My College Pack

4 Comments on “Why are college degrees that have a low success rate in finding a job in that Field so popular?”

1. 
   TR
   April 17th, 2010 at 11:30 am

   Because students are urged to choose a major that interests them, rather than being urged to get career counseling and consider demand and salary projections before deciding.

   Then there are those majors that have the lure of romance to them, like acting. (I was a theatre major, but focused on academics so I could teach. Yeah, I found a steady job…). As my former theatre professor used to say, she’d counsel potential students: “There are plenty of good jobs in technical theatre; learn to do lighting or costuming or make-up and you’ll get a job, no problem. If you go for acting, you’ve got a 1 in 10 chance of making it. And so what do you want to concentrate on?” And they’d answer “acting”.

   Sometimes it takes failure to convince someone to change direction.

2. 
   Bill
   April 17th, 2010 at 11:55 am

   Because these days having a degree is like HS was 30 years ago. You really need post grad quals. To get into those a degree in anything is good enough. Women studies for example does teach you how to think – which is good background for any future studies.

   Thanks
   Bill

3. 
   neniaf
   April 17th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

   For one thing, I know of very few schools where that is a terribly popular degree. Secondly, the point of college is not to get a job from it, it is to become an educated person so that you would be an asset to an employer. A person who is an excellent student in Women’s Studies is every bit as educated as someone with a degree in a career-oriented field, and there is no evidence that they have any less of a shot at finding a job than does the accountant or the engineer. Finally, people study certain subject matters because they interest them, regardless of practicality. Here, for example, film is a popular subject matter. Hundreds of people every year clamor to get into courses which would prepare them for careers as film directors, although it is likely that almost NONE of them will find success in that field.

4. 
   CoachT
   April 17th, 2010 at 1:19 pm

   and… not everyone goes to college in order to find a job. Many of us go to college for the love of learning and academic curiosity.

   Some people major in subjects that qualify them for advanced study and have no intention of stopping at the bachelor’s degree. Women’s Studies might be one such field.

   Then too, there are the dreamers who aspire to artistic careers that are very hard to achieve — while most people don’t make it as actors, musicians, painters, etc… some do, and those students are hoping that they are among those who do.

   People go to college for all sorts of reasons – finding a job is only one of many possible reasons. Some people don’t have to work for a living and others create their own job. ☺