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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2011)
Careers New Study Tells Students the Worth of Their Undergraduate Majors By kathy Matheson of The associated Press PhilaDelPhia (AP) — The choice of undergraduate major in college is strongly tied to a student’s future earnings, with the highest-paying majors providing salaries of about 300 percent more than the lowest- paying, according to a study released Tuesday. Based on first-of-its-kind Census data, the report by Georgetown University in Washington also found that majors are high- ly segregated by race and gender. College graduates overall make 84 per- cent more over a lifetime than those with only high school diplomas, the study said. But further analysis of 171 majors shows that various undergraduate majors can lead to significantly different median wages. Petroleum engineering majors make about $120,000 a year, compared with $29,000 annually for counseling psycholo- gy majors, researchers found. Math and computer science majors earn $98,000 in salary while early childhood education majors get paid about $36,000. “It’s important that you go to college and get a (bachelor’s degree), but it’s almost three to four times more important what you take,’’ said Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce. “The majors that are most pop- ular are not the ones that make the most money.’’ “What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors’’ analyzes data from the 2009 American Community Survey, whose results were released last year. It’s the first time the Census asked individuals about their undergraduate majors, enabling researchers to tie in salary data, Carnevale said. The study found that white men are con- centrated in the highest-earning majors, including engineering and pharmaceutical sciences, while women gravi- tate toward the lowest-earning majors like education, art and social work. The report also categorized the 171 majors into 15 fields, discovering different majors led to different industries. About 43 percent of law and public policy majors end up in public administration, but only 13 percent of social science majors do. A higher portion of social sci- ence majors end up in finance, researchers found. Other findings: — The most popular major group is busi- ness, accounting for 25 percent of all stu- dents. The least popular are industrial arts and agriculture, with 1.6 percent each. — White men have higher median earn- ings across all fields except three. Asians pull down the top median salaries in law and public policy ($55,000), psychology and social work ($48,000), and biology and life science ($53,000). — The field with the highest concentra- tions of whites is agriculture and natural resources (90 percent), while the highest concentration of Asians is in computers and mathematics (16 percent). Law and public policy has the highest concentration of African-Americans (14 percent) and Hispanics (10 percent). — Fields with virtually no unemploy- ment: geological and geophysical engineer- ing, military technologies, pharmacology and school student counseling. science, information science and business systems networking/telecommunications. Chemical engineering heads the list with an average salary offer of nearly $67,000, according the group’s spring survey. Still, Rachel Brown, director of the career center at Temple University in Philadelphia, noted that the average person changes careers three to five times in a lifetime. And while median salary is certainly something students should be aware of, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor, she said. “Take that into consideration, but look at the whole picture,’’ Brown said. “What are you doing every day? What are the job responsibilities? What are the values of the occupation in general? Advancement potential?’’ Answering those kinds of questions is how Drexel University junior Meaghan Donchak chose her major of corporate com- munication and public relations. Donchak, 22, of East Windsor, N.J., said she knew her strengths were reading, writ- ing and communicating. But even after set- tling on public relations, her own research showed such work at nonprofits paid less than corporate or government work, and she adjusted her track accordingly. Donchak hopes her career will allow her to travel, meet people and live comfortably. The Georgetown study found communica- tions and journalism majors earn $50,000 annually, rising to $62,000 with a graduate degree. “The most important thing is not the money. It’s really hard to convince people of that, especially people our age,’’ Donchak said. “It’s doing what you love to do. You don’t want to wake up every day dreading going to work.’’ Nobody ever tells you when you go to college what happened to the other people who took it before you — Fields with the highest unemployment, ranging from 16 percent to 11 percent: social psychology, nuclear engineering, and educational administration and supervision. The data is important considering the high cost of a college degree and the significant loan burdens taken on by some students to obtain one, Carnevale said. “We don’t have a system in the United States where we align what you take with career prospects,’’ Carnevale said. “Nobody ever tells you when you go to college what happened to the other people who took it before you.’’ The researchers’ longitudinal look at life- time earnings seems to echo a more short- term analysis of the job market by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The Bethlehem, Pa.-based group reports that engineering majors account for seven of the top 10 highest-paying majors for the class of 2011. The other three are computer Shifting Economy Leads Middle School Trend in Chinese Language naShville, Tenn. (AP) — As Tennessee’s economy shifts to business- es with ties to China, stu- dents as early as middle school are taking an interest in learning the language that could help their careers. Tennessee industries export $1.87 billion in goods to China, a trend that is nationwide, and in response, more public schools are offering classes in Chinese language. Spanish still ranks as the most popular foreign lan- guage taught in schools across the nation, with 2 million students enrolled. But a recent report from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages showed Chinese is the fastest growing lan- guage course offered in public schools. Students studying Chinese grew 195 percent between 2005 and 2008, while the number of Spanish students grew by just 2 percent in the same period. The Tennessean reports about 1,200 students in eight Nashville schools are learning Mandarin Chinese and other counties offer it as part of after-school pro- grams. Page 10 The Portland Skanner May 25, 2011 One of those students is Jerry Nelson Jr., a Hillsboro High School junior, who plans to study physical ther- apy in college and minor in international business. Before his school offered an introductory Mandarin course that launched in the fall, Nelson tried to learn from books in the public library. He’s now watching a Chinese film with English subtitles in his classroom. “I follow in bits and pieces,’’ Nelson said. Marty Abbott, director of education at the council, noted there was a boom in Russian language courses after Russia launched the first satellite in space and a similar increase in Japanese in the 1980s when the Japanese economy was strong. “If you look at our history of language learning, we always react to another economy threatening our position,’’ Abbott said. The increase in businesses that export or do business in China both in Tennessee and nationwide is likely what is causing the boom in interested students, Abbott said. “Now, they are looking at China as the next big econo- my that will challenge the U.S. economy, and coupled with that, the Chinese gov- ernment is interested in pro- moting Chinese,’’ Abbott said. Tennessee Chinese Chamber of Commerce President Ming Wang said the state ranks sixth in the nation in exporting goods to China. “There are tons of jobs for Americans who speak Chinese,’’ Wang said. “Understanding the lan- guage opens opportunity.’’ Hillsboro Principal Terry Shrader said offering the class through the school’s International Business Academy could help stu- dents who want to work in trade with China. “Certainly, our students that are working in interna- tional business would have a leg up on their competi- tion if they could speak Mandarin,’’ he said. The high school is part- nering with the University of Memphis at their Confucius Institute, which promotes the language, gives proficiency tests and provides teacher training and exchange programs.
