Majors and unemployment

This week’s blog is on two articles that are hardly articles. Well, one is an article in the traditional sense, the other is just a slide show with statistics, but in our visual world, I guess that passes in some quarters for an article.

Anyway, the first article is “The 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates” found on Yahoo news. The really good news for this class? Educational Administration is on the list with a 0 percent unemployment rate. The other interesting thing? Most of the top 10 are in the scientific or medical fields, so it’s obviously a wise move for little Chaminade to go into the nursing education business. Another interesting thing is that school counseling is listed among those with the lowest unemployment rate, but in the slideshow on the majors with the highest unemployment rates (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/the-11-majors-with-the-hi_n_1081625.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003), different types of psychology show up as majors with high unemployment, most notably Educational Psychology. How is is that educational psychology has a high unemployment rate but school counseling does not?

I wondered how many universities will look at this information and decide to alter their offerings based on these scant reports. And how many faculties, especially those in the humanities and psychology, will argue that colleges are not just employment factories meant to feed the corporate machine. While I’m reading this, I’m also listening to the TV in the other room as my wife watches an Oprah episode that specifically addresses young Americans and skyrocketing debt.

I’m thinking about how often that in my advising capacities I’ll tell young people that they should follow their passions and study what they enjoy. Is that the right message?

Have we engaged in an unhealthy  indulgence of America’s young generation when we sell college as an experience and give them the idea that they can do anything they want, and major in whatever they want and it will all turn out okay? Are we serving some higher purpose to ensure that the next generation has critical thinkers and poets and protesters? Or are we engaged in some irresponsible advising when we are not honest about a student’s ability to pay debts and pay for necessities such as housing and food?

Just in case you’re interested, here are the majors from the article with the lowest unemployment rates. I have a friend who is an actuary. He is insanely wealthy.

Majors and their unemployment rates:

1. Actuarial Science—0 percent

2. Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent
3. Educational Administration and Supervision—0 percent
4. Geological and Geophysical Engineering—0 percent
5. Pharmacology – 0 percent
6. School Student Counseling—0 percent
7. Agricultural Economics—1.3 percent
8. Medical Technologies Technicians—1.4 percent
9.Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology—1.6 percent
10. Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies—2.2 percent