The constant question of any college student, but especially of those with more obscure majors is: “so, what are you going to do with that?” Another way of putting this is “it’s great that you love what you’re studying at all, but how are you going to make that degree pay?”
Overall, I think that this is a very valuable question for all majors and students and college so that they have some plan or idea of where they want to go in the future, but especially of those who are pursuing their passions. Passion pursuing is definitely not exclusive to liberal arts at all, but I think because those in STEM or business fields see a more ready or easy application of their study to the general job market, it is especially important for liberal arts majors.
More than that, it’s just a fair question of any friend, parent, or mentor, to make sure a student keeps their life on track.
For the sake of this post, I will not consider the application of a liberal arts degree simply to teach the same subject at a college or university. Though this is a very viable and good option, this is applicable to every field and as such, I want to discuss the use of a liberal arts degree in a broader job market.
To begin, I will be completely honest and say that a liberal arts degree does not pay the most. In a Brookings article on the value of a liberal arts education, it plainly states that “on average, people with a liberal arts degree earned only $50,000 a year while those with other degrees earned $65,000.
$15,000 is a lot of money as any person who spent a semester at Penn State can tell you.
Though it is not a good indication of the population as a whole, it is interesting to note however the number of top 1%ers who majored in a liberal arts field as seen in the table below from the New York Times (liberal arts majors are bolded). 8/25 (nearly 1/3) of these are liberal arts majors which is actually a trend with some CEOs such as “Goldman Sachs’ CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, [who] has a degree in history,” and “Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan. Anthem’s CEO, Gail Boudreaux, [who] studied psychology/sociology,” (Whitler).
| Undergraduate Degree | Total | % Who Are 1 Percenters | Share of All 1 Percenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Medical Preparatory Programs | 142,345 | 11.8% | 0.9% |
| Economics | 1,237,863 | 8.2% | 5.4% |
| Biochemical Sciences | 193,769 | 7.2% | 0.7% |
| Zoology | 159,935 | 6.9% | 0.6% |
| Biology | 1,864,666 | 6.7% | 6.6% |
| International Relations | 146,781 | 6.7% | 0.5% |
| Political Science and Government | 1,427,224 | 6.2% | 4.7% |
| Physiology | 98,181 | 6.0% | 0.3% |
| Art History and Criticism | 137,357 | 5.9% | 0.4% |
| Chemistry | 780,783 | 5.7% | 2.4% |
| Molecular Biology | 64,951 | 5.6% | 0.2% |
| Area, Ethnic and Civilization Studies | 184,906 | 5.2% | 0.5% |
| Finance | 1,071,812 | 4.8% | 2.7% |
| History | 1,351,368 | 4.7% | 3.3% |
| Business Economics | 108,146 | 4.6% | 0.3% |
| Miscellaneous Psychology | 61,257 | 4.3% | 0.1% |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies | 448,095 | 4.3% | 1.0% |
| Microbiology | 147,954 | 4.2% | 0.3% |
| Chemical Engineering | 347,959 | 4.1% | 0.8% |
| Physics | 346,455 | 4.1% | 0.7% |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration | 334,016 | 3.9% | 0.7% |
| Accounting | 2,296,601 | 3.9% | 4.7% |
| Mathematics | 840,137 | 3.9% | 1.7% |
| English Language and Literature | 1,938,988 | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Miscellaneous Biology | 52,895 | 3.7% | 0.1% |
But as we all know, the top 1% are no indication of what things actually look like for regular people.
What does it look like for actual people?
Well, as it is said above, if money is what you’re looking for, I will agree that the general liberal arts student may not make as much as STEM related fields.
However, what is benefited is career development.
Firstly, because there is an intense focus on overall growth rather than simply technical skills growth, a liberal arts degree “they [employers] believe that a liberal education — or preparation for more than a specific job — provides knowledge and skills that are important for career success,” (Flaherty). Some of these skills include teamwork, critical thinking, analysis skills, ethical reasoning, and other important job skills.
Though it is definitely true that other degrees such as those in business and STEM also achieve these general skills in some sense, the focus of liberal arts on these skills further develops them essentially rather than accidentally giving students a greater handle on the idea. Moreover, because the skills are learned unto themselves rather than in specific scenarios, and thus are more widely and easily applicable.
Not only are these skills recommended in theory, but in a study with recent graduates, many stated that the skills and competencies they most needed moving into the work field were “closely connected to traditional liberal arts curricula,” (Cameron).
So, in this sense, the aspect of a liberal arts education that is generally criticized –it’s lack of direct application– actually lends itself to the broad skills that a wide range of employers are looking for, rather than a select few. This not only makes the job search easier, but also means that finding the perfect job or switching jobs if necessary is a more distinct possibility for liberal arts majors.
Finally, because the education in such a liberal arts degree is conducive to life-long learning (as shown in the last post) this makes job advancement readily available for such students. Though this overall does little to the pay gap, it does allow for growth in other ways besides the financial sector.
Overall, if money is the thing that you’re distinctly looking for at college, I will admit, STEM or business might suit you better. But in general, to have a widely applicable, easily advanceable, and very desirable degree, liberal arts has options to make this possible (or just learn to code). In general, this lends itself to jobs that are fulfilling in themselves rather than by their monetary rewards and includes many less stressful jobs that, though they do not pay as much, can be conducive to greater happiness rather than burnout.
See you next week!
Works Cited
Cameron, John, et al. “The value of liberal arts education for finding professional employment: Insights from international development studies graduates in Canada.” Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 11, no. 3, 2019, pp. 574-589. ProQuest, https://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/value-liberal-arts-education-finding-professional/docview/2242069882/se-2, doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-07-2018-0141.
Dewan, Shaila, and Robert Gebeloff. “What the Top 1% of Earners Majored In.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Jan. 2012, archive.nytimes.com/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/what-the-top-1-of-earners-majored-in/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Census%20Bureau%E2%80%99s%202010%20American%20Community,biochemistry%2C%20zoology%20and%2C%20yes%2C%20biology%2C%20in%20that%20order.
Flaherty, Colleen. “AAC&U Survey Finds Employers Want Candidates with Liberal Arts Skills but Cite ‘Preparedness Gap.’” Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs, www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/06/aacu-survey-finds-employers-want-candidates-liberal-arts-skills-cite-preparedness. Accessed 8 Feb. 2024.
Startz, Dick, et al. “Don’t Knock the Economic Value of Majoring in the Liberal Arts.” Brookings, 4 Dec. 2023, www.brookings.edu/articles/dont-knock-the-economic-value-of-majoring-in-the-liberal-arts/.
Whitler, Kimberly A. “New CEO Study: The Undergraduate Degrees of Fortune 100 CEOS.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/10/05/new-ceo-study-the-undergraduate-degrees-and-majors-of-fortune-100-ceos/?sh=14f9a6e94130.