Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
The Daily Beast, in a moment of typically self-congratulatory snark, has issued a list of 13 college majors that should be avoided as "useless", complete with statistical backing. The winners:
- Fine Arts
- Drama and Theater Arts
- Film, Video, and Photographic Arts
- Commercial Art and Graphic Design
- Architecture
- Philosophy and Religious Studies
- English Literature and Language
- Journalism
- Anthropology and Archeology
- Hospitality Management
- Music
- History
- Political Science and Government
Yes, good heavens, why would anyone study history or religion when they could be earning a degree in peace studies or sustainability?
Look, some of these critiques are fair. Getting a journalism degree is about the worst preparation possible to be a working journalist (ditto education degrees for teachers, which manage to avoid the list because, despite all their other failings, they do at least usually translate into a job). Likewise, in many cases a degree in the arts has less cash value than actually working in the arts for the same amount of time would.
When it comes to the liberal arts, however, I think the folks at the Daily Beast get a little ahead of themselves. No, English lit, political science, and philosophy aren't the right courses of study for people who are looking to spend four years in college, punch a ticket, and instantly be as employable as possible (those people should probably look at business degrees).
But the traditional conception of a liberal arts education has been to prepare individuals for their professional lives by giving them a holistic understanding of the world they inhabit, not developing a narrow, industry-specific skill set. Now, admittedly, that line of reasoning is not going to sway a lot of potential employers, which is why liberal arts students owe themselves the honesty of at least acknowledging that a professional degree is often going to be a necessary addition to their bachelor's. But "useless"? Let's save that designation for majors like Chicano studies and critical theory.
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Comments:
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
The thing is in today's world if you're going to cough up that much money to go to college, which is an investment, it really is best to go into an industry-specific skill set. For instance, anything with the word "Studies" after a politically correct term for a special-interest minority group puts you right on the career path towards working for the federal government.
Nov '10
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Getting a journalism degree is about the worst preparation possible to be a working journalist (ditto education degrees for teachers, which manage to avoid the list because, despite all their other failings, they do at least usually translate into a job)
I earned a degree in English and then a teaching credential (which is how the ed prep works in California). The ed instruction classes were invaluable. They set one up to be an effective teacher from the first day of school. I went to a small private college, so maybe my experience was different from the norm.
But the traditional conception of a liberal arts education has been to prepare individuals for their professional lives by giving them a holistic understanding of the world they inhabit, not developing a narrow, industry-specific skill set.
Well said.
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Depends on your ambitions. As I said, if you want in and out as quickly as possible -- and your sole goal is increasing your value on the market -- a narrowly-tailored degree makes sense. If your professional accreditation is likely going to require graduate work (Law, MBA, teaching, etc.) -- or if the nature of work makes your specific major immaterial -- you have a little more freedom to choose your undergraduate field based purely on interest. And if you want the wonderful experience of a true liberal arts education without the expenditures involved in getting a degree -- well, I'd recommend getting a catalog from the Teaching Company.
Ethan Safron
The thing is in today's world if you're going to cough up that much money to go to college, which is an investment, it really is best to go into an industry-specific skill set.
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
The difference is that you did it the right way. My criticism of education degrees, like my criticism of journalism degrees, stems from the fact that they teach you a craft rather than a comprehensive body of knowledge, when the latter is more important than the former for both fields. Thus I think they're inadequate as stand-alone majors.
For instance, someone who wants to write about markets should get an economics degree rather than a journalism degree. It's much easier to learn the craft on the job than to pick up economics on the fly. Thus, your experience -- English degree, followed by teaching credential -- represents the ideal. What I'd be critical of is someone who only got an education degree, then turned around and taught English.
sawatdeeka:
I earned a degree in English and then a teaching credential (which is how the ed prep works in California). The ed instruction classes were invaluable. They set one up to be an effective teacher from the first day of school. I went to a small private college, so maybe my experience was different from the norm.
Nov '10
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Makes sense. I'm most familiar with the model where if you want to teach elementary, you begin with a liberal studies degree. For high school, you major in the specialty you want to teach before going through the credentialing program. That's why degrees in history and English never seemed useless to me; I had thought people who earned those ended up teaching.
Aug '10
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
There is nothing wrong with a liberal arts degree. It's good to have an educated citizenry for many reasons, and that includes the liberal and fine arts.
But what we've forgotten is that these degrees are a luxury. They are for people who can afford it and who have a good chance of getting one of those white collar jobs where the broad base of knowledge becomes handy.
These degrees have traditionally been attained by the children of upper-middle class parents who can afford the luxury of allowing their children to study non-job specific subjects.
Today, we're telling kids that all of them deserve that luxury whether or not they or their parents can afford it. We entice them with cheap loans that have impossibly easy conditions and long delays before the pain of repayment has to be felt. The colleges respond to the flood of money by raising tuition, dumbing down the curriculum, and gilding the facilities.
As a result, millions of students become saddled with debt they cannot afford, and trapped in the wrong job because they no longer have time to learn something else.
Apr '12
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Each degree depends on how you take it and use it as a platform to develop a career. Many heads of sales departments have drama as a major and you can see how the ability to tell a story can convince a buyer to say yes. The issue is that students are thinking if they get the architect degree they will be wearing black turtle necks building the next MOMA when they will be designing a washroom for an office.
Apr '12
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Canadian Business magazine just listed the 100 top paying jobs and near the top was Architect. Petroleum engineer was the top in case you are interested. If you take a look at the list, what does it say about the American economy? Architects are not needed as you are not building big projects?
Aug '11
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
I think there is a higher-ed bubble. I think by 2020 we will see a very sharp decline in the traditional four year style college attendance, and a rise in the acceptance of some other form of credentialing. If there really is a higher-ed bubble, and if you're going to get one degree, in an effort to get a job right out of college, I'd say the list is a somewhat reasonable one. I'd remove architecture from the list, even if the previous qualifications don't hold (I'm not an architect).
If you think we'll still be funding college education to the same degree we are now, why not do what you love? There will be public money to teach your degree somewhere. Make your students buy your book (it's the class text). In that case, I don't agree with the list.
This says nothing as to whether buying books and reading about these things is desireable, or whether the skills learned in the classes can be applied to a job in some manner.
Apr '12
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
So, there's this fellow here in the Detroit area who very purposefully got his undergrad degree in Drama (#2 on the list). Of course, his graduate degree is in law, and while famous as a lawyer, I daresay he uses the drama more than the law. His name is Geoff Feiger.
May '10
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Well, that's just great. I started out at #11 on their list and then moved up and graduated with a #6. :-\
Jan '11
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
As a Chicano with a Liberal Arts degree I am offended at my complete agreement with this post.
Feb '12
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
What if instead of calling these degrees "useless" we called them what they truly are -- bad investments.
I have a history degree. I loved it. It's a course of study that can really teach you a lot, and I'm a walking encyclopedia of historical trivia. (One of my World of Warcraft friends has taken to playing the "More You Know" jingle after I talk in voice chat.)
It cost me $30,000. I have not obtained one job that used that information or that required that credential as necessary for employment. Moreover, the loans I took out to pay for it are not contingent on obtaining employment; they still have to be repaid. When your ROI is negative infinity, it's fair to call that a bad investment.
I'm all for folks studying the liberal arts. But a college degree in them isn't an investment, it's a luxury good. (And let's not ignore the fact that one can study them outside of the college environment.)
Aug '10
Re: Daily Beast Chooses "Most Useless College Majors"
Commercial Art and Graphic Design is a useless degree?
In a world that is DOMINATED by visual media?
How does that make sense?