fast forward to our DD who is now a freshman. She wanted to major in dance. He has supported her totally, knowing full well her life choice is going to be a struggle. However, she is content with living frugally and can’t imagine life without dance. You see it in every performance, every time she is on stage. This is her passion. I just feel after seeing my husband struggle that I can’t squash this dream at all. I hope it all works out for your son but allow him to pursue some things he loves. There are so many other opportunities out there.</p>
<p>Hard as it may be to believe, Accounting requires almost no math.</p>
<p>“majors without math and science are pretty much fake”.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve heard a grown up use “fake” that way before.</p>
<p>Anyway, husband has similar concerns. Fortunately (so far), we balance each other out.</p>
<p>In the perfect world, I too would prefer if my son majored in a “STEM” subject. However, you can’t force a square peg into a round hole. Further, if your son is not particularly good in a subject and doesn’t particularly like it, he will not do well in his studies, or do well on the job after he graduates.</p>