College students often take in to consideration many different reasons for choosing their major. Making a major selection based on a combination of factors is expected and is a good idea. On the other hand, choosing a college major based solely on one criteria can lead to frustration and disappointment in the long run. Selecting a major based on high salary is a common decision students make, instead of factoring their skills and interest. It’s difficult to succeed in a field if the student doesn’t have any or little interest in the subject matter and may lead to struggling to get solid grades in the required courses. Students today have to make the important decision of what major to pursue, and they need to consider it carefully by taking
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Understanding what the job market looks like, the unemployment rate, and earnings can assist college students with making the right decision as far as a major selection. Anthony Carnevale and Ban Cheah provides analyses of college majors, unemployment, and earnings over the Great Recession using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey from 2009 to 2012 in their article, From Hard Times to Better Times: College Majors, Unemployment, and Earnings. The authors explain that, “Unemployment rates for college graduates are still high but are coming down.” They projected that a full recovery in employment of college graduates may be as far as 2017; due to the retirement of baby boomers, and 55 million job openings. However, unemployment among health majors, has remain low. Another interesting finding is that graduate degree holders who majored in Law and Public Policy; unemployment is still rising, which are big salary fields. Carnevale and Cheah writes “Among experienced workers with Bachelor’s degrees, unemployment rates for most majors hovered between 5 percent and 6 percent, though were notable exceptions. Hardest hits were: The Arts (6.7%), Architecture (7.3%), Psychology, and Social Work (6.1%).” Pursuing a college degree is …show more content…
Cecilia Gaposchkin is an associate professor and an assistant dean of faculty for pre-major advising at Dartmouth. In Gaposchkin article The Chronicle of Higher Education: If Students Are Smart, They’ll Major in What They Love, she explains that the content of a major is not as valuable as the information and the ability to think to employers. Gaposchkin makes a point that Company Representatives who recruits at Dartmouth college consistently say they don’t really care about an applicant’s major, they are more interested in their ability to talk about what they have learned. She writes “By releasing students from the pressure of the practical major and allowing them to study what they are sincerely interested in, we allow them to become smarter, more creative, and more-able. That is what potential employer value.” A student need to focus on exploring different colleges programs with the help of an academic counselor, making connections between their own personal values and those of their future
Understanding what the job market looks like, the unemployment rate, and earnings can assist college students with making the right decision as far as a major selection. Anthony Carnevale and Ban Cheah provides analyses of college majors, unemployment, and earnings over the Great Recession using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey from 2009 to 2012 in their article, From Hard Times to Better Times: College Majors, Unemployment, and Earnings. The authors explain that, “Unemployment rates for college graduates are still high but are coming down.” They projected that a full recovery in employment of college graduates may be as far as 2017; due to the retirement of baby boomers, and 55 million job openings. However, unemployment among health majors, has remain low. Another interesting finding is that graduate degree holders who majored in Law and Public Policy; unemployment is still rising, which are big salary fields. Carnevale and Cheah writes “Among experienced workers with Bachelor’s degrees, unemployment rates for most majors hovered between 5 percent and 6 percent, though were notable exceptions. Hardest hits were: The Arts (6.7%), Architecture (7.3%), Psychology, and Social Work (6.1%).” Pursuing a college degree is …show more content…
Cecilia Gaposchkin is an associate professor and an assistant dean of faculty for pre-major advising at Dartmouth. In Gaposchkin article The Chronicle of Higher Education: If Students Are Smart, They’ll Major in What They Love, she explains that the content of a major is not as valuable as the information and the ability to think to employers. Gaposchkin makes a point that Company Representatives who recruits at Dartmouth college consistently say they don’t really care about an applicant’s major, they are more interested in their ability to talk about what they have learned. She writes “By releasing students from the pressure of the practical major and allowing them to study what they are sincerely interested in, we allow them to become smarter, more creative, and more-able. That is what potential employer value.” A student need to focus on exploring different colleges programs with the help of an academic counselor, making connections between their own personal values and those of their future