Over the past decade, the number of associate’s and bachelor’s degrees earned in the United States have increased dramatically in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields but have seen significant declines in humanities disciplines.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, bachelor’s degrees conferred in the health professions increased by 62% from 2011 to 2021, and engineering and biological and biomedical sciences saw an increase of 51% and 37% respectively. Around that same decade, the number of humanities bachelor’s degrees awarded dropped by about 24%. This is attributed to possible influences of elitism, stereotypes of certain degrees and concerns over finances, among other factors.
As Aragon students across the board begin to think about a post-high school path, the biases for and against certain majors can significantly influence which pathways students select.
“[People lean toward STEM majors] in [the Bay Area] because it’s very tech oriented,” said Modern World History teacher Jon Felder. “Aragon [is] known as a school with strong math and science programs, [and] I can see students wanting to focus more on STEM fields because they feel like that will open up more job opportunities for them.”
The pressure to capitalize on such opportunities has influenced some students to prioritize their futures in a STEM major over creative passions.
“I grew up doing a lot of art,” said junior Kaitlin Hsu. “I still do art now. I see art not really as something I could possibly pursue because of the pressure of feeling like I have to be more than that or have a well-paying job to fit society… It’s mainly [because of] how [art majors] get paid … Because of that, I’ve been influenced [to believe] that doing something like art, for example, is not as high education and wouldn’t get me as far.”
This same concern over achieving a stable career presents itself for junior Oliver Ackerman, leading him to lean towards the idea of architecture as a major.
“My dream would be to go into film or something more on the humanities side, but it doesn’t feel realistic,” Ackerman said. “In architecture, it’s creative enough, but it’s still an actual job.”
With such a competitive Hollywood climate, the risks associated with the industry are a cause for concern.
“A lot of creative industries like the film industry are really hard to get into and it’s mostly about knowing people and there’s no safety,” Ackerman said. “You’re not guaranteed the job or a job that pays enough to live.”
Before even choosing a major or profession, however, one’s financial status can sway how comfortable students are stepping into majors that are less pre-professional. With many of the jobs that pay closer to an average of $70 thousand to $100 thousand being in computer science, engineering, finance and business fields, the risks of stepping into other industries can be far more feasible for higher income applicants.
“If you already come from a wealthy family, you have the liberty to pursue whatever you want [and] you don’t have any financial restrictions, [so] you should definitely do whatever you want,” said senior Sevara Saidova. “In an ideal world, everyone would take the major that most appeals to them. I would be a theater major [because] I love that stuff. [But] it’s all about the money and [it] goes back to the [issue of the] economy. [If] you’re trying to get a stable job, most people take a more practical major.”
Even once students settle on a general type of path, like pursuing education, there are still concerns over which areas are most profitable.
“[When I] discuss what I want to do after college with my family, they don’t really pressure me or say, ‘you should do this,’” said junior Jaclyn Ruttenberg. “But [when we] discuss discuss [how] I want to go into education, they also would say, ‘You have to make sure you teach in a good area that you can get a lot of money in.’ It made me realize it does matter where I would teach or what kind of job I’m looking for. Definitely the salary has been like the main thing we look at if we look at what I want to do after college.”
For many different professions, the future of AI poses a concern for the future job market.
“[You] can see in college statistics that [art majors] tend to get paid less [than other majors],” Hsu said. “Especially with the rise of AI and everything, artists are losing jobs and it’s not a very good place to be in right now.”
However, AI is also creating some panic within STEM.
“One time I told a family friend that my major was going to be biochemistry,” said Aragon alumna Victoria Santana. “And she looked at me funny and she went, ‘Well, my son is in cognitive science and that won’t be taken over by AI. You need to look into a job that won’t be taken over by AI’ … Students right now are super fearful of whether or not their jobs are going to be [taken away] and right now, STEM majors are opening up their eyes to [the realization], ‘I might not have a job after I graduate.’”
In order to push against the pressures to take majors considered as elite, some feel society must first provide students with more time to explore their passions.
“If [students] had the time to explore, they could find more about what they actually liked [to do],” Hsu said. “A lot of people get [into their] major because they’re told, ‘This is [the]major you’re supposed to do.’ I [feel] so much of that pressure myself, [about whether or not] I actually like STEM. I do, but I also feel like the main reason I’m taking STEM is because I’ve been told that it’s good.”
Though one’s future financial potential is partially dependent on one’s major, Saidova views all majors as serviceable, as long as one sees some future there.
“There are no useless majors,” Saidova said. “There are majors people take because they want a certain career and that certain career is just less profitable than others. It’s not useless for them, but in the eyes of people who are trying to get rich, trying to make money, it could [seem] useless. [Someone] studying history because they want to be a history teacher [has] to study that, so that major is useful.”
Even at the most prestigious schools for STEM majors, like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there are still requirements to take humanities classes, as one’s understanding of history and humanity is often vital for the scientists.
“It is important to be well rounded, obviously,” Felder said. “Even if your focus is in STEM, you want to still have critical thinking skills. You want to still have historical context. You want to be able to analyze a piece of literature … so that if you’re developing programs or doing scientific research, you can think more broadly about and [consider], ‘What’s the impact of it?’ [It’s] an extreme example, but someone like Oppenheimer, who was involved in developing the atomic bomb: whatever work you’re doing, can you think bigger picture about the overall impact of it and how it might be used and what the purpose of it is? Even if you have the scientific or mathematical skills to do something, the ethical and moral implications of whatever work you’re involved in [matter].”
But at the end of the day, regardless of one’s major, a college degree is an accomplishment in and of itself.
“You are still getting an education at the end of the day,” Santana said. “University is hard. Usually, you are only taking two classes per semester or quarter that are related to your major. [For] the other two, at least for the first two years in your time at university, [you have] general education, where you have to take humanities and STEM, regardless of whatever your major is. And so generally people are getting the same education … I commend anyone going to college.”
