College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs: The Actual Jobs, Earnings, and Trends for Graduates of 60 College Majors (College Majors Handbook With Real Career Paths and Payoffs)

656 Pages·2004·6.01 MB·English

by  Neeta P. Fogg

college_pdf layout 9/8/03 2:34 PM Page 1
Based on the employment experiences of 150,000 college graduates!
College
Second Edition
Majors
H A N D B O O K
with Real Career Paths and Payoffs
The Actual Jobs, Earnings, and Trends
for Graduates of 60 College Majors
“This book focuses on perhaps an even more important decision than where
to go to school: what to study once you get there. . . . a heavy dose of reality
to what happens after you receive that diploma.”
Theresa McUsic, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Neeta P. Fogg, Ph.D. Paul E. Harrington, Ed.D. Thomas F. Harrington, Ph.D.
America’s Career Publisher
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S e c o n d E d i t i o n
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H A N D B O O K
with Real Career Paths and Payoffs
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Neeta P. Fogg, Ph.D. Paul E. Harrington, Ed.D. Thomas F. Harrington, Ph.D.
Foreword by Michael Farr, America’s Foremost Career Author
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The Actual Jobs, Earnings, and Trends for Graduates of 60 College Majors
Previous edition was titled The College Majors Handbook.
© 2004 by JIST Publishing, Inc.
Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing, Inc.
8902 Otis Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46216-1033
Phone: [phone]-JIST Fax: 1-800-JIST-FAX E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.jist.com
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Interior Layout: Carolyn Newland
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Indexer: Henthorne House
Printed in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fogg, Neeta.
College majors handbook with real career paths and payoffs : the actual jobs,
earnings, and trends for graduates of 60 college majors / Neeta P. Fogg, Paul E.
Harrington, Thomas F. Harrington ; foreword by Michael Farr.— 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: College majors handbook. c2001.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-59357-074-0
1. Vocational guidance—United States. 2. Vocational interests—United States. 3.
College majors—United States. 4. Professions—United States. I. Harrington, Paul.
II. Harrington, Thomas F. III. Fogg, Neeta. College majors handbook. IV. Title.
HF5382.5.U5F644 2004
331.702’0973—dc22
2004007907
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or
retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles
or reviews. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of
United States copyright laws. For permission requests, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at
www.copyright.com or [phone].
We have been careful to provide accurate information throughout this book, but it is possible that errors and omissions
have been introduced. Please consider this in making any career plans or other important decisions. Trust your own
judgment above all else and in all things.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or regis-
tered trademarks of their respective owners.
ISBN 1-59357-074-0
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Where was this book when I needed it?
I went through four years of high school without any meaningful career counsel-
ing or help in selecting a college major. Fortunately, I assumed I would go to
college, but I selected my first major based on little information. In college, I
still didn’t get any useful help in exploring career options or selecting a college
major, so of course I changed my pre-med major to something impractical,
English. After working a few years in unrelated jobs, I went on to a master’s
degree in counseling psychology with no meaningful career counseling.
Too many people make similarly important decisions with little solid informa-
tion. I’ve turned out okay, but it sure would have been helpful back then to
know more about majors that interested me and how they related to career
outcomes.
I often still hear people say things like
◗
“Liberal arts (or whatever) is not a good degree, since you can’t get a
good job with it.”
◗
“Get a degree in physical therapy (or whatever) because it pays well.”
◗
“A college degree is a waste of time. My sister-in-law has one and is
working as a waitress.”
But are these and similar statements true? And are earnings and job prospects
the most important things to consider when selecting a college major?
This book will help you get solid answers to these and other important ques-
tions. Instead of presenting someone’s opinion, this book presents the actual
employment experiences of 150,000 people who obtained four-year college
degrees. It gives us the facts about the actual jobs they work in, how much
they earn, and other employment-related details for graduates in 60 majors.
Frontmatter_.p65 3 5/12/2004, 11:18 AM
College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs _______________________________
Finally, we know what actually happened to those who majored in the liberal
arts, education, psychology, business, engineering, and so many other fields.
And the results will sometimes surprise you! For example, I would not have
guessed that the job most often held by psychology majors is “managers, ex-
ecutives, or administrators.” Or that political science majors end up in the
wide range of jobs that they actually do. It makes for interesting reading and
will certainly help you look at some college majors in different ways.
And as for wondering whether going to college is worth it, this book answers
that question with an emphatic “YES!” by laying out the compelling economic
data that supports doing so. More importantly, the book will encourage you to
understand how to afford going to college, as well as help you make a good de-
cision regarding just what college majors best meet your interests, values, and
employment goals.
I consider this book to be the most helpful one on its topic, and I recommend
it without hesitation for anyone who is considering going to college or who is
selecting or changing a college major.
I only wish the authors had written it earlier.
Michael Farr
Editor’s note: Mike is an author of more than 20 books on job seeking and exploring career and learning
options, including The Very Quick Job Search, The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book, Same-Day Resume, and
Best Jobs for the 21st Century. Mike also holds the position of publisher at JIST Publishing. He enthusiasti-
cally volunteered to write this foreword for a book he very much believes in.
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Chapter 1 What Pays Off in High School: Pre-College Decisions and College and
Career Choices................................................................................................................3
Chapter 2 The Psychology of Career Choice: Assessing Abilities, Interests, and Values..............21
Chapter 3 The Economics of Career Choice..................................................................................41
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Chapter 4 Audiology and Speech Pathology .................................................................................75
Chapter 5 Criminal Justice and Criminology..................................................................................83
Chapter 6 Health and Medical Technology.....................................................................................91
Chapter 7 Home Economics: Dietetics, Food, and Nutrition........................................................ 101
Chapter 8 Medical Preparatory Programs................................................................................... 111
Chapter 9 Nursing........................................................................................................................ 121
Chapter 10 Parks, Recreation, Fitness, and Leisure Studies........................................................ 129
Chapter 11 Pharmacy..................................................................................................................... 139
Chapter 12 Physical Therapy......................................................................................................... 145
Chapter 13 Psychology.................................................................................................................. 153
Chapter 14 Social Work.................................................................................................................. 165
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Chapter 15 Accounting................................................................................................................... 177
Chapter 16 Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, and Statistics....................................... 185
Chapter 17 Economics................................................................................................................... 195
Chapter 18 Financial Management................................................................................................ 205
Chapter 19 General Business........................................................................................................ 215
Chapter 20 General Mathematics.................................................................................................. 225
Chapter 21 Marketing..................................................................................................................... 235
Chapter 22 Public Administration................................................................................................... 243
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Chapter 23 Elementary Teacher Education................................................................................... 255
Chapter 24 Mathematics and Science Teacher Education............................................................ 263
Chapter 25 Physical Education and Coaching.............................................................................. 271
Chapter 26 Secondary Teacher Education.................................................................................... 279
Chapter 27 Special Education ....................................................................................................... 289
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Chapter 28 Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical Engineering.......................................... 299
Chapter 29 Architecture and Environmental Design..................................................................... 307
Chapter 30 Chemical Engineering ................................................................................................ 315
Chapter 31 Civil Engineering......................................................................................................... 323
Chapter 32 Computer Systems Engineering................................................................................. 333
Chapter 33 Electrical and Electronics Engineering....................................................................... 343
Chapter 34 Industrial Engineering................................................................................................. 353
Chapter 35 Mechanical Engineering............................................................................................. 363
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Chapter 36 Anthropology and Archaeology .................................................................................. 375
Chapter 37 Communications ......................................................................................................... 385
Chapter 38 Dramatic Arts............................................................................................................... 393
Chapter 39 English Language, Literature, and Letters.................................................................. 401
Chapter 40 Foreign Languages and Literature............................................................................. 411
Chapter 41 Geography................................................................................................................... 421
Chapter 42 History.......................................................................................................................... 431
Chapter 43 Journalism................................................................................................................... 437
Chapter 44 Legal Studies and Pre-Law......................................................................................... 445
Chapter 45 Liberal Arts and General Studies................................................................................ 453
Chapter 46 Music and Dance......................................................................................................... 463
Chapter 47 Philosophy................................................................................................................... 473
Chapter 48 Political Science, Government, and International Relations....................................... 483
Chapter 49 Sociology..................................................................................................................... 491
Chapter 50 Visual Arts.................................................................................................................... 499
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Chapter 51 Animal Food Sciences ................................................................................................ 511
Chapter 52 Biology and Life Sciences........................................................................................... 519
Chapter 53 Chemistry..................................................................................................................... 527
Chapter 54 Forestry and Environmental Sciences........................................................................ 535
Chapter 55 Geology and Geophysics............................................................................................ 545
Chapter 56 Microbiology and Biochemistry................................................................................... 555
Chapter 57 Physics and Astronomy............................................................................................... 565
Chapter 58 Plant Food Sciences ................................................................................................... 575
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Chapter 59 Computer Science....................................................................................................... 585
Chapter 60 Data and Information Processing................................................................................ 595
Chapter 61 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology ................................................... 605
Chapter 62 Industrial Production Technology................................................................................ 615
Chapter 63 Mechanical Engineering Technology.......................................................................... 625
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“What’s your major?” Every first-year student entering a college or university is
asked that question. A major is a concentration of specialized courses, usually a
minimum of 24 credit hours (such as eight three-hour courses), taken during a
student’s third and fourth years in a four-year program.
Some colleges and universities require students to declare a major immediately
upon entering their freshman year, most often in specialized technical areas
such as electrical engineering, nursing, or computer science. In a liberal arts
college or university, students are exposed to a spectrum of courses from differ-
ent academic disciplines during the first two years for a general education. At
the beginning of the third, or junior, year, most colleges require students to con-
centrate their studies in a particular field, such as psychology, journalism, or
chemistry, as preparation for a career after graduation.
Some first-year students know exactly what they want to major in and what
career they want to pursue after graduation. At the other extreme, some fresh-
men enter college without having made any decision about either a major or a
career. Between the two extremes are most students, who have tentative or—at
best—provisional ideas about possible majors and subsequent careers. Decisions
for choosing one major above another are sometimes made for superficial yet
practical, short-term reasons, such as which courses are less difficult and which
departments have professors who give better grades. We believe that the choice
of major field of study should be based on long-term career and lifestyle goals
and informed by sound information.
Most of the publications offering guidance for enrolling in college contain little
more than a description of the more than 3,500 colleges and universities across
the nation. They provide a sketch of each college in terms of the types of stu-
dents enrolled and the nature of the educational process at each college, includ-
ing class sizes, student-faculty ratios, and proportion of faculty with a doctoral
degree. They also provide some information on the types of programs offered.
In recent years, this type of publication has provided a quality ranking of the
colleges based on the admissions competitiveness of the school.
Although these publications can provide a thumbnail sketch of a large number
of colleges across the country, they don’t provide much insight into perhaps
the most important decision that a college student will make—a decision that is
even more important than the actual college selection—the choice of a major
field of study.
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College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs _______________________________
This book provides substantive information on long-term career alternatives for
bachelor’s degree holders in 60 major fields of study. The basic tenet of this
book is that cost of a college or university education is an investment that can
yield “payoffs” in the form of economically rewarding and personally fulfilling
careers. Sixty chapters—each devoted to a single major field of study—detail the
economic rewards and employment experiences of graduates within each field.
The chapters also discuss training opportunities at work, the types of duties per-
formed at work, and the most common occupations in which the graduates from
each of the 60 major fields of study are employed.
To be sure, salary is not the only form of payoff from a college education. Inter-
ests, values, and abilities are also personal goals in seeking job satisfaction. The
information needs of guidance counselors, teachers, parents, or administrators
do not neatly fall into one of the respective disciplines of the authors—economics
or psychology. Rather, these educators and parents seek to understand the
choices that could provide their students and children with solid opportunities
yet still meet their psychological needs and personal aspirations.
This book responds to these needs by integrating the work of psychology and
economics into a single comprehensive volume. The reader receives informa-
tion about the personality and labor market implications of his or her choice of
an undergraduate major field of study. We have tried to cross the boundaries of
a single academic discipline to provide new and more meaningful information
to those confronted with the task of making a college investment decision.
Recognizing that investment in a college education will yield rewards in the
future, this book also provides projections of labor market demand for gradu-
ates from each of the 60 major fields of study.
For those inclined toward graduate education, this book discusses the role of
graduate education in career advancement. It also presents the actual post-
graduate schooling experiences of bachelor’s degree holders in each of the
60 major fields, including the types of postgraduate degrees earned and the
major field of study in which a degree was received.
This informative book should help anyone replace superficial, short-term assess-
ments about a major with long-term considerations of several economic, per-
sonal, and psychological dimensions of their choice of major that should have a
positive impact on a graduate’s future employment and lead to a professionally
rewarding career.
This book enables you to easily compare the different payoffs of each of the 60
majors on the basis of a survey of 150,000 bachelor’s degree holders. For par-
ents, students, career counselors, and anyone involved in the choice or use of a
college major, this book is an enlightening and indispensable resource for
choosing one major above another.
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___________________________________________________________________________ Preface
Organization of the Book
Chapter 1 starts out with the relationship between pre-college decisions on col-
lege and career choice. This chapter describes the importance of decisions made
during high school on college and career outcomes. Chapters 2 and 3 provide a
discussion of the psychology and economics involved in the choice of major
field of study. Psychologist Thomas Harrington writes about the role that per-
sonal values, interests, personality, and abilities play in the selection of majors
and career fields. Economists Neeta Fogg and Paul Harrington examine the eco-
nomics of the college investment decision. We focus on the economic benefits
and costs of a college diploma and the impact that the choice of a major field of
study has on long-term labor market success.
The remainder of the book provides specific information on 60 major fields
of study. A description of each undergraduate major and the various subfields
that compose the major are provided. Next, a discussion of the skills required to
enter the field successfully and the types of values, interests, personalities, and
abilities that persons in the field generally possess are included.
For each major field of study, different kinds of data are provided on the em-
ployment and earnings outcomes as well as on graduates’ educational pathways.
Information is provided on the kinds of jobs held by graduates with a bachelor’s
degree in each major field of study, the activities that they undertake at work,
and the sector in which they are employed. An extensive discussion of the earn-
ings of graduates by major field of study—including their long-term earnings
experiences—is provided. The level of company-supported training and the
future educational activities of graduates are presented as well.
Finally, we provide data on the employment outlook—developed by the U.S. Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics—for each of the most commonly held jobs by graduates
in every major field of study. All the data and analysis included for the sixty ma-
jors pertain to college graduates who have earned a bachelor’s degree only. The
outcomes for persons with an earned graduate degree are not included, although
information on the likelihood of earning a graduate degree of some type and the
kinds of advanced degrees earned is included for each major field of study.
Sources of Information
Many of the findings and analyses included in this book are based on the results
of the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG). The NSCG is a sample of
more than 148,000 respondents in the United States who completed a compre-
hensive questionnaire designed to gather information on the educational, em-
ployment, and earnings experiences of a cross section of college graduates
across the nation. The NSCG represents the largest and most comprehensive
study of college graduates ever conducted.
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