Thursday, December 8, 2011

Faculty Salary Review pt. 2

Maybe this is why the more “liberal” majors, centred more on learning, rather than the “practicality” of a job earn more. From the Princeton Review:

Top Paying College Majors

Chemical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Electrical/Electronics/Communications Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Computer Science

Accounting

Economics/Finance/Banking

Civil Engineering

Business Adminstration/Management

Marketing/Marketing Management/Marketing Research


If these are the majors that pay the most, then I suppose it makes sense to colleges and universities across the country to pay faculty who teach the above subjects more. More majors=more competition.


Maybe this list is why these faculty members make less, even though most everyone who teaches at a collegiate level is essentially equally qualified:


Top 10 Worst Majors

Religion

Film

Latin

English Lit

Dance

Communications

Music Therapy

American Studies

Philosophy

Art History


So is that the way it has to be? Are we to not value pure education over the practicality of a job? Is the scholar of English literature worth less to the world than the the biochemist? We all study, we all work, and every field has its qualified members, Ph.D in hand after years of schooling, just raring to go.


But for some reason, Business trumps History, Biochemistry trumps English literature, Accounting trumps Foreign Languages. That's the way Frostburg State University seems to operate. That's the way most of America's colleges and universities seem to operate. Maybe, it can change one day.

1 comment:

  1. Kyle, you write, "The more 'liberal' majors, centred [sic] more on learning, rather than the 'practicality' of a job earn more," but the Top Paying College Majors list that follows is rife with "practical" majors, as opposed to liberal-arts majors such as English and history. Is this contradictory?

    Does the "Worst Majors" list likewise come from the Princeton Review, and how does it define "worst"? You imply "lowest paying," but that's unclear.

    Also, what evidence do you have for, "Most everyone who teaches at a collegiate level is essentially equally qualified"? Does that mean, say, that an adjunct in English is as qualified as a full professor in accounting, or that an adjunct in geography is as qualified as a full professor in art?

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