Reply #13

In the discussion thread: About college majors. A lot of people blame students for choosing impractical majors [View all]

Response to pnwmom (Original post)

Mon Apr 23, 2012, 03:47 AM

ProfessionalLeftist (4,982 posts)

13. Had a co-worker tell me that - basically blamed the students

for choosing impractical majors. We were talking about OWS and he said it's a bunch of pissed off college students that went to expensive schools and picked bad majors so are now unemployed and in debt.

However, when I read today that 50% of college students are either unemployed or underemployed in menial jobs on graduation, I think the problem is a hell of a lot bigger than that. The problem is there are NO JOBS. For anyone. With any college major. At. All. Well. Unless you like flipping burgers. . .

So I think this 'meme' - which it apparently is - is pure BS.

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139 replies	Author	Time	Post
About college majors. A lot of people blame students for choosing impractical majors [View all]	pnwmom	Apr 2012	OP
When was the last time we commonly had 'shop' and 'home ec' as optional courses in high school???	elleng	Apr 2012	#1
Wow, home economics. That takes me back.	Zalatix	Apr 2012	#5
I had to take home eco in california public schools as a kid.	Liberal_in_LA	Apr 2012	#131
Both are required courses in7th grade	exboyfil	Apr 2012	#33
The high school my son goes to still teaches them ...	surrealAmerican	Apr 2012	#39
I had them both in middle school	Taylor Smite	Apr 2012	#53
I had them in high school, I graduated in 2004.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#92
I had shop and enjoyed it. Even though I never went into any of the fields.	LiberalFighter	Apr 2012	#106
I think the importance of the major choice on the job market is a misconception	Hippo_Tron	Apr 2012	#2
I think you're right. Humanities and social science majors can learn	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#3
Not necessarily true about sticking with engineering once	exboyfil	Apr 2012	#34
Dream on..	deaniac21	Apr 2012	#98
How recently have you applied for an entry level job or hired somebody for one?	Hippo_Tron	Apr 2012	#102
I hired an entry level technician in February	deaniac21	Apr 2012	#132
What? Nothing to back that up with?	Iris	Apr 2012	#129
Spam deleted by William769 (MIR Team)	james_blocker	May 2012	#139
I think Liberal Arts students are very skilled at debate, and really know how to think.	MADem	Apr 2012	#4
I've been seeing posts like this. The parent's blaming himself and the kid for choosing	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#8
I don't think education is ever wasted. I don't think there is a "wrong" path.	MADem	Apr 2012	#11
In my state you actually need a regular certification even to substitute teach.	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#15
I know people in MA, MD and CA who do it as a full time job, more or less.	MADem	Apr 2012	#80
There are so many unemployed teachers and new graduates with certifications, our state	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#86
as the parent	handmade34	Apr 2012	#71
He will be ok.	Iris	Apr 2012	#78
Advanced education is not expensive at all...	Fumesucker	Apr 2012	#25
State schools often have fairly affordable online programs.	MADem	Apr 2012	#84
THIS! You win the thread.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#95
Amen to this	AngryAmish	Apr 2012	#126
I'm planning on going to law school...	white_wolf	Apr 2012	#133
Thinking like a lawyer is just issue spotting	AngryAmish	Apr 2012	#134
Wife majored in nursing	Taylor Smite	Apr 2012	#54
She should try taking one course in archaeology, either at a local state school or online, if	MADem	Apr 2012	#88
I selected my major based 100% on what educational program I was most interested in, not by career.	NYC_SKP	Apr 2012	#6
Only a $3,000 debt at the end? The average now is $25K, and that's just undergrad.	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#7
Graduating Class of 1984.	NYC_SKP	Apr 2012	#9
I was $25K in debt after undergrad and that was back in 1986. I paid it all off.	IndyJones	Apr 2012	#21
We really need a latter-day Martin Luther to come along and tack up	coalition_unwilling	Apr 2012	#10
Flame away? How about a round of applause!	MADem	Apr 2012	#12
+10	NYC_SKP	Apr 2012	#14
IMHO college football can go straight to Hell.	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#96
For making money for universities and supporting 20+ other sports	joeglow3	Apr 2012	#136
If the football/basketball team is a net reveue generator, I'm fine with paying the coach more	Hippo_Tron	Apr 2012	#104
Why any institution of higher education should use intercollegiate athletics	coalition_unwilling	Apr 2012	#121
Had a co-worker tell me that - basically blamed the students	ProfessionalLeftist	Apr 2012	#13
People can't retire.	dkf	Apr 2012	#20
. . . because their cost of living is skyrocketing while their real dollar wage remains flat.	HughBeaumont	Apr 2012	#26
Frankly letting Medicare costs get out of control and covering only at 65	dkf	Apr 2012	#32
lol... one track mind. Kill the New Deal!!!!!!! Blame it on the little people...	fascisthunter	Apr 2012	#59
I am in support of single payer that controls costs.	dkf	Apr 2012	#114
I majored in English. I don't know anyone from my program who does not have a career now.	Iris	Apr 2012	#66
Yup. What English majors know how to do is to communicate.	MineralMan	Apr 2012	#82
Less than 20% of students study hard sciences or engineering.	bluestate10	Apr 2012	#87
I met a young man who was working part-time at a sewing machine repair shop...	Zookeeper	Apr 2012	#16
Our oldest daughter has a double major from a prestigious public university in Philosophy and...	phylny	Apr 2012	#18
Ouch! I wish her the best of luck finding something more suitable. n/t	Zookeeper	Apr 2012	#19
Wasn't always that way	NNN0LHI	Apr 2012	#22
^^ this ^^	Warren Stupidity	Apr 2012	#29
I remember growing up in the midwest in the 60's and 70's and the kids	madinmaryland	Apr 2012	#41
Yes, I lived through that also. And life was good.	jwirr	Apr 2012	#51
I remember those days, and went to college...	Zookeeper	Apr 2012	#58
A few months?!	white_wolf	Apr 2012	#77
Well, a good union job at an auto plant and....	Zookeeper	Apr 2012	#105
My wife is working this summer as office manager at a summer camp	Throckmorton	Apr 2012	#79
A friend of my daughter did that last summer...	Zookeeper	Apr 2012	#108
No advertising at all here,	Throckmorton	Apr 2012	#124
I took up two things in college!	Oldtimeralso	Apr 2012	#17
Well for some it may serve as a cautionary tale.	dkf	Apr 2012	#23
Business majors risk not finding a job.	Iris	Apr 2012	#67
Everyone does. But certain majors have higher risks some of which are knowable.	dkf	Apr 2012	#115
That's bullshit.	Iris	Apr 2012	#128
So should they just drop out of college if they can't get into one of the most selective majors?	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#118
My son is switching from a math major to a communications major.	Marrah_G	Apr 2012	#24
Isn't "Communications" what the airheads major in?	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#99
I'm sorry, I had it wrong	Marrah_G	Apr 2012	#100
No problem!	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#101
That sort of thing depends on the university	Hippo_Tron	Apr 2012	#111
I hope you're being facetious. Plenty of people have gotten jobs with communications majors.	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#119
Spam deleted by William769 (MIR Team)	CommPro17	Apr 2012	#130
No. At many Unis, it is Journalism, not Looking Good on TV	REP	Apr 2012	#122
33 years ago I graduated with a music major, having taken	no_hypocrisy	Apr 2012	#27
well done...says this philosophy + art grad :)	nashville_brook	Apr 2012	#94
Also, not everyone can be an engineer	NutmegYankee	Apr 2012	#28
LOL...	OneTenthofOnePercent	Apr 2012	#81
my soon to be stepson is majoring in math	blueamy66	Apr 2012	#30
I'm a geologist	TransitJohn	Apr 2012	#31
I think geology and geomorphology would be good	XemaSab	Apr 2012	#46
They should take semiconductor circuit analysis as well	snooper2	Apr 2012	#56
Get into fracking and move to W-PA or NE-OH	OneTenthofOnePercent	Apr 2012	#85
That'd be good if I were starting out.	TransitJohn	Apr 2012	#89
It's not as if kids' majoring in engineering produces more engineering jobs	Recursion	Apr 2012	#35
actually, oddly enough, it is like more kids majoring in engineering produces more engineering jobs	Warren Stupidity	Apr 2012	#42
Then why have the number of STEM jobs gone down while the number of STEM graduates has gone up? (nt)	Recursion	Apr 2012	#43
hmmm....	Warren Stupidity	Apr 2012	#45
China produces more than 1M engineers each yr	JCMach1	Apr 2012	#117
I agree with you somewhat.	aikoaiko	Apr 2012	#36
www.thebestdegrees.org...these jobs are decent paying and high chance of getting	uponit7771	Apr 2012	#38
haha. Yeah. right.	Iris	Apr 2012	#70
I got my degree in General Psychology and ended up in IT for most of the last 30 years	slackmaster	Apr 2012	#37
Not everyone has what it takes for certain majors	tabbycat31	Apr 2012	#40
I disagree with you about "strengths", although I agree with you about interests	Hippo_Tron	Apr 2012	#138
I had to come up with a major on the spot- registration day.	ceile	Apr 2012	#44
Up to age 21, the focus should be on identifying marketable talents and developing marketable skills	FarCenter	Apr 2012	#47
Maybe we should be encouraging more kids to take up a trade	4th law of robotics	Apr 2012	#48
Sure with the caveat that they do it in a trade school	Iris	Apr 2012	#68
I blame colleges	FreeJoe	Apr 2012	#49
The fact still remains that people with college degrees make more over a lifetime	Iris	Apr 2012	#72
There are some who choose not to join the rat race and study what's interesting.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Apr 2012	#50
Well they don't get to complain about the 80K in student loan debt then	snooper2	Apr 2012	#57
Why can't they complain?	Tierra_y_Libertad	Apr 2012	#64
Exactly. This talk of "bad choices" placing the burden on students	Iris	Apr 2012	#75
I don't think that anyone should major in something that they are below average	Nikia	Apr 2012	#52
Experts predict that 60% of the best jobs in the next 10 years haven't even been invented yet	riderinthestorm	Apr 2012	#55
I sure blame myself	hfojvt	Apr 2012	#60
My English major friend and I got jobs pretty much right out of school. I know accounting majors and	Erose999	Apr 2012	#61
haha! Yes! See my post above.	Iris	Apr 2012	#69
Igneous petrology has nothing to do with finding oil.	TransitJohn	Apr 2012	#76
Ahh, ok well thats not as excitinc as petroleum then. Not a lot of igneous rock where we are, anyway	Erose999	Apr 2012	#123
I'm a senior in Religious Studies; people gave me the '?' line, now I'm going to law school! ^_^ nt	cecilfirefox	Apr 2012	#62
One of the first thing fascists do is kill off the intellectuals	datasuspect	Apr 2012	#63
Autocrats of the right and left kill off the intellectuals they disagree with	FarCenter	Apr 2012	#127
because everything is always the fault of workers in this wonderful land of individual "choice".	HiPointDem	Apr 2012	#65
Amen!	white_wolf	Apr 2012	#73
People have to decide why they are going to college	treestar	Apr 2012	#74
Agreed.	bluestate10	Apr 2012	#91
The only engineering major that does not get hired readily are Civil engineers.	bluestate10	Apr 2012	#83
I just came across this:	TransitJohn	Apr 2012	#90
journalism is particularly hard hit -- but that's not the only area for English grads	nashville_brook	Apr 2012	#97
Grr, Journalism?	white_wolf	Apr 2012	#112
Back in the day you could get a decent office job most anywhere...	Odin2005	Apr 2012	#93
They missed listing the Major in Minimum Wage	cr8tvlde	Apr 2012	#103
The brilliant Garrison Keillor was an English Major and was forced	Elwood P Dowd	Apr 2012	#107
there is no "right" major	noiretextatique	Apr 2012	#109
Agreed!	Piltdown13	Apr 2012	#110
The other point I forgot to mention is that the non-technical degrees	pnwmom	Apr 2012	#120
PhDs are a very risky proposition	FarCenter	Apr 2012	#125
Unless we want a society of composed totally of technocrats and engineers	frazzled	Apr 2012	#113
A lot of people blame students for choosing impractical majors	harun55	Apr 2012	#116
How many majors turn people away?	joeglow3	Apr 2012	#135
"there just aren't enough of those technical slots for all the students who want them"	Spoonman	Apr 2012	#137

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