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    The McMaster Department of Philosophy has now put together the following notice commemorating Barry: Barry Allen: A Philosophical Life Barry…

The ten “most regretted” college majors

Brian Leiter

Some deserving ones on the list, some surprising ones; this is by percentage of those who majored in a subject who would now have picked a different one:

1.  Journalism (87%)

2.  Sociology (72%)

3.  Liberal arts/general studies (72%) [not sure how this is defined]

4.  Communications (64%)

5.  Education (61%)

6.  Marketing management & research (60%)

7.  Medical/clinical assisting (58%)

8.  Political science/government (56%)

9.  Biology (52%)

9.  English language & literature (52%)

Curious what readers make of this list. 

(Thanks to Ruchira Paul for the pointer.)

UPDATE:  As Professor Mayer points out in the comments, this is based on a survey of “job seekers,” so not at all a representative sample of colleges graduates.  

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7 responses to “The ten “most regretted” college majors”

  1. Gregory C. Mayer

    The data come from a survey of "job seekers", not of the population of college graduates as a whole. "Job seekers" almost certainly would have a considerably higher proportion of respondents who don't have a job or don't like the job they do have. The results can thus *not* be read as the percentage of college graduates who regret their major.

    For example, it could well be the case that 90% of sociology majors are happy with their choice of major, but that 72% of those sociology majors who are job seeking regret their choice of major. It might be that rates of regret are correlated between job seekers and non-job seekers, but without data from a survey of non-job seekers, any supposed correlation would be speculative.

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  2. s. wallerstein

    I majored in English literature, in the 60's. I chose it because it was easy, it was cool and impressed girls, you could get by bull-shitting and I got to read all the great books which I had never read and were completely unexplored territory for me.

    When I was 18 or 19, I didn't know myself well enough to chose otherwise (except to chose what my parents wanted me to study, which I surely was NOT going to do). I knew how society functioned even less.

    With the years I've realized that I should have studied psychology and that I would have liked to have been some kind of psychotherapist and that I would have been fairly good at that or at least that's what friends tell me.

    Very few people know themselves well enough at age 18 or 19 to chose the major which suits them.

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  3. Phil

    At 17 I was firmly intending to do Philosophy – ideally at Oxford and as Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) – until my older sister, who'd done an MA in English, persuaded me that (a) academic philosophy had nothing to do with having Deep Thoughts about the Universe (which was what I thought of as philosophy) and (b) I was good at English at school, and at university I could take it further and do more of the deep-thought stuff in that context. Which was well-intentioned and well-argued – and I am glad to have avoided the "bluffer's guide to everything" that is PPE – but overall I wish I'd stuck to my guns. (My subsequent disciplinary progression has gone "20th century history -> sociology -> criminology -> law -> jurisprudence"; "philosophy -> law -> jurisprudence" would have saved a lot of time.)

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  4. overseas

    Most of the 87% who regret journalism probably regret it because it did not lead to a job in journalism. Most of the 61% who regret education probably regret it because it did lead to a job in education.

    Reply
  5. Erik Berquist

    I'm grateful I realized this early. I completed a master's degree in philosophy and quickly transitioned to a counseling program. I'm struck by two things as I look back. First, I realize that much of my interest in philosophy can be attributed to a sort of existential OCD. I don't regret pursing philosophy (I believe it makes me a better counselor), but it didn't offer the solace I was hoping to find. Second, during my career counseling meetings with undergrads, I'm often struck by how historically peculiar the career exploration process is, i.e., few preceding generations had the luxury of choosing what major to pursue. I'm sure Charles Taylor would have something interesting to say about the matter.

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  6. tom llewellyn

    I made excellent high school grades in math and science. Teachers told me I should study engineering, which I started my college career in. Hated it! Dropped out, went in the army, Vietnam, etc. Hated it! Started out in college as a Goldwater conservative and left the army as an anti-war socialist. Thanks to the G.I. Bill I could return to college and study human nature. Why do humans keep screwing things up? Got B.S. in psychology and an M.A. in sociology. Studied graduate philosophy for 3 yrs. Departmental politics–hated it! Ended up overeducated and underskilled. Now working on my magnum opus, Hope Springs Eternal in the Heart of a Fool: A Nihilistic Critique of Contemporary Political Philosophy. Probably will die of old age before it is finished.

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  7. s. wallerstein

    Thanks.

    One more observation: if someone at age 19 or 20 says that they plan to get married, most of us will probably suggest that they're too young, that it's wise to wait to choose a life-time mate until one is more mature, maybe in their thirties, maybe even a bit later except for the problem that women have bearing children after 40.

    However, it is assumed that someone at age 19 or 20 knows themself well enough to choose a subject of study which will interest them as an academic pursuit or as the basis of a professional career.

    It seems to me that it takes the same degree of life experience which has been processed and learned from to chose a subject of study which will intrigue one for the rest of one's life as is does to chose a mate who will
    fascinate one for the rest of one's life.

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