What are the most popular majors? Not gender or ethnic studies.

[jsd]

Which is the boogeyman I mentioned a few posts back

[Joeman200]

I suspect a higher proportion of those with degrees in things like gender studies are talking about them as opposed to just quietly using them.  I mean, really, how many careers are there that rely on a gender studies degree that aren't rooted in talking about the subject?

There don't need to be many jobs because hardly anyone has these degrees. A gender studies degree would be applicable to work dealing with human trafficking victims, victims of domestic violence, and other governmental or non-profit work mostly involving women's issues or even transgender issues.

Right.  But I think some people think there are more people with these degrees than there are because, relatively speaking, they make a lot of noise (so to speak).  The average Joe probably simply doesn't much notice the business degree that his boss or neighbor has, even though they're more common.  (Perhaps even in part because they're more common?)

As an average Joe, I agree.

work dealing with human trafficking victims, victims of domestic violence, and other governmental or non-profit work

I like that presumably nobody would deny the importance of this type of work you mention, but that people studying for this type of work are seen as some drain on the education system or doomed to taco bell jobs or whatever other judgmental thing people can come up with for the small number for folks who chose a major someone else doesn't like.

It seems like a silly thing to care so much about, what this less than 1% of folks chose to study.

Yes, don't think anyone would deny the importance of that type of work.  Personally, I'd respect anyone that was willing to serve others in that way, just as I respect law enforcement/firefighters/EMTs.


However, when it comes to the degree...  I would never advice anyone to spend 100K+ and go into debt to earn such a low income (and a high percentage of being unemployed).



Now that's salaries after 5 years.    I'd be interested to also see employment rate but I couldn't find any good statistics.  (Not only for gender studies, but I'd love to see it for liberal arts, criminal justice, etc...)

[jsd]

and those salaries are maybe why it's not even 1% of students choosing those majors, and why this is really a non-issue?

[a2jc4life]

The only people I know with gender studies degrees talk about them plenty and aren't using them for work in human trafficking or something. (Although, to be fair, I could know other people with majors in this field that I don't know majored in it because they DON'T talk about it.) Mostly, they've turned around and become gender studies professors.

That would be my own issue with the degree, if I had an issue -- that it largely just exists to be self-perpetuating.

I think a lot of people who do the work previously mentioned have degrees in things like social work, psychology, or political science (depending on which specific work), or in something more general like business, potentially with other, non-degree certifications like a counseling certificate.

[sanantone]

and those salaries are maybe why it's not even 1% of students choosing those majors, and why this is really a non-issue?

And, going $100k into debt for an undergraduate degree is not common. I believe less than 3% of college graduates have that much debt. People see that number in a couple of news articles about individuals and start throwing it around as if it happens all the time. You can't even borrow that much money from the federal government for an undergraduate degree, so you or your cosigners would need the credit and income to be approved by a private lender.

[Joeman200]

You're right, I shouldn't have said into debt. Still, a private college I looked into before was $31,000 a year. What's the average state school? 10K a year? Some degrees might not be worth the investment.