<p>@PurpleTitan, I’m biased but I think being able to draw sensible conclusions from data and make decisions under uncertainty – which is what statistics is about when taught properly, which it usually isn’t – are among the most important things people can learn in college both for work and for life (e.g., how to interpret the latest study on the effects of eating kale or peaches or the benefits of walking one mile a day versus triathaloning on longevity. </p>
<p>@dustypig, I agree there are cobweb cycles in fields like engineering (this has happened before, don’t know what is happening in law as I suspect per @PurpleTitan that some of that is structural) and is no doubt happening in CS. However, our country is so bad at teaching math that it will take a while for supply to catch up. Our teachers for the most part are pretty math illiterate (or innumerate per Paulos) as are our politicians (who may also require classes in logic, but who’s quibbling). It seems pretty fashionable or at least pretty socially acceptable in the US to say that you can’t do math or never understood it or don’t like it – a lot more so than saying you can’t read or don’t understand literature or poetry. I saw the incoming class for a prestigious university’s admits for masters programs in statistics and data science. Roughly 15 males and 15 females. The males were 1/3 Caucasian (domestic and international), 1/3 Indian, and 1/3 Asian (largely Chinese and largely Chinese nationals). The 15 females were 100% Chinese (half Chinese-American and have Chinese nationals). This suggests our culture discourages encourages females (other than those with Chinese cultural overlay) to go into math-related areas, which at the moment are relatively lucrative areas. I think it will take quite a while to shift the culture. I suspect that @PurpleTitan is correct that we have so many more psychology and sociology and gender studies etc. majors than majors in math-y fields that it will take a long time for the boat to change directions in a meaningful way. Incidentally, please don’t get mad at me for devaluing these majors – I am not but am just commenting that the path to solving OP’s problem of earning a comfortable living to support a family is much more likely done in math-y fields.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle, I think you are agreeing with me. I said the field that you choose is likely to matter a lot more than the school in terms of income. Some but not all STEM fields are currently winners.</p>