tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/college-major-17521/articlesCollege major – The Conversation2021-11-29T13:27:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1722862021-11-29T13:27:06Z2021-11-29T13:27:06ZDrop in students who come to the US to study could affect higher education and jobs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433769/original/file-20211124-27-easl4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5973%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Declines in the enrollment of international students span all fields of study.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-portrait-in-front-of-school-in-coronavirus-royalty-free-image/1279770388?adppopup=true">Vladimir Vladimirov/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Driven largely by the global pandemic, the number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities fell by 15% – or 161,401 students – from 2019 to 2020. However, early data for 2021 indicate the number might bounce back soon. This is according to <a href="https://opendoorsdata.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Open-Doors-2021-Press-Release.pdf">new data</a> from the Institute of International Education and the U.S. State Department.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/people/david-di-maria-edd#:%7E:text=David%20L.%20Di%20Maria%20is%20senior%20international%20officer,and%20activities%20of%20UMBC%E2%80%99s%20Center%20for%20Global%20Engagement.">university administrator who specializes in international higher education</a>, I see six important takeaways to consider.</p>
<h2>1. A record decrease</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.iie.org/-/media/Files/Corporate/Open-Doors/Special-Reports/Fall-2020-Snapshot-Report---Full-Report.ashx?la=en&hash=D337E4E9C8C9FACC9E3D53609A7A19B96783C5DB">a drop was expected</a> due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, which included <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/us-drops-travel-ban-more-100032260.html?src=rss">international travel restrictions</a> and <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/suspension-of-routine-visa-services.html">suspension of U.S. visa services</a>, the number of international students in the U.S. has actually been <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-colleges-report-a-43-decline-in-new-international-student-enrollment-and-not-just-because-of-the-pandemic-149885">declining</a> since 2016.</p>
<p>The decrease in 2020, however, is the <a href="https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/enrollment-trends/">largest on record</a> based on data dating back to 1948.</p>
<p>Enrollments are down across all fields of study at both the <a href="https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/academic-level/">undergraduate and graduate levels</a>, which fell by 14.2% and 12.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, more than half of all international students come from just two countries: China and India. About 1 in 3 international students in the U.S. are from China, and about 1 in 5 are from India. For context, the third-most represented nation is South Korea, which accounts for about 1 out of every 25 international students in the U.S. </p>
<h2>2. A rebound is evident, but it may not last</h2>
<p>While the overall number of international students dropped in fall 2020, a <a href="https://www.iie.org/-/media/Files/Corporate/Publications/IIE_FallSnapshot_2021_Report.ashx?la=en&hash=296D44AE7E1483DADAA6E216653198CBCD956BDE">preliminary snapshot</a> points to a 68% increase in the number of students beginning their studies in fall 2021 compared with a year earlier. This increase, which cannot be confirmed until a more comprehensive census is released in 2022, suggests a possible rebound is occurring.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it is important to understand that the rebound reflected in these data undoubtedly includes some of the <a href="https://www.iie.org/-/media/Files/Corporate/Open-Doors/Special-Reports/Fall-2020-Snapshot-Report---Full-Report.ashx?la=en&hash=D337E4E9C8C9FACC9E3D53609A7A19B96783C5DB">nearly 40,000</a> international students who were admitted for fall 2020 but had to defer their studies due to the pandemic. </p>
<p>Given that most admission offers may be <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/graduate-school-road-map/2013/04/12/take-4-steps-before-withdrawing-or-deferring-graduate-school-admission">deferred for only one year</a>, it is reasonable to assume that fall 2020 deferrals helped fuel fall 2021 gains. So any increase in 2021 could be a temporary spike and not necessarily a sign that international student enrollments will reverse their downward trend.</p>
<h2>3. Other nations’ losses may be the US’ gains</h2>
<p>Another factor fueling the reported surge in new international enrollments within the U.S. for fall 2021 is that the U.S. experienced less competition from abroad. </p>
<p>In addition to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56009251">delayed vaccine rollout</a> across countries in Europe, some nations have been entirely off-limits since the start of the pandemic. For instance, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3139775/foreign-students-wait-green-light-return-china-growing-concern">China</a> and <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/reopening-just-in-time-for-khoo-sulyn-but-australia-missed-the-boat-20211123-p59ba5">Australia</a>, the world’s <a href="https://iie.widen.net/s/g2bqxwkwqv/project-atlas-infographics-2020">fourth- and fifth-most popular study destinations</a>, respectively, have both remained closed to international students since the start of the pandemic, causing students who would otherwise have traveled to these countries to <a href="https://monitor.icef.com/2020/11/international-students-increasingly-willing-to-switch-destinations-for-in-person-learning/">switch destinations</a> in pursuit of in-person learning. </p>
<p>In August 2021, Australia reported <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/reopening-just-in-time-for-khoo-sulyn-but-australia-missed-the-boat-20211123-p59ba5">more than 200,000 fewer international students</a> than a year earlier, before the pandemic began. While Australia will allow international students to return starting on Dec. 1, 2021, it <a href="https://www.studyinternational.com/news/return-to-china-for-students/">remains uncertain</a> when China might reopen its borders to students.</p>
<h2>4. Less funding for STEM graduate programs</h2>
<p>Many U.S. universities would find it difficult to maintain graduate programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, without international students. This is made clear by a 2021 report showing that international students <a href="https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/International-Students-in-Science-and-Engineering.NFAP-Policy-Brief.August-2021.pdf">constitute the majority of full-time graduate students in many STEM fields</a>. For example, at the graduate level, international students are 82% of all petroleum engineering students, 74% of all electrical engineering students and 72% of all computer and information sciences students. </p>
<p>While some might think these figures mean U.S. students are being crowded out, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.10.003">research reveals</a> that international student enrollment actually helps increase U.S. enrollment. Consider that international students pay <a href="https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/International-Student-Funding.pdf">higher tuition</a> than their U.S. classmates, which helps pay for enrolling more American students. </p>
<h2>5. Fewer US jobs</h2>
<p>Beyond usually paying a higher tuition, international students <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/policy-and-advocacy/policy-resources/nafsa-international-student-economic-value-tool-v2">spend money</a> off campus as well. In fact, they spend on just about everything that U.S. students do, from apartments and transportation to insurance and technology. In much of the country, local and state sales taxes are paid on top of these purchases.</p>
<p>These dollars add up to the point that for every three international students, one U.S. job is <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/sites/default/files/media/document/isev_EconValue2020_2021.pdf">created or supported</a> by their spending. The 2020 enrollment drop-off means <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/policy-and-advocacy/policy-resources/nafsa-international-student-economic-value-tool-v2">109,679, or 26.4%, fewer U.S. jobs</a> were supported by international students in 2020 than in 2019. </p>
<h2>6. Fewer highly skilled workers</h2>
<p>International students who work internships or get practical training also serve as a <a href="https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/International-Students-STEM-OPT-And-The-US-STEM-Workforce.NFAP-Policy-Brief.March-2019.pdf">valuable pool of talent</a> for U.S. employers <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/study-employers-seek-immigrants-amid-shortage-of-high-skilled-workers.html">struggling to hire workers</a> in highly skilled areas, such as science and engineering. </p>
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<p>According to the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/us-chambers-seeks-to-double-of-h-1b-quota-to-address-workforce-shortage-121062200102_1.html">U.S. Chambers of Commerce</a>, the shortage of highly skilled workers is a key factor holding back economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic. A healthy talent pool in the U.S. also has implications for global competitiveness, as other nations, such as <a href="https://china.ucsd.edu/_files/meeting-the-china-challenge_2020_report.pdf">China</a> and <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/russia-and-technological-race-era-great-power-competition">Russia</a>, aim to increase their scientific and technological capabilities.</p>
<h2>National concern</h2>
<p>Economics aside, international students make many other valuable contributions to the U.S. These include <a href="https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v4i3.462">increasing cultural diversity</a> on college campuses, <a href="https://global.umn.edu/icc/documents/15_EducationalImpact-IntlStudents.pdf">enhancing learning in the classroom</a> and promoting <a href="https://www.ieaa.org.au/documents/item/258">positive diplomatic relations</a> with other countries. While the U.S. remains the <a href="https://iie.widen.net/s/g2bqxwkwqv/project-atlas-infographics-2020">world’s top choice</a> for international students, it <a href="https://iie.widen.net/s/g2bqxwkwqv/project-atlas-infographics-2020">continues to lose ground</a> to other nations vying to attract foreign talent.</p>
<p>Consider that from 2000 to 2020 the U.S. share of the world’s international students <a href="https://iie.widen.net/s/g2bqxwkwqv/project-atlas-infographics-2020">fell from 28% to 20%</a>. How could this be? Unlike the next four most popular destinations, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-global-potential-global-growth/international-education-strategy-global-potential-global-growth">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/education/strategy-2019-2024-strategie.aspx?lang=eng">Canada</a>, <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/News/Latest-News/Pages/China-%E2%80%93-New-Directive-for-International-Education.aspx">China</a> and <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/australian-strategy-international-education-2021-2030">Australia</a>, the U.S. lacks a national strategy for recruiting and retaining international students.</p>
<p>Earlier in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration signaled that may be changing. Specifically, the U.S. secretaries of education and state released a <a href="https://educationusa.state.gov/us-higher-education-professionals/us-government-resources-and-guidance/joint-statement">Joint Statement on Principles in Support of International Education</a>. In that statement, they committed to a number of actions, such as implementing new policies and procedures aimed at ensuring the U.S. remains the top destination for global talent.</p>
<p>More recently, several major U.S. higher education associations <a href="https://www.aplu.org/news-and-media/News/us-higher-education-community-calls-for-a-return-to-pre-covid-19-international-student-enrollment-numbers-and-a-national-strategy-of-federal-actions-and-policies-to-increase-international-student-enrollment">called for a national strategy</a> to reverse the international enrollment decline.</p>
<p>While it is still too early to predict if a unified strategy would actually reverse international student enrollment declines at U.S. colleges and universities, the <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/blog/whole-government-approach-implementing-national-strategy-international-education">idea of a coordinated national approach</a> could help position the U.S. to compete for the world’s best and brightest minds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David L. Di Maria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US has experienced a record decline in the number of international students. How long will the trend continue? An international education scholar weighs in.David L. Di Maria, Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1612282021-06-01T12:48:02Z2021-06-01T12:48:02ZHow a national student database could cheapen the college experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403212/original/file-20210527-16-bpxykm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5044%2C3337&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The proposed database would focus on income. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/graduates-at-graduation-ceremony-royalty-free-image/975170-004">Andy Sacks/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has proposed that the federal government <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">create a database</a> that includes information on outcomes for individual college graduates, such as how much money they earn after they get a degree in a particular major. That’s according to a <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">report that a commission sponsored by the foundation</a> released in May 2021.</p>
<p>I asked the U.S. Education Department if they plan to adopt the proposed database, but did not get a yes-or-no answer.</p>
<p>“There are currently statutory prohibitions against the department developing a new national database on student information,” said Melanie Muenzer, chief of staff for the Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal.</p>
<p>Muenzer said the department is reviewing the commission’s recommendations. “We anticipate more conversations with commission members to learn even more,” Muenzer said.</p>
<p>In some ways, those “conversations” have already begun. <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/mac-bio.html">Michelle Asha Cooper</a>, a former member of the commission, now serves as deputy assistant secretary for higher education under Biden.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uUXDvV4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">political theorist who specializes in education policy</a> and its impact on society, I think that a national student database would change the focus of much of American higher education. </p>
<p>Many people understand the university experience as an opportunity for a variety of educational and enriching experiences. I believe this proposed database will shift the focus to ensuring that college graduates earn a certain level of income and wealth. Although <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">the commission says</a> the purpose is to address racism, classism and sexism, I think that it is more accurate to say that the commission wants to frame the value of higher education in largely economic terms. </p>
<h2>Defining value</h2>
<p>The Gates Foundation created the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-gates-funded-commission-aims-to-put-a-value-on-a-college-education-116930">Postsecondary Value Commission</a> precisely to define the value of a college degree. As commission member <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/audio/2021/05/13/ep-46-defining-and-measuring-%E2%80%98value%E2%80%99-postsecondary-education">Margaret Spellings has said</a>: “people don’t spend $80,000 or borrow lots of money because they want to be better people.” </p>
<p>The report <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">nods to the value of the liberal arts</a> in sustaining a healthy democracy. However, according to commission member <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/audio/2021/05/13/ep-46-defining-and-measuring-%E2%80%98value%E2%80%99-postsecondary-education">José Luis Cruz</a>, the report concentrates on “easily quantifiable measures of value.”</p>
<p>The report creates a framework to rate the economic payoff of colleges, majors and certificate programs. At the bottom of the scale, graduates are not financially better off than if they had simply graduated high school. Higher scores suggest that students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and women are getting an earnings premium. The highest score indicates that a program is helping all of its graduates gain the same wealth as their white, male peers. </p>
<h2>Database details</h2>
<p>For this framework to work, it needs more data than presently available. Thus, <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">the commission calls upon policymakers</a> to create “a federal student-level data network” to track “students’ pathways and post-college outcomes.” The national database would collect information on students’ race, gender, major, income, wealth and debt. </p>
<p>The existing <a href="https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/">College Scorecard</a> collects information about the income of college graduates who received federal financial aid. The <a href="https://seekut.utsystem.edu/">University of Texas data system</a> provides information about alumni earnings and debts up to five years after graduation. The commission, however, wants to have data on all students up to 30 years after graduation to determine if a program achieves wealth parity.</p>
<p>One hurdle to the proposed database is that <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-110publ315/html/PLAW-110publ315.htm">Section 134 of the Higher Education Act of 1965</a> prohibits the U.S. Department of Education from developing a national database on student information. This spring, a bipartisan group of senators has introduced the <a href="https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-warren-scott-whitehouse-reintroduce-college-transparency-act">College Transparency Act</a> that would repeal this statue and permit the federal government to create a post-secondary student data system.</p>
<h2>Obama 2.0</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/06/25/obama-administration-retreats-from-federal-college-rating-plan/">President Obama wanted</a> the federal government to rate colleges “on who’s offering the best value so students and taxpayers get a bigger bang for their buck.” Former members of <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/obama-education-staff-involved-in-race-to-the-top-civil-rights-join-bidens-white-house/2021/01%20">Obama’s education staff</a> and <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/mac-bio.html">the Gates commission</a> now work for the Biden administration.</p>
<p>Tamara Hiler, director of education at the think tank Third Way, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/audio/2021/05/13/ep-46-defining-and-measuring-%E2%80%98value%E2%80%99-postsecondary-education">explains that</a> federal policymakers could use this proposed database to determine if programs and institutions are “worthy of student or taxpayer investment.” </p>
<p>Students at schools with <a href="https://investments.yale.edu/">sizable endowments like Yale</a> may still major in subjects like <a href="https://history.yale.edu/undergraduate/current-students/requirements-major">history</a>. But schools dependent on federal and state aid <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">may need to</a> “streamline pathways into the workforce.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PVC-Final-Report-FINAL.pdf">commission says</a> that its recommendations will help the country dismantle systemic racism. </p>
<p>I see this as part of a longstanding debate about the purposes of higher education.</p>
<p>For instance, Booker T. Washington, the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, the famed historically Black land-grant university in Alabama, <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/39321">argued</a> that Black people needed to acquire economic power if they were to challenge white supremacy. <a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHyper/WASHINGTON/awakening.html">For Washington</a>, Black students should not waste their time and energy studying “French grammar and instrumental music.” His famous advice to African Americans was to “<a href="http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/39/">cast down your bucket where you are</a>,” meaning that they should take advantage of the economic opportunities available right now. Today, he might recommend that Blacks major in the lucrative fields mentioned in the report such as engineering and computer science. </p>
<p>W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1902/09/of-the-training-of-black-men/531192/">countered that the liberal arts are necessary</a> to train Black leaders to write, think, speak and mingle with leaders of other races. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1902/09/of-the-training-of-black-men/531192/">Du Bois maintained</a> that “the longing of black men must have respect.” He wanted Black people to strive for “that higher individualism which the centers of culture protect.” </p>
<p>If the proposed database becomes a reality and colleges focus on their graduates’ incomes, this could have a limiting effect on low-income students. Whereas students at elite colleges will still have the luxury to major in the liberal arts, I anticipate that students at community colleges and state universities will feel pressure to earn more vocational degrees.</p>
<p>Bill and Melinda Gates could use their fortune to award scholarships to students who then choose their own major. Instead, their foundation may make it harder for all but the wealthy and <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976894">privileged poor</a> to major in anything that does not seem to lead to a solid return on investment.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Tampio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Under a proposal from a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation initiative, the federal government would collect data on student economic outcomes.Nicholas Tampio, Professor of Political Science, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1051092018-11-27T11:41:11Z2018-11-27T11:41:11ZThe key to fixing the gender gap in math and science: Boost women’s confidence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246490/original/file-20181120-161633-uo02kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Girls who are more confident in their math skills are more likely to pursue math-intensive degrees. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/students-class-174265457?src=PZezSUO7ZmyHLj8f90AGZA-1-3">Areipa.lt/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gender gap in <a href="https://www.nctm.org/Publications/Teaching-Children-Mathematics/Blog/Current-Research-on-Gender-Differences-in-Math/">math</a> and <a href="http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science">science</a> isn’t going away. Women remain less likely to enroll in math-heavy fields of study and pursue math-heavy careers. This pattern persists despite major studies finding <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0021276">no meaningful differences in mathematics performance</a> among girls and boys. </p>
<p>Among U.S. students who score the same on math achievement tests, girls are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386">less confident in their math ability</a> than boys are. That confidence predicts who goes on to major in math-heavy fields like <a href="https://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation/">engineering and computer science</a>. The <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=18026">gender gap varies</a> across STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math. Women <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0027020">remain underrepresented</a> in <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/graduates-pay-2017.aspx">high-earning</a> and <a href="https://www.ed.gov/stem">high-demand</a> fields that require the most math skills, such as engineering and physics. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1486641">My team’s recent study</a> finds women are 12 percent less likely to earn math-heavy STEM degrees than men. </p>
<p><a href="https://perezfelkner.com/research/reset/">My colleagues and I</a> have studied gender gaps in STEM for several years, examining <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/slsp/">U.S. data</a> on teenagers as they move from high school to and through college. Across our studies, we find a consistent pattern: Girls with strong mathematics ability in high school <a href="https://perezfelkner.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/perez-felkner_mcdonald_schneider_highachieving_females_stem_ebook.pdf">do not necessarily leave the sciences entirely</a>, but they <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00530">major in math-heavy fields</a> at significantly lower rates than their otherwise identical male peers.</p>
<p>Here’s the good news: These patterns can change. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00530">In one study</a>, we found that 12th-grade girls with the highest levels of confidence in their mathematics ability with challenging material are more three times more likely to major in math-heavy STEM fields than girls with the lowest levels of confidence. </p>
<h2>Ability beliefs, girls and STEM</h2>
<p>Our findings build not only on our own prior work, but also on decades of research finding girls underrate their abilities on <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.59.5.960">tasks</a> and <a href="https://sociology.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/gender_and_the_career_choice_process-_the_role_of_biased_self-assessments.pdf">careers</a> that are culturally considered male. </p>
<p><a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/els2002/">Contemporary data</a> on U.S. students who were 10th graders in 2002 and were followed through 2012 show that girls <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/girls-grades.aspx">do better in school</a> than boys do and are more likely to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/gender-education-gap/546677/">graduate from college</a>. Girls are increasingly prepared for college-level math, thanks to the fact that they take more <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509653.pdf">STEM courses in high school</a>, even in <a href="https://medium.com/@codeorg/girls-set-ap-computer-science-record-skyrocketing-growth-outpaces-boys-41b7c01373a5">computer science</a>.</p>
<p>In one of our case studies on computer science undergraduates at two research universities, we found that women were more likely to take further computer science courses if they <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00602">perceived that they had high skills and felt challenged</a>. These findings complement those of our <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386">national study</a>, which showed that women with positive math ability beliefs were more likely to choose math-heavy STEM majors.</p>
<p>Girls are excelling at math. Still, boys think they can do better. Among those at the 90th percentile of mathematics ability in 12th grade, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386">boys rate themselves higher</a> than do their female peers. </p>
<h2>Progress failures and promising interventions</h2>
<p>The push toward equity has not just been slow; it at times seems to go in reverse. Emerging research suggests gender gaps in STEM seem wider in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar2307">more economically developed countries</a> and <a href="https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/gender-achievement-gaps-us-school-districts">more affluent zip codes</a>. Since the personal computing and technology boom, women have been <a href="https://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation/">losing representation among degree earners</a> in computer science.</p>
<p>Among U.S. universities, we found the gender gap in math-heavy fields was widespread, but <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=18026">worse at less selective institutions</a>. And, while the majority of community college students are female, after controlling for student and institutional characteristics, the gender gap in natural and engineering sciences at <a href="https://perezfelkner.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/perez-felkner_etal_2yearcollegesgendergapstemdegrees_2018.pdf">two-year colleges</a> is slightly worse – 12.4 percent more men – than at four-year institutions – 11.7 percent more men than women.</p>
<p>There are signs of promise as <a href="https://anitab.org/braid-building-recruiting-and-inclusion-for-diversity/">institutions collaborate on gender equity</a> and try other interventions, from introductory course redesign to curricular changes aimed at students’ <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/5#tab-summary">beliefs in their abilities</a>. While not directly focused on this issue, organizations may engage in confidence-raising to get girls and women into math-heavy fields like <a href="https://ed.ted.com/featured/16DCJILa">coding</a>.</p>
<p>As someone who has studied this issue closely, I believe those of us interested in gender equity should make female confidence a priority. This includes both directly building up girls’ and women’s confidence and educating influential actors in their lives. Socializing messages and support from mentors, teachers, peers and parents may help counter gendered stereotypes and create spaces for girls to build confidence in their ability to succeed in math and science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105109/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lara Perez-Felkner receives research funding from the National Science Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and the ECMC Foundation.</span></em></p>High school girls who are more confident in their math abilities are more likely to pursue math in college and beyond.Lara Perez-Felkner, Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Sociology, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/980452018-06-13T10:38:59Z2018-06-13T10:38:59ZSome want to get rid of college majors – here’s how that could go wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222649/original/file-20180611-191974-12eqqqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Though criticized as outdated, college majors still serve a vital function, a scholar argues.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/direction-sign-majors-3d-rendering-421386271?src=vyRcTJCx4WNqPjrtApErsQ-1-2">Nerthus/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should college majors be a thing of the past?</p>
<p>That idea received a fresh airing when author Jeffrey Selingo suggested that it’s “<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/It-s-Time-to-End-College/243448">time to end college majors as we know them</a>.”</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7KlYIlgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researcher who studies higher education</a>, I concede that something about the way colleges and universities educate students in the United States needs to change. But the needed change may be more about how higher education institutions are run as opposed to getting rid of the college major altogether.</p>
<p>Selingo suggests that college majors are antiquated and limit students from developing the skills they need to be effective in today’s digital economy. He cites examples of innovations and radical practices at some colleges and universities – including one where he serves as a <a href="https://publicservice.asu.edu/content/jeffrey-selingo">special adviser to the president</a> – to bolster his case.</p>
<p>Much of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/education/edlife/choosing-a-college-major.html">criticism</a> of college majors comes from those who work at larger institutions. This is significant because, unlike community colleges or smaller private institutions, larger institutions are often more wedded to academic majors for organizing and delivering education to their students.</p>
<h2>How colleges are organized</h2>
<p>At larger institutions, each school – such as business or education – often operates with its own set of policies and procedures. These range from guidelines for admissions to how credit hours are determined. This administrative design becomes highly problematic for students who wish to take courses across schools – let alone create their own curricular experience – because the rules change based on where a given course is housed.</p>
<p>In the most recent volume of “<a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+College+Affects+Students%3A+21st+Century+Evidence+that+Higher+Education+Works%2C+Volume+3+-p-9781118462683">How College Affects Students: 21st Century Evidence that College Work</a>,” the authors, in their synthesis of over 1,800 empirical articles published from 2003 to 2013, found overwhelming support that college majors are associated with many positive educational outcomes, such as content mastery and critical thinking. The authors also found that college majors are related to earning more money over a lifetime. </p>
<p>Even more compelling is how graduates from different majors fare in the labor market. Compared to students who find a job outside of their selected major, those who land a job <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ963507">closely related</a> to their major field of study are much more likely to report higher rates of employment, job satisfaction and earnings over time. But the strength of these relationships vary based on a number of factors. Those factors include institutional type, size, and whether the institutions are public or private.</p>
<p>What remains unknown is precisely why the college major plays such an important role in helping students succeed. What does a college major represent? Does a college major signify exposure to curricula and practices that bring students together based on shared academic interests?</p>
<p>Without good answers to these and related questions, colleges and universities must be careful not to abandon college majors entirely. Completely ending college majors as we know them may invite a host of problems. Here are just a few.</p>
<h2>1. Lack of convening power</h2>
<p>Ending college majors assumes that institutions have the know-how and ability to bring students together based on academic interests. To distance themselves from majors, some institutions are attempting to restructure learning environments in a way that brings different disciplines together. Yet, <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/24988/chapter/1">there’s not much evidence</a> to suggest that students are learning more as a result of these efforts.</p>
<h2>2. Student confusion</h2>
<p>Ending college majors assumes that students are developmentally ready to design their undergraduate experiences in ways that will maximize learning and help them get a job. Selingo suggests that educators “give students an opportunity in their first year – or preferably starting through online exploration the summer before – to find the appropriate fit for their interests.” Theoretically, this idea sounds great. However, it flies in the face of the <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Student+Services%3A+A+Handbook+for+the+Profession%2C+6th+Edition-p-9781119049593">findings related to this generation of college students</a>. The reality is most students are not developmentally ready to identify their interests, let alone design their own course of study. </p>
<h2>3. Increased costs</h2>
<p>Ending college majors may push off the inevitable need for structured discipline-specific training until graduate school. This subsequently increases the costs of education. The <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+College+Affects+Students%3A+21st+Century+Evidence+that+Higher+Education+Works%2C+Volume+3+-p-9781118462683">evidence</a> is clear: Going to college helps students master content related to their major field of study. Business majors are learning investment strategies. Education majors are learning how to teach young children in the classroom.</p>
<p>The bottom line is there is a need to be careful not to assign blame for antiquated educational delivery systems onto the college major, especially in light of the <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/How+College+Affects+Students%3A+21st+Century+Evidence+that+Higher+Education+Works%2C+Volume+3+-p-9781118462683">data</a> that show college majors are positively associated with learning and success beyond college.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew J. Mayhew has received or currently receives funding from the United States Department of Education; the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; the Fetzer Institute; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Merrifield Family Foundation. </span></em></p>Though some have suggested that college majors should be scrapped, a higher education scholar warns that getting rid of college majors may create more problems than it solves.Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/927982018-04-09T10:33:39Z2018-04-09T10:33:39ZWhy double-majors might beat you out of a job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212348/original/file-20180328-109190-ensn31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research shows double majors have a big competitive advantage in one critical area.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/employers-recruiters-holding-reviewing-bad-poor-653243275?src=-5VNpD-j2CiXCoVrA2TleQ-1-69">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two college majors are better than one. That is the conclusion that researchers are beginning to reach.</p>
<p>Prior research has already shown that students who double major <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-it-pay-to-get-a-double-major-in-college-74420">can earn more</a> than peers who majored in only one field.</p>
<p>Our study shows that <a href="http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/sls/1/">double majors fare better</a> in another way as well: They are more innovative. </p>
<p>We are education researchers with an interest in how the college experience develops students. What we found in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-017-9486-7">this research</a> is that students who double majored scored 17.4 percentile points higher on our overall innovation measure than the average student. The innovation advantage for double majors is almost three times higher than any other major, including business, engineering and math/statistics. </p>
<p>This finding held even after we controlled for a number of variables, including a family history of entrepreneurship, courses taken in college, race, gender and GPA. We even controlled for personality traits, such as being an extrovert and being open to new experiences. We also considered the institution students attended, the quality of teaching to which they were exposed and the nature of their interactions with faculty members.</p>
<p>So what does it mean to be more innovative and why does it matter?</p>
<h2>What makes a person innovative</h2>
<p>For our study, we sought to measure students’ innovation capacities. We did so using a relatively new survey instrument that enabled us to determine how institutions can help students develop their innovation capacities. These capacities include skills related to networking, persuasive communication, working on diverse teams, and risk taking. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Why majors don’t matter.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These innovative qualities matter in the job market. That’s because employers want more from college graduates than good grades. What employers really want – according to a <a href="http://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/what-employers-seek-on-a-resume/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=post-with-img&utm_campaign=content">recent survey</a> – are graduates who can effectively work in diverse teams, are creative thinkers and have persuasive communication skills. In short, <a href="https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/it-takes-more-major-employer-priorities-college-learning-and">employers want innovators</a>. </p>
<p>Since innovators are in demand, it begs the question: Are graduates who double-majored more innovative because they double-majored? Or did they double-major because they were already more innovative? </p>
<p>Self-selection could be at play. To be sure, one aspect of the connection between innovation and double-majoring is related to the fact that certain students want more than any one discipline or major can provide. They want to choose, or perhaps <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/12/08/why-is-choosing-a-college-major-so-fraught-with-anxiety/?utm_term=.da36806866a6">not choose</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212349/original/file-20180328-109193-fd7h3o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s unclear if students double major because they are innovative, or if doing so makes them more innovative.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/colorful-direction-sign-majors-184585037?src=vyRcTJCx4WNqPjrtApErsQ-1-16">Nerthuz/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A desire for more</h2>
<p>Perhaps double majors are the kind of students who need more than many programs offer. It could be a signal of proactive and creative choice for students who don’t fit the mold in terms of how higher education is currently delivered.</p>
<p>Double-majoring might also provide students with experiences in which students see <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0002831212437854">connections between content</a> in different courses. Additionally, taking classes required for two majors might increase <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/612677">networking with peers</a> across disciplines.</p>
<p>Does this mean that all students should double-major and employers should only hire these graduates? Probably not. </p>
<p>While certainly our data demonstrate that double-majors are the most innovative, we do not conclude that this academic pathway is always the best choice for students or industries. What we do suggest, however, is that colleges and universities help students find ways to integrate material across disciplines, interact with each other across majors, and work on teams to solve real-world problems. This could be done through existing courses or perhaps new centers and spaces dedicated to innovation on college campuses.</p>
<p>That way, even if students don’t double-major, they might still become more innovative – and more attractive to employers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92798/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew J. Mayhew receives or has received funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the Merrifield Family Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin S. Selznick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows double majors beat their peers in one critical way that makes them more attractive to employers. Colleges may have to adapt to that reality to help their graduates compete.Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State UniversityBenjamin S. Selznick, Assistant Professor, James Madison University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/890152018-01-29T11:28:38Z2018-01-29T11:28:38ZWhy don’t STEM majors vote as much as others?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202874/original/file-20180122-182962-1fz6jmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">college voters</span> </figcaption></figure><p>There’s no shortage of <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/stem-crisis-or-stem-surplus-yes-and-yes.htm">talk</a> about the need to get more students to go into STEM majors. But a growing body of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.21203/abstract">research</a>, including our own at the <a href="https://idhe.tufts.edu">Institute for Democracy and Higher Education</a> at Tufts University, <a href="https://idhe.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/NSLVE%20Report%202012-2016-092117%5B3%5D.pdf">indicates</a> there might also be a need to get more STEM majors to go to the polls. </p>
<p>An analysis that we conducted shows that college students studying STEM disciplines — that is, science, technology, engineering and mathematics — were among the least likely to vote. The analysis was based on enrollment and voting records of nearly 2 million undergraduate students at four-year colleges. Voting is only one measure of civic engagement, but it is an important one, as evidenced in <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/2/16795804/elections-2018-midterms-consequences">what’s at stake</a> for the November 2018 midterm elections. U.S. higher education’s purpose has long been <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED292362">viewed</a> as not only vocational training but preparation for citizenry. This includes voting and participation in government and policymaking. Voting also provides a tangible way to measure students’ belief that people and systems are interconnected and that they can play a part in shaping their communities. These are <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Making_Their_Own_Way.html?id=Z90M3rlRxbgC">key</a> <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Common_Fire.html?id=z2mdCh7A53YC">goals</a> that higher education tries to foster.</p>
<p>STEM students appear less interested in other forms of political and civic engagement, too. One study found that students who took more science and engineering courses were less likely to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1npt8c.6?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">participate in politics</a> by donating money to a campaign or attending a political meeting. Another found that engineering majors were <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ir.110/abstract">less committed</a> to social activism than their non-STEM peers. <a href="http://sencer.net/">Initiatives</a> have sprung up to remedy this through science <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/odi.12534/abstract">curricula</a>, <a href="http://sencer.net/model-courses/">teaching</a> and <a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/translational/peph/currentissue/lists/1_16/communityengaged_research_and_citizen_science_two_similar_but_distinct_research_approaches.cfm">new approaches to research</a>.</p>
<p>It may well be the case that STEM education needs a “<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/education/2014/11/could-science-education-use-a-civic-engagement-makeover/">civic engagement makeover</a>.” However, our study of undergraduate college student voting points to other reasons — perhaps in addition to the educational experience — that explain students’ low interest in civic affairs. As researchers who examine the impact of attending college on students, we believe that a combination of academic experiences and student characteristics shapes student civic behavior, including voting. For our study, we tried to focus on figuring out how much student characteristics, such as gender and age, account for voter turnout differences by major. </p>
<p>Unraveling the relationship between voting and undergraduate major is a tricky task. It may be that faculty in some academic fields of study tend to do a better job than others with embedding a civic perspective and emphasizing the importance of political participation, and this contributes to higher turnout among students in these majors. Or students’ voting behavior may be explained more by who they are when they arrive at college and less by their course of study.</p>
<p>Students who are already civic-minded may be drawn to civic-oriented majors such as education or political science. And <a href="http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/resources/genderdiff.pdf">women</a> — <a href="http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/resources/genderdiff.pdf">known</a> to vote at higher rates — may be drawn to particular fields such as education or <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/cipdetail.aspx?y=55&cipid=88742">health professions</a>, perhaps due to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12147-017-9195-8">cultural norms</a> pushing them toward fields considered appropriate for women.</p>
<h2>Which majors vote the most?</h2>
<p>Using data from the <a href="https://idhe.tufts.edu/nslve">National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement</a>, we found that — at least at the undergraduate level — education majors vote at the highest rate, followed by health professions, humanities, social sciences, STEM and business majors. </p>
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<p>We also know that among the group of 2 million students we analyzed, STEM students tend to be younger and male while students in the health professions tend to be older and female. In our sample, 82 percent of health professions majors are women, and 60 percent of STEM students are men. The average ages of STEM and health professions majors are 22 and 25, respectively. Age and gender are <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Voice_of_the_People.html?id=_BkVAQAAIAAJ">correlated</a> with voting, so what would college students’ voting rates be if we removed these factors from the equation? </p>
<p>Once we account for age and gender, education majors were still most likely to vote and business majors were still the least likely to vote. Social science and humanities students’ predicted voting rates remain largely unchanged from their actual turnout rates. But for STEM students, the predicted probability of voting after accounting for age and gender goes up 2 percentage points. For students in the health professions, the prediction goes down by over 3 percentage points.</p>
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<p>What does this all mean? For one, it confirms the important role of student characteristics in explaining voting behavior, at least in part. In other words, one reason why voting rates in STEM fields are lower than other disciplines is because STEM majors include more men and younger students who are less likely to vote. It also means that when we talk about differences in civic and political engagement by college major, it is important to consider who is enrolled in those majors.</p>
<h2>The role of race and ethnicity</h2>
<p>In addition to age and gender, race and ethnicity help explain who votes within certain fields of study. Although STEM majors overall had lower turnout than humanities students by nearly 4 percentage points, the picture looks different for Asian women voters. Asian women in STEM majors actually voted at a higher rate than Asian women in humanities, 38.2 percent versus 33.0 percent. Business majors’ turnout was lower than social science majors by about 4 percentage points, but not when it came to black women. Black women business majors voted at a higher rate than black women social science majors, 54.6 percent versus 52.8 percent.</p>
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<p>What’s the takeaway? Even though there are notable overall voting trends by major, it is important to look at factors beyond just the majors to understand the reasons why. Other factors, such as student age, gender, race and ethnicity can reveal surprises and provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between a student’s major and voting. This research can make the work that educators are already doing to improve civic health and the common good more precise and informed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>IDHE has received funding from the Foundation for Civic Leadership and the Rapaport Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hyun Kyoung Ro does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new analysis shows STEM majors tend to vote less than others. But researchers say the relationship between a college major and voter turnout is not necessarily cause and effect.Inger Bergom, Senior Researcher, Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts UniversityHyun Kyoung Ro, Assistant Professor, Bowling Green State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744202017-03-29T01:45:01Z2017-03-29T01:45:01ZDoes it pay to get a double major in college?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162999/original/image-20170328-3824-171jic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whether you have two majors or one, graduation is a celebration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-graduation-people-concept-silhouettes-many-451321816">Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are bombarded with an array of competing opportunities during college, all with the promise that each will lead to a better job or higher earnings upon entering the “real world.”</p>
<p>One such option is the double major, in which a student earns two bachelor degrees at once, sometimes in entirely different disciplines. But will doing so lead to a higher-paying job? Is it worth the “lost” time that could have been spent in other activities such as internships or student government?</p>
<p>In college, I earned several degrees, which led to a broader education that I believe enriched the quality and creativity of my thinking and improved my career prospects. As an economist-in-training, however, I wanted hard data to back up my anecdotal experience. </p>
<p>To do this, I crunched some numbers from the Census Bureau on over two million full-time workers and analyzed them to see if there’s a connection between earning multiple degrees and financial gain in the years following graduation.</p>
<h2>Double-majoring on the decline?</h2>
<p>While double majors have been a <a href="http://www.humanitiescommission.org/_pdf/hss_report.pdf">popular way to balance</a> a deep study of the humanities with traditional degrees in the sciences, basic tabulations suggest that the percent of workers with a double major has been roughly constant, or even decreasing, over the past six years depending on how one restricts the sample.</p>
<p>For example, looking at all individuals between ages 20 and 29, only 12.5 percent of the population had a double major in 2015, which is down from 14.2 percent in 2009, according to my calculations from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/about/how-the-acs-works.html">American Community Survey (ACS) Census</a> data. At the same time, the percent of workers within the same age range with any kind of college degree grew from roughly 23 to 36 percent. </p>
<p>On the one hand, double-majoring can help students avoid becoming overly specialized, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ999086">exposing them to new ways of thinking</a> and communicating with others outside their primary area. On the other, it creates a trade-off with other educational opportunities.</p>
<p>In 2013, the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment went so far as to <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/An-Open-Letter-to-College-and-University-Leaders.pdf">urge universities</a> to “narrow student choice” to promote degree completion – perhaps by restricting or even banning the completion of double majors.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While the number of college graduates in the workforce is growing, the number of double majors is shrinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-young-caucasian-teenager-doing-homework-524995729?src=eCrn33aa2-p3H6vDR8X9yg-1-83">Francesco Corticchia/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>What existing research says</h2>
<p>Previous research on whether a double major pays off has shown mixed results. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09645290802469931?journalCode=cede20">A 2011 paper</a> found that a double major, on average, yields a 3.2 percent earnings premium over a peer with only one degree. The paper noted that the premium ranged from nothing at liberal arts colleges to almost 4 percent at “research and comprehensive” universities. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/div-classtitlethe-private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majorsdiv/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B">more recent study</a>, published in 2016, concluded that liberal arts students who tacked on a second degree in either business or a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field earned somewhat more than their single-major peers. But the authors noted that there was no premium when compared with a single STEM or business degree. </p>
<p>Both of these papers, however, are based on relatively small cross-sections of individuals, which makes them less representative and limits their statistical power. In addition, they focus on single years – 2003 and 2010, respectively – which means the results may be affected by any transient economic conditions that occurred that year. </p>
<h2>What my research showed</h2>
<p>In my own analysis, I examined data on over two million full-time workers aged 20 to 65 over a six-year period (2009-2015) using Census Bureau data. The bureau provides the largest source of publicly available information on individuals and households, helping to ensure that the analysis is both representative and detailed. The data set included information on each individual’s earnings, occupation, undergraduate degrees and a wide range of other demographic data. </p>
<p>My results showed that liberal arts students who take on a second degree in a STEM field earned, on average, 9.5 percent more than their liberal arts peers with only one major, after controlling for individual demographic factors, such as age, years of schooling, marital status, gender, family size and race. Students who combined a liberal arts degree with a business major earned 7.9 percent more.</p>
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<p>You might be thinking that this isn’t really a surprise. Of course STEM majors will earn more than their liberal arts counterparts. While my analysis already controls for the fact that STEM and business majors generally earn more than their counterparts, I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I restricted the sample to compare STEM-liberal arts double majors with those with a single STEM degree. Although the premium shrinks, engineers and scientists who take on an extra liberal arts degree earned 3.6 percent more, on average.</p>
<p>I also wanted to see if the premium exists when comparing people in similar occupations. For example, consider two journalism school grads, one with a single degree, the other with a second in engineering. Naturally the one who becomes a <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/journalist-salary-SRCH_KO0,10.htm">working journalist</a>, which generally pays poorly, will earn less than his classmate who decided journalism wasn’t for her and got a job at <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Salaries-E9079.htm">Google</a>.</p>
<p>So, controlling for occupation, I found that the returns to double-majoring in liberal arts and STEM were 5.2 percent, and 3.4 percent with a business degree. In other words, even when we look within narrow occupational categories, those who double-majored across fields tended to earn more than those with a single degree.</p>
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<h2>So should I double major?</h2>
<p>So for those of you about to head to college, should you go for a double major? Or should you advise it to your kids? </p>
<p>As with anything, it depends. I tried to make my analysis as robust as possible, but it’s still not entirely clear whether the connection between the double degrees and higher earnings is causal. However, my results do suggest it’s more than mere correlation.</p>
<p>Furthermore, an association with higher earnings doesn’t mean the double major is right for everyone, particularly since the premium varies based on an individual’s own career path and preferences. Every college student needs to weigh the pros and cons of every potential opportunity, from picking up a second degree to joining student government. </p>
<p>My research suggests, however, that students who are eager to expose themselves to more frames of thinking and disciplinary knowledge may well be investing in the very foundation that prepares them for a successful and innovative career.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74420/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christos A. Makridis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Double-majoring is thought to broaden your horizons and give you more career options. A new look at seven years of U.S. census data tells us that there may be a financial benefit as well.Christos A. Makridis, Ph.D. Candidate in Labor and Public Economics, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/443462015-07-10T10:16:59Z2015-07-10T10:16:59ZInside the academy, time to ask some difficult questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87802/original/image-20150708-31577-7lapuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What should be the aim of higher education?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubclibrary/2907308773/in/photolist-5qUHBk-8LPzFk-9JtAE4-nQpHva-5oCb9H-m2TZCk-6TaUny-6T6Xjc-aFq8Sz-m2U42e-6AUXTd-o9EmzR-reCUXX-2Xfauj-bpDv8o-r3DXPr-dQzKJV-6TaWfA-aEEvpn-8JXkyM-2kgtEr-5pf6cs-r5weuv-6fJUsR-8KZ8J8-duCBGu-o9PVGR-79CKwC-g5GPED-dgLrxW-aYQaRc-a6RJFa-eYcmc9-kHY1G6-qMa5vo-KXice-nQ7ac5-4cCXDT-6EWkS8-jXuywP-gj5E9q-6hRRXf-6F1vG5-7Uhdnq-9eGYy7-2etCe-5Adove-5zYqyR-6tPdV6-5hJ8dN">UBC Library Communications</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, public discussion of colleges and universities in the United States – and there is a lot of it – is almost exclusively concerned with <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-11-13/college-tuition-in-the-u-s-again-rises-faster-than-inflation">rising costs</a>, the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=88523">job prospects of graduates</a>, <a href="http://www.ginovus.com/the-impact-of-higher-education-on-economic-development/">the contributions of colleges and universities to economic growth</a>, and <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/heres-exactly-how-much-the-government-would-have-to-spend-to-make-public-college-tuition-free/282803/">funding by the states and the federal government</a>. </p>
<p>Although this attention devoted to the economics of higher education is understandable, it has crowded out a discussion of equally fundamental, and perhaps even more fundamental, issues. </p>
<p>At or near the top of this list, I would argue, are: whom should we teach? What should we teach? How should we teach?</p>
<p>The observations (and assertions) that follow are meant to stimulate a conversation about these questions among professors, administrators and students inside the academy – and citizens who are (or should be) interested in the role of colleges and universities as engines of equal opportunity, empowerment and social progress.</p>
<h2>Who gets access?</h2>
<p>Let’s consider the first question: whom should we teach?</p>
<p>Colleges and universities, especially elite institutions, can and should do a lot more to enroll academically talented students from lower- and middle-class families. A study completed in 2003 by the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/cofhe/">Consortium on Financing Higher Education</a> <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo20298951.html">found</a> that 36% of all highly-qualified high school seniors (with excellent grade point averages and combined SAT scores over 1200) come from the top 20% of families as measured by income. Fifty-seven percent of undergraduates at selective colleges and universities, however, come from this group. </p>
<p>Wealthy American families, then, are overrepresented on these campuses by 21%. </p>
<p>Financial aid, provided on the basis of need, is of course essential to addressing this imbalance. But so is outreach to underrepresented students and their families, many of whom do not know much about financial aid, in the form of loans and grants, for which they might be eligible.</p>
<p>As is evident in the above details, greater access to higher education will benefit not only the individuals who matriculate but American society as a whole.</p>
<h2>Making the curriculum matter</h2>
<p>So, the next question is, what should we teach? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87804/original/image-20150708-31604-1nbtnet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The underlying structure of the curriculum in higher ed has remained the same over the years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mad_african78/559303865/in/photolist-Rqzy6-p5dD41-4rJ4NF-egccP7-c2Weij-62DaUa-9dfFM1-7dBxka-pkBSh9-7gqy94-8CuAQr-stPczR-stPd5Z-rwQiXS-f2hb9x-scotS4-scfqrS-scot1p-8CuAkM-srxVFd-rwQhRU-f2hcfz-7dFKnm-7dFuuJ-7dFtaJ-7dBumB-7dFmQS-7csMyR-Dnx7t-88DNkr-88DNkp-88DNkk-9asqg7-4LfYQ8-stPdxn-rx2Nqk-savCjk-stPd72-stPby2-stQYKT-stQYnZ-savCvH-savCiD-stEPLh-rx2MXB-khyGeE-rwQhBA-rwQhCs-stPbVV-rx2MFe">Mad African!: (Broken Sword)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the content of individual courses has undergone constant change, the underlying structure of the curriculum at many liberal arts colleges and universities has remained the same for decades. </p>
<p>It almost always consists of three parts: a major, which is fulfilled with 10 or 12 courses within a single discipline or under a multidisciplinary umbrella; general education, which often takes the form of distribution requirements, two or three courses in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; and electives, which are meant to give students opportunities to pursue intellectual interests or acquire “practical” skills. </p>
<p>As currently constituted, in my view, the curriculum serves the interests of departments and individual faculty members better than it does students.</p>
<p>The major may be best suited to the very few undergraduates who intend to get a PhD in the field. Many majors, especially those in the humanities and “soft” social sciences, have little or no structure, apart from a required introductory course or courses.</p>
<p>Nor is there clear and convincing evidence that focused study in a single discipline (whether it is in a traditional of a vocational field) has a substantial and enduring impact on subject matter mastery, problem-solving, analytical thinking, or reading and writing skills.</p>
<p>General education requirements are even more problematic. Over the years, as <a href="http://www.harvard.edu/history/presidents/bok">Derek Bok, the former president of Harvard University</a>, has observed in his <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10059.html">book</a>, the aims attached to general education requirements have increased. They now include global competence, quantitative skills, ethics and respect for diversity as well as “literacy” in science, government and literature. </p>
<p>At the same time, dare I say it, many departments have developed “watered-down” general education courses for undergraduates who want to get distribution requirements “out of the way.” </p>
<p>Electives, of course, are left to the students – and virtually nothing is known about how they use their freedom of choice. </p>
<p>Are they exploring genuine interests and acquiring practical skills, <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10059.html">Bok asks</a>, or are they taking easy courses to raise their grade point average and pursue extracurricular activities in their spare time? Do they value the electives they have taken more than courses in the major or those taken to fulfill their distribution requirements?</p>
<h2>Transforming teaching</h2>
<p>And finally, how do we teach? </p>
<p>Digital technologies have already had a <a href="http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3084862/">substantive impact</a> on pedagogy. Online presentations, assigned as homework, followed by interactive <a href="http://crln.acrl.org/content/75/1/10.full">“flipped classroom” sessions</a> that build on information that has already been absorbed, and use rapid feedback and collaborative problem-solving, are replacing traditional lectures. </p>
<p>This transformation in teaching methods has only just begun.</p>
<p>The transformation also provides an occasion to evaluate the extent to which colleges and universities are effectively nurturing “critical thinking,” ie, the capacity to evaluate the quality and reliability of information and the claims based on it. </p>
<p>Measurements to assess critical thinking, including the <a href="https://uoeee.asu.edu/collegiate-learning-assessment">Collegiate Learning Assessment</a>, which assesses improvement in writing skills and critical thinking across four years of college, and <a href="http://nsse.indiana.edu/html/about.cfm">National Survey of Student Engagement</a>, which gauges how often students experience rapid feedback, interactive discussion and collaborative problem-solving, are in their infancy. Their findings about critical thinking are not encouraging and should be a basis for discussions about pedagogy.</p>
<h2>Making education relevant</h2>
<p>Those discussions, in my judgment, might include ways to counter the erosion of public confidence in science and scientists. </p>
<p>They might also address the claims recently made by <a href="http://www.philosophy.northwestern.edu/people/continuing-faculty/ebels-duggan-kyla.html">Kyla Ebels-Duggan, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University</a> (in <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo20298951.html">The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice</a>, edited by Harry Brighouse and Michael McPherson, 2015) that 21st-century undergraduates do not defer to the moral authority of tradition (or “Great Books”) and are far more likely to embrace moral relativism (ie, my opinion is as good as his or her opinion). </p>
<p>Better on offense than defense, they often exhibit confidence in their own criticism of a claim and an unwillingness to advance a claim of their own.
To counter these tendencies, Ebels-Duggan proposes that teachers cultivate the intellectual virtues of charity and humility. </p>
<p>More controversially, although she knows she will be accused (by proponents of the pedagogy of <a href="http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/content-neutrality">“content neutrality”</a> and professorial “objectivity”) of politicizing the classroom, she recommends that instructors make explicit their admiration for values such as respect for human rights; equal protection under the law; and the obligation to help those in serious need.</p>
<p>By putting on display ideas such as these – ideas they respect – and explaining why they respect them, Ebels-Duggan emphasizes, teachers might be able to break through their students’ intuition (or belief) that much of what is taught in college is irrelevant to them and the world in which they live. </p>
<p>Her passion serves as a reminder that who we teach, what we teach, and how we teach matters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn Altschuler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An academic asks: whom should we teach? What should we teach? How should we teach?Glenn Altschuler, Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions , Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425342015-06-03T10:28:36Z2015-06-03T10:28:36ZWill the ‘right’ college major get you a job?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83577/original/image-20150601-6960-19vn5fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will college pay off?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/7165383236/in/photolist-bVbsNh-5o55o5-bTpYxc-bVbsTU-9G5Ks2-5o4Y27-5o57AW-5o4XRu-jXcLW1-jXa3vc-jXb2Az-jXbtH5-jXcFJY-jXbJd7-5nZJpD-5o57Kb-9Puj48-5nZLNn-5nZDZe-5nZMR8-5nZSoT-5nZK5c-eftGAF-5nZFoF-5nZRy6-5nZFea-5nZSTa-5nZPbe-5nZFiT-5o5bBy-c2JSho-5nZLw2-5nZWUM-5o56w9-5nZPRk-c2JNK5-jXbHrX-jXcgRr-dArgYz-ciTnXf-4dxqr5-55YATm-ACEHK-6bXF19-jXdTkS-6MkVNG-pbHwym-5o4XWq-5nZL76-r3r6b4">World Bank Photo Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A college education provides lots of benefits. Those benefits include acquiring skills, identifying interests, learning about others across time and space, and establishing personal and professional connections. </p>
<p>Abundant evidence exists that college graduates are more mature and self-confident, better citizens, healthier, wealthier and happier than individuals who do not have an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>As the cost of attendance has skyrocketed, however, students and their parents are focusing more and more on short-term considerations. Does college constitute a sound financial investment? Will a graduate get a good job with a high salary?</p>
<h2>College myths and misconceptions</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/will-college-pay-off/9781610395267">Will College Pay Off?</a>, <a href="https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/1307/">Peter Cappelli</a>, a professor of management and director of the <a href="http://chr.wharton.upenn.edu/#id=chr&num=1">Center for Human Resources</a> at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, draws on existing data on employment and higher education in the United States to provide some surprising and provocative answers to these questions.</p>
<p>In the process, he busts pervasive myths and misconceptions.</p>
<p>Cappelli acknowledges that the average college graduate now earns considerably more than a person with a high school degree and that the gap between them is growing. </p>
<p>He points out, however, that the “<a href="http://www.nber.org/digest/jan08/w12984.html">college wage premium</a>,” the difference between the annual and lifetime earnings of college graduates and those who do not have have an undergraduate degree, has been volatile in the United States over time. As recently as the 1960s and the ‘70s, no gap existed. The current gap is higher for workers who have been out of college longer.</p>
<p>Cappelli implies that it may well narrow sometime soon. </p>
<p>In Italy and China, for example, college grads are no more successful than high school grads in the job market.</p>
<p>According to Cappelli, the current labor force is overeducated – a controversial claim at variance with recommendations by the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/advisory-boards/jobs-council">President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness</a> and other organizations dominated by corporate executives, who, Cappelli implies, have an interest in generating a surplus of qualified workers. </p>
<p>The average worker, he indicates, has about 30% more education than his or her job requires. About 60% of parking lot attendants have some college education. To document his conclusion, Cappelli includes the results of a survey on employment outcomes 2010-2012 conducted by the <a href="http://www.cepr.net/">Center for Economic and Policy Research</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83576/original/image-20150601-6955-1c1y3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employers are looking for people with decision-making skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danimal0416/3485785271/in/photolist-6j2yw4-6i5NFA-41Hx4o-a6BM2e-7NXPkK-5rrWfF-nPx3CL-8NWrhn-8TZg4D-atj7Y1-8cBeJX-eeKiRu-6PEEja-oYnMVT-6Uf74y-6Uf83J-aFbHZg-4MfQ8t-de7EZ2-de7DL9-7vdF28-7Cofgn-85gLHF-ANyGQ-9dvPRx-8BwGZu-dRgyWX-parRJW-pPP1fZ-oF1mbX-9NgKmj-6Ub5kT-6Uf6wL-pauCPa-e4TUDk-9HE1wN-asr6TB-c5zyth-6Uf6Nj-6257N2-9kuNcB-atxkPo-4SWhzD-asr6iB-2id2dk-k2BFr-ass94X-9Ncsmp-aDiArQ-nv41xK">Daniel Johnson, Jr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://www.cepr.net/documents/black-coll-grads-2014-05.pdf">survey</a> shows that 22% of recent graduates in engineering, 23% in education, 26% in health, 31% in math and computing, 36% in sciences, 43% in architecture and construction, 47% in social sciences, 48% in agriculture and natural resources, 51% in business, 55% in the liberal arts, 56% in communications and 56% in leisure and hospitality were in jobs where a bachelor’s degree was not required!</p>
<h2>Encouraging a job-specific major is wrong advice</h2>
<p>Cappelli insists as well that the assumptions about the (decidedly positive) average financial impact of a college education have limited utility. One reason is that graduation rates have declined significantly, with fewer than 60% of students, many of them laden with loans, getting a degree six years after they entered as freshmen. </p>
<p>There are also dramatic differences between the “sticker price” and the tuition and fees families actually pay. Also, the variation across schools and fields for those who do graduate is quite large. Additionally, there is an excessive emphasis these days on <a href="http://www.engage-sbs.com/the-lifelong-impact-of-our-first-job/">first jobs</a>, even though they are no longer a reliable indicator of a successful career path.</p>
<p>Equally important, Cappelli maintains that choosing a major in a field that is “hot,” an approach many politicians want to tie to financial support, is a “fool’s errand.” </p>
<p>For one thing, labor markets are notoriously volatile. In response to the <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20150120/map-fracking-boom-state-state">fracking boom,</a> for example, enrollments in petroleum engineering have tripled; this huge surge, he predicts, will soon make the field as unattractive as it was in the 1980s. </p>
<p>And, contrary to conventional wisdom, there does not appear to be a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-the-science-and-engineering-shortage/284359/">shortage of “STEM” (science, technology, engineering, math) grads</a>. While the number of STEM grads is increasing dramatically, only 22% of recent undergraduates who completed majors in science and math got jobs using these skills.</p>
<p>Cappelli also asserts that the increasingly pervasive tendency to push students into specialized, occupation-specific courses or majors – in animation, invasive cardiovascular technology, bakery science, turf and turf grass management, fire protection engineering – “may well be exactly the wrong advice.” </p>
<h2>Just pursue your passion</h2>
<p>Employees prefer to hire people who have decision-making, organizational and planning, problem-solving, writing and communication skills.</p>
<p>These skills, Cappelli suggests, are best learned in liberal arts programs. Currently derided by proponents of a more “practical” curriculum, the liberal arts, he writes, “may make the greatest intellectual and learning demands on students of any field.” </p>
<p>To be sure, a liberal arts degree does not come with a guarantee of a big financial payoff. But then again, despite implicit and explicit promises, neither do the much ballyhooed applied vocational degrees.</p>
<p>Sending a child to college is often the most significant decision a family makes. A college degree can, and often does, pay substantial dividends (some of them financial) on that investment. </p>
<p>But the relationship between the choice of a specific institution and a major and a lucrative (and fulfilling) first job and career is complicated. It has lots of moving parts. </p>
<p>And so the best advice to prospective students may well be advice that has been around for a long time: after factoring in need-based financial aid and/or merit-based scholarships, go to the college with the best students and the most distinguished faculty. </p>
<p>Major in what interests you most and what you are best at.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn Altschuler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Should you pursue the major that you have a passion for, or one that is considered “hot” for getting a job with a high salary?Glenn Altschuler, Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions , Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.