To STEM OR NOT TO STEM?

Should you major in STEM?

Yes! Absolutely! 100%! If you love STEM and can imagine yourself spending your life doing something STEM-related, then definitely choose a STEM major.

But I see a lot of people go into STEM even though their interests and talents align in a different direction, because they’re afraid that without STEM they’ll never get a job. The best writer in my daughter’s class applied to colleges as a chemistry major, a subject she had little interest in and no passion for. A very artistic student of mine went into architecture even though he hated math because well, it was ‘almost art’ but still STEM.

I get it, I really do.  College is a ton of time and even more money, and you don’t want to graduate with no prospects. For decades now, many loud voices have echoed each other, insisting that the only way to get a job is to have technical skills, and those technical skills only come with STEM degrees – preferably engineering or computers.  

And everyone’s heard the derisive ‘What are you going to do with that?’ about an English/History/Sociology/French degree. And the assumption that humanities degree holders are graduating with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and the only place that will hire them is Starbucks, if they’re lucky.

Is this true?  Is it true for you? 

To answer the first question, we can turn to statistics – statistics that show that STEM students make more money right after college but that social science and humanities students catch up by midlife; statistics that show that most STEM students actually don’t go into STEM fields; statistics that show employers want to hire people who can think critically and write clearly; statistics that show more and more students are majoring in STEM and more and more liberal arts departments are shrinking or closing down. 

Some of those statistics directly contradict each other; more importantly, none of them can answer the second, more important question: Will you be able to get a job if you don’t major in STEM?

Look at it another way: Does it make sense to spend four years of college studying something you’re not interested in and (probably) not that good at, just so you can get a job for the rest of your life doing something you’re not interested in and (probably) not good at?

My advice? If your talents lie in an arts and humanities field, go to a college or university that values that field, that is putting money into and hiring new faculty in that department. When researching a college, ask what efforts career services puts into getting internships and research positions for humanities and social science majors. What internships, scholarships, research positions are current students taking advantage of right now? 

In college, participate in clubs and activities that will help you produce written work and develop communication skills.  Look for internship opportunities in different fields – industry, non-profit, government, creative – not just to put on your resume, but to give yourself ideas about what direction you want to go in. Think outside the box for an entrepreneurial future.  Or think inside the box, and collect scholarships and awards that will serve as credentials. Or decide on a niche field you want to go into – polling, for example, or public gardens or popcorn or anything really – and build up a portfolio of writing and analysis on that field.

Be realistic and remember, whether we like it or not, we live in a hypercapitalist society. For example, if you major in art history, you most likely are not going to walk out of college and into a job as a museum curator.  But if you pair it with an interest in real estate or interior design (shown through coursework, internships, etc), you might be able to work with a company that specializes in historical renovations. Or a dual major with public policy and you might get hired to work on community projects. Figure out what it is you like about art history and what you might be happy doing, and you will be able to make a career out of the things you love.