The Federal Reserve includes a similar question on their annual survey of economic well being. The survey has a far larger sample size than the ZipRecruiter survey and includes a wider range of ages – not just college seniors and new grads, but also adults who have been working for many years. The survey asks:
If you could go back and make decisions regarding your … degree again, would you have done each of these things:
a. Chosen a different field of study
b. Attended a different school
c. Not attended college or completed less education
d. Completed more education
.
Percent that said they would have chosen a different field of study is below.
I don’t know if this is typical but my Nextdoor group has been posting all kinds of last minute job openings and a parent complaining that her child’s internships was cancelled last minute was sent a number of leads.
Just because a person might choose a different field of study doesn’t mean that the first one they chose served them badly. But maybe they listened to outside voices too much in selecting their major and wished they had listened to their hearts more. Or maybe they’d been indecisive in college and then simply chose a major that would be easiest for them to complete the requirements for in order to graduate on-time, even if it wasn’t their area of greatest interest. Or maybe they had an idea about what a particular profession would be like and chose the major that aligned with the career (say, social work or education) and then once they were in the job realized that it wasn’t for them and wished they had chosen a major they actually found more interesting.
Additionally, there is no indication that the person would have switched fields of study to something more “lucrative.”
I think the Note is important and should be emphasized:
I don’t think anybody on this board is thinking about people who only complete a certificate, technical, or associate degree when referencing these fields. For instance, if someone got anything less than a Bachelor’s (and really an MSW would be better) and hoped to go into social work, they might find that their professional opportunities would be far more limited than they might hope. If someone got less than a Bachelor’s in English and hoped to work as an editor at a book publisher, they would probably be filled with disappointment. Education or law? Ditto. Thus, I think the inclusion of degrees/certificates that are lower than a Bachelor’s makes the conclusions drawn about the field of study even more suspect for how people are likely to use the data in this thread.
How does this help the seniors graduating in a few weeks?
I wish the grinding about “why doesn’t everyone just major in engineering” would include helpful suggestions for the kids who did NOT major in engineering. And who are about to launch into the adult world….
Many frequent posters on CC are interested in the topics of college admissions and outcomes of college graduates and take an above average interest in learning more about them, and learn even more by being on CC () . But for people who aren’t as in the weeds as many of us, I think you’re right that the term “underemployment” is not nearly as familiar.
I think that most folks think about underemployed folks as their local baristas with a college degree, but they don’t necessarily use the term “underemployed.” And most general media talk about unemployment rates and give short shrift (if any) to the numbers of underemployed Americans.
So I agree that it’s important to be cognizant about the potential for unemployment and underemployment from college. I think there are a variety of factors at play.
What is the quality of the degree? Was there sufficient rigor in the coursework to give students the expected skillset of a college graduate in the field?
Would the individual prefer to be employed in a field they are less interested in that requires a college degree or would they prefer to be in a field they are more interested in but that does not require a degree? Oftentimes college graduates will have a choice, and the choice is a personal one.
Or the third option- the entry level role does not require a college degree, but advancement DOES require the degree. So the “rational actor” interested in those fields will be underemployed initially.
There are CEO’s for hotel chains who started out as reservation agents, food service workers, etc. You don’t need a college degree or even a HS diploma for many of these roles. But the folks in those roles without a college degree won’t get tapped for the training programs, leadership development seminars, etc. which signal to management “high potential employee”. Ditto for retail, cruise lines, car rental, airlines.
I started my “professional career” learning to run a cash register at a large department store chain. EVERYONE started on the selling floor. The Harvard grads along with the HS diploma folks. But the college grads were on a fast track to management while the HS diploma folks could advance to Operations Lead (which was a higher paid job usually given to the Union reps) after about 5 years.
So it’s misleading to look at underemployment as its own category without a ton of clarification. In some industries, everyone starts at the bottom. Even though the college grads may be promoted three or four times within the first three years, and into jobs which most definitely require a college degree.
I think there is value to a college education even if you end up in a job that doesn’t technically require one. The three jobs/fields D22 is most likely to end up in, at least for the short term, don’t technically need a college degree (she is not interested in a desk job at all, and wants to be in the arts) but I still think her college years were invaluable to her in terms of personal growth, opening up of ideas and worlds, and her growth as an artist. Now she may end up doing something completely different in 5-10 years and that’s fine too but I don’t think her college years were wasted because she’s not directly using her degree in her first job (or two).
Sometimes, it is not by choice, in that their intended career path ends before it begins when they are unsuccessful at getting an entry-level job in that career path (more common during economic or industry downturns).
You replied to my post, so I assume this was directed to me. This thread discusses many different aspects of job prospects for college grads besides just helping seniors who are graduating in a few weeks. One of those thread discussions is major selection.
If anyone in this thread said, “why doesn’t everyone just major in engineering” or similar, I haven’t seen it. My comment was instead, “Students should consider influence on future job/career prospects when choosing a major, as well as personal interest in that major/field/career.”
Regarding recent grads, a good portion of recent grads attend or consider attending graduate school. A similar commentary applies to graduate school, such as a recent grad considering whether it is desirable to take a $40k loan for a grad/professional degree or what field to pursue in grad/professional school.
Sure, but the real issue is the financial cost of earning a college degree. Typically, this involves 4 years of lost income and paying tuition, fees, room & board that has increased at a rate far greater than the rate of inflation. This is why most are concerned about the ROI in earning a college degree. And this is compounded if the degree is not relevant to one’s job.
? A poli sci major who gets a job at one of the big consulting firms doesn’t have a degree “relevant” to the job. These firms hire history majors and physics majors and geology majors and econ majors. The degree doesn’t matter.
Not sure I understand your point. Education majors gets jobs as teachers- yup, we all get that. But Asian Studies majors get jobs in banking, consumer products, insurance… so are you claiming that the ROI of the Asian Studies major earning low six figures is inferior to the ROI of the new teacher earning $50K who has to now pay for grad school to get a Master’s in order to stay in their current district?
Analytical thinking is transferable to a varying degree to various jobs. However,a degree is Art History is unlikely to be of much value to an electrician.
regardless what they want to study in college, I tell all my students that reading writing and math are nonnegotiable must-have skills. That poli sci student did not take Cal BC in high school but did excel in AP Stats and continued with more stats courses in college. Another very STEM strong math student had to use his writing and presentation skills to land an internship.
4 years ago a college junior could land a high-pay fintech internship and return offer by demonstrating superb technical skills with almost nothing else (I happen to know two of them); the several students I know who have landed coding (AI, ML, Data analysis) internships for this upcoming summer all had to demonstrate strong presentation and group communication skills on top of passing some coding assessments.
Similarly, our “handyman” lives in our neighborhood and was previously the head of operations at Gatwick Airport in London his entire career. Lovely man, very electrically and mechanically inclined and is the “other husband” to every senior woman where I live - apologizes when he under quotes his jobs. We got lucky!
) . But for people who aren’t as in the weeds as many of us, I think you’re right that the term “underemployment” is not nearly as familiar.