There is a growing travesty I have noticed since I have started college. These are issues which I see everyday and I fail to grasp how those that it affects are blind to it. A great thing about college is the wide diversity of classes available to students. While these classes are enjoyable, many of them are unrealistic for any job opportunity yet the university allows students everyday to graduate with these pointless majors.
I’m talking about such majors as African studies, East Asian studies, Photography, Dance, and a number of others. Now I looked into the types of fields one can get into with these types of fields and many of them bank off of other professional careers. As a journalism major with a minor in Spanish, I had to scoff at the idea that when various academic advising departments said that they could find jobs as a journalist or even work in Latin America. I know a good fellow who wants to go to grad school to become a lawyer and is majoring in philosophy. Why not just major in criminal justice then if that is the case? I have dabbled in philosophy before and can understand the various lessons learned from famous works but these classes they take won’t actually prepare him in becoming a lawyer. Learning the difference between the mind and the brain won’t help him understand the court procedures necessary that can be learned in criminal justice classes
Who are we kidding?
These types of majors point to a dead end and leads students to believe they have a possible future going with it. I have taken some of these liberal arts types of classes to fulfill certain requirements of my school yet I would never waste my time pursuing them as a major.
Everyday I see people I know who decide to major in these programs. Needless to say for the few I know who have graduated, it does not surprise me that they have returned as graduate students. Now there are some such as my philosophy friend who are going to pursue serious careers and are just going about it in intriguing ways but many others I know are returning to get a masters in the same bloody pointless career
It is for this very reason that I believe schools should be prohibited from wasting a student’s money by offering such programs as majors. Even minors I would have some issues with if not for the fact that some people need easy classes with their seriously difficult majors. I took Latin American studies last semester and let me say that even though I enjoyed the class, it was a joke. I easily passed it without difficulty. I can only imagine how much of a walk in the park it is for students who major in it. I didn’t realize college was supposed to be easy!
What ends up happening is that students who do these career paths can’t find jobs and return to grad school and in effect are getting themselves even more in debt. Attending a four year public school for undergrad costs 28% of a family yearly income. Now imagine how much more is added when returning to grad school because that East Asian studies major isn’t helping you find a job anywhere The tuition situation is problematic as is and students are willingly throwing themselves into the flame of debt.
On that note, let me just say that there is a certain fanaticism amongst college students that needs to be dealt with. Everyone who is lucky enough to attend college thinks that they can go out there and be successful. For some serious majors such as biology, physics, English, or communications, this isn’t so difficult. Others though are setting themselves for failure because they believe that they are unique and the best at what they do. Well unless I’ve seen you on America’s Best Dance crew, then that major in dance probably won’t prove very useful
If the parents are paying for tuition, then they should have some say in this as well. Now I won’t lie and say that journalism isn’t an easy career to break into seeing that the newspaper industry is changing, but it is and always will be a realistic job choice for many. When my father heard I was majoring in that, he had a fit yet I’m the one paying for college. If I fail and cannot find a job at a newspaper, it is me who has to suffer and not him. Students who are getting a free ride thanks to their parents are just wasting the money instead of going for a real education.
Our economic issues are ever growing right now and the job market is difficult. Students though need to enter college with a firm understanding and realistic future in mind. Majoring in programs such as Africana studies may be swell, but at the end of the day it will not provide you with a steady income or a job at that. We live in a capitalist society and people need to go into the workforce with a serious skill. I’d challenge any of these Africana studies major to try to write in shorthand or get an article done on deadline without any previous journalism training.
So if you going to college, don’t waste your education on something pointless
sophomore and upperclass students...most people do know what they are getting into and those that don't are just dreaming like you said but they are allowed to dream and to hope.
And please don't hate on these East Asian Studies and Philosophy and other things, they might not make sense to you but for many people who major in these things, they are quite passionate about them.
I wanted to major in sociology and I think I might still minor in it but it really is one of the most awesome things to study and it is one of those subjects where you do have to go to grad school and spend a lot of money and then search for a good job, but for people who are passionate about these things and actually do care, this is all a moot and useless point.
Many or most of my friends are racking up their own debt, I don't know many college students whose parents pay for their kids education past bachelors.
"A person doesn't die when he should but when he can." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude Fudge"It's the hard-knock life..."
"I know a good fellow who wants to go to grad school to become a lawyer and is majoring in philosophy. Why not just major in criminal justice then if that is the case?"
I'm not sure if this is the case with law school (I suspect it is, however), but at least with med school majoring in the liberal arts is actually a good approach for helping you get in, because having a well-rounded education (as well as a diverse mixture of students with different interests) will actually increase your chances of getting in. I'm in a liberal arts honors program and I know a good deal of the students in there plan to go on to med or law school after they graduate, and they are actually on the right track. Also, I think philosophy is an excellent subject to study for someone whose whole career is going to depend on his persuasive and argumentative skills.
"For some serious majors such as biology, physics, English, or communications, this isn’t so difficult."
I don't think these are actually good indicators of "serious majors", since there's not a whole lot you can do with a physics degree except study more physics. If you want to use physics while actually making money, generally you major in some kind of engineering. I believe it's the same for biology but don't quote me on that. English is notorious for being a difficult major to be employed in--while I suppose you could go into editing or writing, that's hardly lucrative or steady employment, and your other option is to be an English professor.
"I have taken some of these liberal arts types of classes to fulfill certain requirements of my school yet I would never waste my time pursuing them as a major."
I understand what you are saying about getting a marketable degree, but the liberal arts are not a waste of time. In fact a liberal arts education is the closest you can get to what renaissance humanists felt a college education should be--well-rounded, with the idea of teaching you how to think, research, and apply those skills for the benefit of society. They are nothing to scoff at, especially if you're pursuing a degree that you're passionate about (a factor you didn't seem to take into consideration), and they are a legitimate stepping stone for graduate study in more "marketable" fields (as follows your narrow definition).
Interesting topic though, and thanks for bringing it up. :)
Generally speaking, those who major in biology go into some sort of medical field. Knowing this, I would have to wonder how students who would major in one of these "pointless subjects" could expect to survive med school when they have never before studied the human anotomy before with any medical classes. Even if they did get to grad school, I'd imagine that they'd face a hard time surviving what witht heir lack of experience and all.
The lack of options available to physics majors is much larger than I think you know. Physics is needed everyday in life such as in the construction of cars, the testing of probability, and heck even baseball uses physics! The fact that someone could know and understand a difficult science such as physics is very much desired while I cannot say much for many liberal arts majors.
English majors tend to become teachers in high school or elementary and I would hope that job market wouldn't be too difficult.
While the humanists had some good intentions in mind with the liberal arts, we don't live in that day and age anymore. People are expected to get a degree in something useful which they will be able to sell in order to profit for themselves. If they don't do that, they face economic ruin and many are facing just that by going into debt with these pointless majors.
The classes should be there, just not have departments tell students they can major in them with success for the future.
"I would have to wonder how students who would major in one of these "pointless subjects" could expect to survive med school when they have never before studied the human anotomy before with any medical classes."
That's the purpose of pre-med programs--of course you'll take basic courses like anatomy and biology and chemistry and such to prepare you for the mcat and medical school. But you can still major in something else, and many often do. You don't have to major in biology to go to med school and as I mentioned before it's actually detrimental to your chances of admission.
"Physics is needed everyday in life such as in the construction of cars, the testing of probability, and heck even baseball uses physics! "
Yes, physics does describe phenomena of everyday life like gravity, electricity, motion, etc. But you don't really need to know physics to play baseball. In making cars you definitely use physics, but I don't think you need a major in it to manufacture cars. I'm not saying physics itself is useless, I'm saying that physics is about as practical as philosophy for a degree since very few employers are looking specifically for physics majors.
I agree that teachers are high in demand, but that's still not a lucrative field and you can major in ANYTHING, not just English, to teach--you just have to go through the certification program.
"The classes should be there, just not have departments tell students they can major in them with success for the future."
With classes like African Studies I'm inclined to agree with you--but that major might have applications I'm not aware of, such as diplomacy. However, I stand by my previous statement that liberal arts majors are perfectly legitimate ways to get a well-rounded education and learn to think critically and research in preparation for graduate school (med school, law school, whatever) or a variety of careers. Really, I think job experience and the fact that you have a college degree matters more to many employers than your major.
Your concerns about employment considering how rampant unemployment is today, however, are totally legitimate, and I will agree that some majors may indeed be frivolous if they are chosen simply because a student is lazy or doesn't have any goals in mind. I think success in any major comes down to individual motive and ambition.
A few qualms....
Because college isn't meant to prepare you to become a lawyer, or a doctor, or a professor. It's meant to get you an advanced education. We are not designed to specialize so much. We have varied interests, and college is a great way to explore those interests. Why spend 7-8 years studying law if you love both philosophy and law? A degree in criminal justice will do little more to prepare you for law school.
There are few careers that require only a bachelor's degree. Most of those that do are designed for entrance specifically into that career, such as nursing, engineering, teaching (though that can require a master's as well), business, etc. For a person majoring in biology or English, there isn't a whole lot out there that you can pursue without further education anyway.
That's a reflection of the professor, not of the subject as a whole. I know history can be incredibly easy, or incredibly difficult, depending on both the subject and the professor.
And how is the school to know if they are wasting the student's money? We do expect someone to go to school to specialize in one culture over another, since we already have experts in those fields. What if the plans of the student lead them to want to specialize in that career, perhaps as a professor? A bachelor's degree is often not the end-all of school.
That depends on a lot of different factors. My mom paid no more than $10K a year for my tuition, fees, room and board, throughout my entire bachelor's program. The last year, she only had to pay $1-2K. The rest I managed to get in scholarships and grants. It depends how much the family makes, how much they are willing to support their student, and how effective the student is in getting scholarships.
I suggest you learn a little bit about medical school before you go making assumptions like the one above. Biology majors do make up a large portion of the class, but there are people who major in English, philosophy, history, etc, and they manage to get into medical school, and succeed in medical school just fine.
Why? Well, first of all, all medical schools require a minimum number of science classes to get admission in the first place. Most require a year of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, a year of biology, a year of physics... all with labs, plus a few other random requirements, such as a year of English and biochemistry or something. All those who apply to medical school have to take the MCAT, which tests both verbal ability and science knowledge and reasoning. In order to get into a medical school, you have to have a relatively high GPA and MCAT. There's nothing stopping people who major in English from accomplishing these two feats.
Secondly, medical school is often compared to drinking out of a fire hose. There is SO MUCH information you have to know, and so little time to know it, that people who have a background in science really don't have that much of an advantage. I've often heard it said that an entire semester of undergraduate biochemistry is done in two lectures in medical school. Ok, so the people who took biochemistry have two days over those who did not. Big whoop. For Anatomy, I've often heard that taking it in undergrad does very little good, because it's just pure memorization. As long as you have the basic foundation, there's no reason you couldn't succeed.
As a biology major, there were very few options available to me graduating from college. I could go become a teacher (which I didn't want to do), I could go to medical school (which I was rejected from, since I didn't have enough clinical experience), or I could try to go for some other sort of training, such as clinicals to be a med tech, becoming some other tech, going back to become a nurse, or settling for minimal training as a CNA, EMT, phlebotomist, etc. Or, I could work in a biotech firm, maybe. Based on the wide range of careers open to me without further education, I'd say biology is a pretty pointless major as well.
~C
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interesting comments. Though about the cultural studies, the person intending to major in that may have thoughts about what to do.
People have a good idea of what they are getting into. Your major title really doesn't give you what job you are going to have, because it's not directly stated or implied. Some people have jobs that have nothing to do with thier major..
Major in something you like, and something will come to you.
Most of what I'd say has been said. What I have left to say is "photography?" :huh:
I don't even get where that came from.
"Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
Homer Simpson
A lot of the kids that are going to college would probably better served by entering the blue collar workforce or going to technical schools.
Colleges are businesses and they make money by having lots of students.
They offer all these worthless degrees because they need to have dumb downed programs for the kids who shouldn't be in college in the first place.
that is sooo true. and sad
As surprising as this is, liberal arts majors like Dance and Africana Studies rarely get jobs in their fields. In fact, most people, outside of those engineers, doctors, and lawyers (in other words, people who need master's degrees and special training for their career) get jobs that have nothing to do with their majors.
Employers do not hire people based on what their major was. They hire them based on their skills and previous experience. I'd bet that if you walked into, say the NYT headquarters, and asked each person working in there what their major was, they vast majority would not say journalism.
This is the beauty and value of a liberal arts major: it is flexible, and opens a wide array of opportunities for those who have them.
I think maybe you just don't understand the point of academia. Some people learn stuff just to know stuff, so they can teach it to other people or create new knowledge about it by studying it or make new arguments or theories. That's their passion. And it can be pretty lucrative or at least prestigious. Professorships, book deals, government positions as advisers or policy makers, academic prizes, published works, they can all come from studying some "impractical" field. Even African Studies.
But some of the other commenters are right, that it doesn't always matter what you studied in college, sometimes it only matters that you received a degree.
And people don't just go to graduate school because they have no job waiting for them. Graduate school isn't really sitting around in more classes, most of it is devoted to research and writing dissertations about a specialized subject from your field.
Personally, I'd like a world where knowledge is valued for knowledge's sake, where its cool to be an expert on crazy things. A certain level of understanding about people or the world can be gained from history or cultural studies that just aren't covered in "practical" fields like the hard sciences.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
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I wish there were more idealists like you out there. <3 I may not have listed love of knowledge as a reason to major in more obscure things, but that's only because I didn't think many people would consider it a good argument. Especially in the current job market.
~ you're not dead yet so live like you could be.~