Some helicopter parents fret about the college major their children pick, and one local news channel has offered a guide on how to avoid a poverty-inducing major.
After offering an anecdote of a student who ended up working at a grocery store and not utilizing his anthropology degree, KLFY in Lafayette, Louisiana gave tips on how to nudge a child in the right direction.
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Pulling a list from Forbes on the worst-paid college majors, a cautionary tale is offered. The top 10, by this logic, to avoid are:
- Anthropology and archeology
- Film, video, and photographic arts
- Fine arts
- Philosophy and religious studies
- Liberal arts
- Music
- Physical fitness and parks recreation
- Commercial art and graphic design
- History
- English language and literature
Then, 10 tips from a “career coordinator” at Polk State College are given for parents on how to discuss college and goals with their children. While well-meaning, the article comes off as dismissive of student desires. Pushing prospective students into other majors could have negative unintended consequences as well.
Parents will be naturally conservative when thinking of their children’s careers. A high-paying engineer job for junior is more stable and secure than chasing fame in Hollywood. Parents want their children to succeed, but making sure they’re economically independent comes into play as well. And, when parents age, having a child to rely on is desirable as well.
Those figures, however, are averages. It doesn’t account for individual ability or non-monetary values. Parents who feel it incumbent to inform their children of expected earnings for pursuing a career are exercising good judgment.
Uncertainty, however, is tricky. Average incomes are not guaranteed incomes, and the line between STEM and non-STEM majors blurs more than is assumed. STEM-major earnings might be overestimated, and much-maligned majors such as liberal arts, history, and English provide a strong framework for a wide variety of situations.
If a high salary is the goal, studying music isn’t always the quickest way to achieve it. But the devil is in the details for the worst-paid and best-paid majors alike.
