Article out today on how AI companies are hiring philosophy majors.
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Ha! The article is behind a paywall for me, but on The Fight for Humanities: How are Schools Responding? thread, I ended my post with:
ETA: And let’s not get started on the ethical implications of this beast. Calling all philosophy majors…
I believe AI will attract a broader range of skillsets than past STEM-heavy technologies. This is encouraging.
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Decades ago Bill Gates credited the anthropologists and the sociologists he hired for the success of the Office Suite products. He said they understood group dynamics, hierarchical organizations, tribal status, etc. better than the folks who did the actual product design… and were able to incorporate the principles which made the products intuitive, shareable, and easy to customize. A key piece of learning (which we now take for granted) is the mind-shift- in the old days, secretaries and clerks had keyboards on their desks (aka typewriters.) Microsoft needed to change that so that having a keyboard was a sign of status. Apple has famously taken that to its extreme– but it started with Office.
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- A college major in a subject like finance or computer science is often touted as the ticket to a well-paying position in good times and bad, and that is mostly true.
- But when it comes to employment prospects, majors in nutrition, art history and philosophy all outperform some STEM-based counterparts, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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Well I’ll have to let my art history major daughter know! And there go all my jokes about how she (won’t) be supporting me in my old age 
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Here is the FRB of NY report (2024 data) that the CNBC page references, with a handy table:
You can sort by unemployment rate, underemployment rate (share of graduates working in jobs that typically do not require a college degree), median early career pay, and median mid career pay.
From the table, for majors named above and some others:
| Major | Unemployment rate | Underemployment rate | Median early career pay | Median mid career pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrition services | 4.5% | 48.3% | $50k | $70k |
| Art history | 6.7% | 45.3% | $45k | $91k |
| Philosophy | 5.1% | 47.1% | $52k | $80k |
| Finance | 2.8% | 27.8% | $70k | $112k |
| Biology | 4.3% | 51.1% | $45k | $83k |
| Physics | 6.6% | 29.1% | $67k | $105k |
| Computer science | 7.0% | 19.1% | $87k | $120k |
| Computer engineering | 7.8% | 15.8% | $90k | $131k |
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This is an intentionally misleading subject line, likely in an attempt to get clicks. The table includes unemployment rate, underemployment rate, and earnings; but title and quoted summary seems to “define” outperforming as only having a lower unemployment rate. “Underemployment” was defined as employed in jobs that do not typically require a college degree. For example, if a student couldn’t find work in desired field, so took job minimum wage job working in clothing retail, that would be treated as an equivalent outcome to a getting a 6-figure job working in a field aligned with desired career goals.
And even with all those qualifications, the article title doesn’t hold true in the linked source information. The article is probably using an older version of the table. In the most recent available table Finance had a lower unemployment rate that Art History, as well as a lower rate of underemployment and higher salary. There was no metric for which “art history beats finance”. Specific stats are below. The majors with the lowest rate of unemployment + underemployment in table were as follows. I also listed early career earnings. In short, there are no big deviations from conventional wisdom and nothing that would generate a lot of clicks, had they not added the misleading subject title and summary.
Lowest Unemployed or Underemployed
1 . Nursing – 15% (2% unemployed), $70k
2. Special/Elementary Education – 17% (1% unemployed), $45k
3. Aerospace Engineering – 17% (2% unemployed), $85k
4. Civil Engineering – 18% (2% unemployed), $75k
5. Construction – 20% (2% unemployed), $75k
6. Chemical Engineering – 23% (5% unemployed), $85k
…
&. Finance – 30% (3% unemployed), $70k
Highest Unemployed or Underemployed
1 . Performing Arts – 71% (7% unemployed), $44k
2. Criminal Justice – 70% (4% unemployed), $50k
3. Fine Arts – 67% (8% unemployed), $45k
4. Anthropology – 63% (8% unemployed), $45k
5. Leisure and Hospitality – 61% (3% unemployed), $45k
6. Agriculture – 59% (1% unemployed), $56k
7. Liberal Arts – 58% (4% unemployed), $45k
…
&. Art History – 52% (7% unemployed), $45k
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Would freelance / self-employed artists be considered unemployed or underemployed? Would an artist who supports themselves selling art, or a musician who gives lessons and plays gigs, be considered to be properly employed in their profession? Just curious how this is classified.
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Could be depending on whether they actually get work:
- Have work as an artist or other job requiring college degree → neither.
- Have only non-art work that does not require a college degree → underemployed.
- Not able to get any work → unemployed.
It’s based on O*NET survey. If most persons in the survey with that job title say their job does not need a college degree, the table groups that job title as does not need a college degree. These job titles don’t separate self-employed from professionally employed. For example, most survey respondents with the job title “craft artist” said their position does not need a college degree; but most with the job title “graphic designer” said their position does need a college degree.
Call me cynical but that would require the people running these companies and heading up the research to care at all about the ethical implications of their products rather than just the bottom line.
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Additionally another point of caution is that the article just references “college graduates” without defining the term. The figures provided are inclusive of those holding graduate degrees (as seen in the far right column) and are not necessarily representative of the outcomes for those with just an undergraduate degree. Unfortunately the data doesn’t provide that level of detail.
Some of the reported fields with the lowest unemployment rates also have some of the highest graduate degree rates.
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I think we can nitpick the data all we want but the point remains you can probably get a job with most degrees and there is no sure bet so major in what interests you. I know that’s not a popular point of view on this thread but it fits my world view and seems supported by these data.
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Along the same lines, you could say that you can probably get a job without a college degree, so don’t attend college, if it doesn’t interest you. The important distinction is that attending college can increase odds of getting a quality job in your desired field and can support your desired long term career path. It’s a similar idea for college major. Students should consider influence on future job/career prospects when choosing a major, as well as personal interest in that major/field/career.
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Most regretted degrees by major due to low pay and lack of jobs:
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Once again majors in the arts looking pretty good! 
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But that suggests that 18 year olds know what they want to do. Many don’t and among those that “think” they do, quite a few change their minds (just look at the number of kids who are “pre-med” vs. the number that actually end up applying to med school). Moreover, the job landscape is constantly changing - never more so than now.
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It’s true that students can and do change their mind, but that doesn’t negate the importance of considering employment outlook in addition to personal interest when deciding on a major or career path. This applies both to a first decision and a later decision after changing mind.
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Something that changed how I think about this: underemployment rates by major. Not unemployment, but underemployment. Grads working jobs that don’t require a degree at all. Some majors are north of 50-60%. Others are under 20%. The spread is massive and nobody talks about it
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This.
As an example, our “handyman” has an EE degree from Ga Tech. He graduated, got a job in his field, and hated it. Prefers to work with his hands, make his own schedule and play tennis. He has rebuilt many things in our house. This is the career choice he had made and is very happy and content. Maybe the chart would consider him “underemployed” based on his degree, but he is happy and quality of life is important.
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