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 MajorsChemical 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.
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?
ReplyDeleteDoes 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?