Choosing a major in college is one of the most important decisions in your academic career – or not. Facts are, many, if not most, people wind up working in fields that have nothing whatsoever to do with their undergraduate areas of concentration. Indeed, the world is full of physicists-turned-cabdrivers and English-majors-becoming-sales-managers.

The phenomenon is in particular pronounced with those who spent their time in the humanities, including certain social sciences for example psychology (but not economics). Quite a few students, not to mention their long-suffering parents, bemoan the fact that they graduate with massive amounts of debt while job prospects are few or non-existent and certainly by no means financially rewarding.

But in point of fact, nothing at all is amiss. The promise of the liberal arts education was never a guaranteed meal ticket, but that of a well-rounded individual, able to alternately distinguish and appreciate nuances. Generally speaking, those who are far more intelligent will make far more money, specially in a knowledge-based economy.

This knowledge or information economy demands that folks be more analytical, that they have a command of the facts. Nonetheless, such an economy – in this sort of a planet – raises the bar for all, such that a college degree is but the equivalent of a high school diploma decades ago.

Thus despite the need for education, it is really worth less, in terms of financial recompense down the road, than it used to be. Individuals with degrees will still tend to make more money over their lifetimes than those that don’t, but this sort of statistics, governing whole populations, do not promise anything to any specific individual.

And since an undergraduate degree is now in effect the minimum standard for ever more entry-level jobs in more and more fields, it truly doesn’t matter what you choose to major in – unless you’re doing software engineering (and even then an employer will likely decide on real-world experience over mere paper credentials).

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