Why STEM Majors Don't Always Earn More

A new report from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce breaks down the wages of college graduates by major. What lessons does the data offer prospective college students? WSJ’s Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer.
Don’t miss a WSJ video, subscribe here: bit.ly/14Q81Xy
More from the Wall Street Journal:
Visit WSJ.com: www.wsj.com
Visit the WSJ Video Center: wsj.com/video
On Facebook: / videos
On Twitter: / wsj
On Snapchat: on.wsj.com/2ratjSM

[@Mocktelan]

Why do you show the bottom 25% salary for STEM degrees, but not the bottom 25% salary for Liberal Arts degrees?

[@lolmanYAA]

Cause there is no bottom 25% salary for liberal arts degrees, they're all unemployed! (unfortunately i'm not even exaggerating)

[@kimjongsupporter7539]

No, they're not. They work at Starbucks or fast food chains.

[@alvarofalkov5467]

Baristas lol

[@consultkeithyoung8982]

This is what I was going to ask. Plus what percentage of Engineers vs Liberal Arts end up pouring coffee and living in their parents basement.

[@aakashneupnae7373]

Come to Australia (or India, or other Asian countries, some European countries), and STEM graduates will seccond-think always promoting STEM as superior. The fake superiority held by (american) STEM graduates is going to bite them in the ass, and I say this as an engineer, and I know half my cohort, are pouring coffee (most of these people were the ones who were claiming the superiority of their degree btw.) Because you know you come to the point where computer science, IT, tech(something which you don't even need a degree for), engineering, pure sciences become over saturated like the liberal arts. Sure, have America be like Australasia/ parts of Europe though.

[@Qbabxtra]

Dissing STEM majors while simultaneously not understanding statistics. Oh the irony of this video.

[@leod1510]

Care to elaborate oh wise one.

[@tainicon4639]

Drew a colloquialism derived by shortening the word dismissing.

[@sreissma]

Haha yeah, By this logic we should all major in "college football coach". The average salary for an assistant coach is $50K but hey the range goes up to $30M.

[@nxtasyaejareex7685]

Tainicon Paly No. Dissing= insulting. British dialect.

[@Stinkmeaner420]

Tainicon Paly it's short for disrespecting, jackass

[@LyraTyrell]

You can't give lawyers to history majors. ANY major can go to law school lol. That's like saying. "Sure getting a degree in interpretive dance theory will give you a low paying job. BUT when you go to medical school afterwards, interpretive dance majors can make 300,000! That's way more than an engineer!"

[@d9103365]

Very true....but history is much easier than engineering, and graduates will have higher GPAs, thereby allowing them to attend better law schools. Many of my engineering friends had GPAs that were so shot by the time they graduated they couldn't get into grad school, law school, or nothing.

[@NurseNick420]

@@d9103365 Those people should not have been studying engineering then. STEM is an extremely demanding field of study! A lot of people go into this field thinking it'll be easy money but then end up dropping/flunking out once they're met with the academic challenge.

[@d9103365]

I didn't say they dropped out. They graduated...but they didn't have the 3.5+ GPA often required to get into grad/professional school. Those people still make good money...and it is easy money. but they are unhappy because a STEM degree does not provide the benefits/prestige that it once did...not in this country anyway. The return they got did not match the hard work and struggle they put in.

[@kevinthomas7692]

@@d9103365 U cant compare the GPA of a STEM grad to a Liberal Arts Grad lol. In fact, a Grad school will accept at an engineer with a 3.2 over a History major with a 3.6. Hope you understand what I mean...

[@triiii1303]

Aangler stem majors GPA’s will get destroyed. There’s a reason why most law students have liberal art majors. If you’re gonna be the average liberal arts major, with no direction and studying only because of a general interest, you’re screwed. But if you have a plan you’ll be fine. Liberal art majors aren’t death sentences. working hard in highschool to go to a good college and then working harder to maintain a high gpa in a liberal arts degree makes law, consulting, banking and many other lucrative fields accessible. And even if you don’t get into a good college, top students at mediocre colleges will have more opportunities to set themselves apart from the rest. Internships and unique experiences trump all.

[@KPopsicleSNSD]

History major with a law degree IS NOT A HISTORY MAJOR.

[@hypercortical7772]

Chris H.. Well the idea is you get a bachelors degree in history, then you go to law school. A lot of aspiring lawyer choose to ignore the pre law programs and instead opt for something like history or philosophy.

[@joeyGalileoHotto]

Students from rich families major in Humanities as a way to become more creative with their thought processes, not really because it helps them get a better job.

[@Andy-em8xt]

But you can major in anything in undergrad and pursue a law degree afterwards. Getting into a top law school (the people who skew the average salaries really high) is very hard and even after that there is an oversupply of law graduates so it'll be a very competitive.

[@robertgiangregorio1018]

Im glad someone brought this up, lol.

[@felixthecat2786]

You're not going to be a lawyer though, you're going to teach law and history.

[@benjames5423]

CEO's can have a range of $10,000 to $10,000,000 dollars. Does that mean CEO's aren't good jobs?

[@FsimulatorX]

But how many jobs are open for history graduates compared to Computer Science? Job security matters more than salary.

[@georgekintzoglou2924]

I'm an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Double major with a minor in Applied Mathematics. I found a job pretty easily. For my peers in the liberal arts, they're in 6 figure debt.

[@arthurbekkerman]

It depends on what you are planning on doing. If you are only getting a Bachelor's degree then STEM is probably a good choice, if you are getting an MBA, PhD, JD, or MD then whatever you major in won't matter because it will come second to the graduate degree.

[@ecdctechmma]

dam how much did you make

[@rasheemwyattreid3351]

Atharva Joshi Currently Engineers worldwide are being laid off

[@_Wai_Wai_]

If you figure in the number of Liberal Arts major who can't even find a job, then would their Salary be $0. I'm sure that would bring down the Median, or Average salaries of Non STEM people quite far down.

[@billybobthornton8122]

Majored in KZbin Studies

[@cazgerald9471]

Was Melissa Click one of your professors?

[@deanc2000]

Lawyers are dime a dozen, and a lot are unemployed.

[@yongchen6606]

TBF, a lot of STEM majors are too. Even electrical engineering degree or aerospace engineering degree people have trouble finding jobs. MechEng, CompSci, CompEng, CivEng are still worth it though, but only if you know what you are doing.

[@SeanLiu4]

Yong Chen so true dude. I know people and even have friends with engineering degrees that couldn't find engineering-related jobs...

[@paul5324]

Actuarial Science!

[@anonymouslee2083]

Hope you've got your ambulance-chasing legs in shape

[@susanoakeshauf]

Yong Chen You must be living in the wrong place. Those fields are in very high demand where I live.

[@pawzillasmash]

Any freaking major can go to law school. In reality, if you have business or stem major under your belt before heading to law school, you end up earning more than arts student. What a load of crap.

[@jdiwkall]

there is not a shortage of STEM majors, there is a shortage of STEM majors willing to take low paying STEM jobs.....that's why companies are going to India.

[@joshloschen1653]

Totally agree, I'm an American computer programmer and I thought of quitting the 9 to 5 to work as a free lancer. I realized it was impossible when I looked at a freelance coding site and saw it was all Indian programmers that would work for $10 a day.

[@svvatig]

So true

[@pablomendoza8319]

very true

[@ThangTran-jv7mm]

I beg to differ given the salaries I've been offered and rejected myself.

[@Anonarchist]

No, there is a plethora of STEM majors in poorer countries that are willing to do the same job for a fraction of the price. That's capitalism, baby.

[@edwardbatista7920]

This is stupid, I work at a biomedical corporation( Medtronic) and there are a lot of low level jobs there that make more than 40k a year. The starting salary of the biomedical engineers where I work is about 80k a year. Also being a history major and lawyer is not the same thing, one can go to law school with a computer science degree you know that right?

[@kukri52231]

edward batista I’m trying to intern there. Any advice for me?

[@blazinhomo]

This video is a startling look @ a editor who has no background in statistics OR math.

[@aaronrashid2075]

An editor who is clearly not a STEM major

[@ThisIsEduardo]

STEM is still the best investment

[@jamesbaldock4140]

Along with medicine and law (saying that as someone who did Computer Science).

[@joemomma5919]

ThisIsEduardo Yea if you wanna have the most boring life someone has ever lived ever.

[@saulbravo3485]

Joe Momma not with all that money saved up, you can use it to buy yourself anything you want.

[@passengerprincesspodcast]

James Baldock medicine is stem...

[@aakashneupnae7373]

It fathoms me why STEM graduates constantly act like their degree is superior. I mean it's like they want their jobs to be taken away from them, which is what is happening in the rest of the world, when more and more people major in STEM. It comes to the point, where a bachelor of arts makes you makes you 51k median, beaten by a bachelor in commerce which makes you 54 k median and a bachelor of science which makes you 48 k median!. I'm happy with a commerce/arts degree that I have thank you very much.

[@PedroHernandez-uj9oz]

The video fails to mention the oversaturation of Lawyers and not all lawyers make that kind of income. Unless you go to a top school your not making that amount of income

[@gandaruvu]

the problem with that statement is that it can be applied to engineering as well. Why would you think There are many tech companies focusing in India now? It's because there are so many engineering graduates, it's cheaper there.

[@TangomanX2008]

I'm surprised he didn't mention MBAs.

[@Borat911]

Not true !!!! The only reason they went to India is because there is a serious shortage of engineers in the US industrial market.... Most of those corporations would love to hire an American born engineer ... But the market is small

[@TheShineboxer]

And thats why coding bootcamps exists, if you do not go to a top law school you cannot expect to make anywhere near their projected salary

[@lightschunk]

Tell me this guy doesn't surf.

[@macbeff5579]

DrDelicious70 This guy doesn't surf

[@CaliRepublic77]

The title is misleading. This video basically explained that STEM majors make more money.

[@EisernesKreuz24]

+Deer Sakamoto +Deer Sakamoto I would consider Nursing (S) and Economics (M) as part of STEM. If you don't know life science, what are you doing in a hospital?

[@FsimulatorX]

+EisernesKreuz24 Economics is not a part of STEM. At least I don't think so.

[@ThinkBig500]

+FsimulatorX Economics is absolutely NOT a STEM degree.

[@redryder5078]

That's what I have always said. Certian S.T.E.M degrees such as Biology, Ecology/ Envi-Sci , Anthro B.S , Chemistry, Physics, and Psych B.S almost always require the graduate to venture into a grad program( research, med-school, pharmacy/ nursing school ext) to get a well paying job. Thus, those stem majors are classified in the category of " foundation degrees" with many Liberal Arts such as English , Philosophy, and History( my undergrad major). Overall my college buddies and I( from both Humanities and STEM backgrounds) ended up being under employed for sometime after graduation until we completed our respective grad programs. Unsurprisingly, mine was Law.

[@Mike-gf1bl]

I know many B.Sc Bio/Ecol making good money.

[@cazgerald9471]

Wait, you said history major then gave the average salary for a lawyer. So why don't we compare salaries of lawyers with history backgrounds vs lawyers with computer science backgrounds - it's not like you can't go to law school after earning a computer science degree.

[@darkpaw1522]

Exactly. They're basically trying to skew the stats because they know liberal art degrees on their own are trash financially.

[@Sashique86]

People who go into STEM degrees just for the money don't last very long.

[@MaxwellsWitch]

Minwoo Kim Try and do STEM for the money, I dare you. People like that usually end up business majors after their first or second year.

[@ee4life623]

Hey i went in for the money and yeah i'm still in it and not really going anywhere. Like the other guy said i actually grew to like the field (engineering), somewhat. So yeah greed for the win, i guess. XD

[@angelcalderon5680]

Passion has nothing to do with success: it's all about having the talent for it. Sure being passionate about it will make it funner in the end, but people going in just for the money won't necessarily do worse than those passionate about it

[@blacklyfe5543]

angel calderon passion has something to do with success if you're not passionate about what you study you'll soon give up and be lazy

[@blacklyfe5543]

angel calderon without passion their is no sucesss

[@swy334]

So the lesson here is: lawyers earn more? Tell me something I don't know.

[@Ares_gaming_117]

Bear lawyers also take on more debt and their field is more saturated.

[@xxdavexx23]

Why are you comparing graduate school and undergrad? Yes liberal arts major would make more if they went to law school but likewise a stem major would make a lot more if they went to med school.

[@Nick.b]

Then again the guy who has a STEM under grad can also get a degree in law.

[@emmarellda181]

21ck00 and then become a patent lawyer and earn about 180 k, which is more than any history major

[@str8dominican]

But... but, there is no connection between history and law degrees. Anybody can get a law degree, including computer science majors. The difference is, if you drop out of law school with a history major you probably wont find a job and if you manage to find one, it only pays 30-50k.

[@infamouscrusader3363]

Right.

[@ayanpandeydpsn-std9005]

Your claim is most baseless , only low level Historians get that much paid. You even have rich Historians like Yuval Noah Harari earning millions of dollars. Anyway , which engineer earns more than 6 figures?.

[@jw11432]

The variance in income probably also has a lot to do with region. The computer programmer in San Francisco is going to earn an entry-level income of about $100k on account of the cost of living being so high, whereas the entry level programmer in Dallas will probably see more along the lines of $45-50k. That's why the $170k house in Dallas would go for $400k in SF. Ridiculous.

[@carnivalwrestler]

If you're going to do a STEM degree, particularly in EE or CS, then make certain that you can pass an extensive Top Secret security background investigation (mine took seven months, and they went back to my 2nd grade teacher, and I was 27 years old at the time), including a polygraph test. Then you can work for CIA, NSA, etc., and any number of government contractors, and they can never send your job to India.

[@johnnastrom9400]

Most people are not willing to go through with that.

[@tonycrosby913]

Why did they go back to your second grade teacher. Currently waiting on a basic security clearance.

[@antonmsk3401]

its just to confirm that you are who you say you are, they dont actually ask for exact references. though depends on the security clearance, some types you have to give in all phone contacts and your neighbours get interviewed.

[@Akihito007]

Why work for agencies that continually spy on Americans and violate all of our 4th and 5th Amendment rights!?!

[@faithlesshound5621]

@@rice83101 Schoolkids in many countries are not being taught "joined-up writing" anymore. Soon most new graduates from English speaking countries will hardly be able to read or write. EFL users will have an advantage.

[@kevinfma2837]

It is important to notice that going to Graduate School for Computer Science costs less than going to Law school, so the actual gain at the end may be similar. It is not a surprise to see that Law majors earn more, but how much of a financial aid while in school do they actually receive compared to the STEM majors?

[@redryder5078]

I can tell you from experience: none. I received a scholarship for one year via several private foundations but zero government assistance. My friends who perused PhD's in S.T.E.M ( especially the hard sciences) had their educations coverd by the state throughout their graduate careers. I graduated Law School in 98 and it took me around five years to get established in my field (business and patent law) due to oversupply and competition. Fortunately, I managed to earn six times the money I spent on my undergrad and law degrees within a 12 year period. It really comes down to one's own hard work and dedication , not their degree. I have one of those supposedly useless history degrees as-well, lol.

[@elizabeth-7064]

Red Ryder what do you think is the best undergraduate for law school. I was thinking political science, criminology, criminal justice, is it best to refrain from those

[@Lulumoju]

Elizabeth Lizzy Yes it is. At least criminal justice. Good liberal arts degrees if you want to go to law school are analytical degrees. English Lit, Economics, Poly Sci, Philosophy, etc.

[@aakashneupnae7373]

A degree in computer science is also useless. Unless you think the philosophy graduates that work in IT tech support etc are more qualified than computer science graduates. I don't know how much IT gets paid in America, but in Australia it's like 51 k median in Australia, which is like 41 k in the US. A.K.A any degree in computer science is uneeded.

[@fangiscool1]

Ãakash Neupnae IT has nothing to do with computer science.

[@juliakorchinska1131]

this is what law and business majors try to comfort themselves with

[@noblelies]

I earn over $120,000 per year. I majored in Philosophy. But I also went to an elite school. Where you study is just as important as what you study.

[@noblelies]

Rich Piano , but you had a STEM major. A liberal arts degree from a no-name school gets you a job at Starbucks in today's economy.

[@aakashneupnae7373]

I have a degree in commerce/arts and make 100k+.There are STEM graduates that make more than me, but there are plenty, that I much more than, and I'm laughing at them. :) H-5 noblelies.

[@765infinity]

The problem with this argument is that they qualified the history degree with "Then went on to get a law degree". With that qualifier they are really no longer a history major, they are a lawyer. One thing you have to define when talking about what majors make what saleries is defining them basically by the jobs they would ideally go into. When you say computer science majors make a certain amount, you are taking it in with the assumption that they are doing work associated with computer science, and neglecting those who went to work in unrelated fields such as business administration or other unrelated fields. The same can be said for history majors, i would classify a law degree as outside of the work normally associated with the history major, and therfore is more like comparing lawyers and programmers than history majors and computer science majors.

[@rori9320]

An MBA is not only about knowledge but a lot about expending your network. Doing an MBA was the best decision in my life. Hard work, very intensive but I met amazing people. The MBA enabled me to substantially progress in my career. I didn't study an MBA for earning a higher salary but more for personal development. A high salary came naturally with the post MBA career path I was able to chose. Just go for a good, solid school. Doesn't need to be Harvard but something in the top 50 I would say.

[@ricklewis4442]

The short answer is if the name of your degree is the name of a profession, you will be fine. If it isn't, you probably won't make enough money to pay off the degree, the financing charges of the degree and missed wages while earning the degree. Nurse, Engineer, Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant... you are fine. Communications, music, literature... No one is a literature. It's the grandma test. If your Grandma ask what you will do with the degree that you are thinking about starting, think harder.

[@TheTruthSeeker235]

I am a licensed engineer in texas. If I had to do it again I would still choose engineering. It has opened so many doors for me its unreal. All that hard work at school really paid off. I take 2-3 vacation trips a year, own multiple cars, two houses, and a very healthy savings and 401k with full benefits. All that and I'm only 29 years old. I've been an engineering graduate for 8 years but only recently became a licensed engineer 2 years ago after passing the Professional Engineering Exam.

[@timothykelly2367]

what types of engineering degrees did you earn? asking for a friend

[@Evil_pinata]

Who knew my two associates degrees in science would have me making more than someone with a masters degree in a liberal arts field.

[@infamouscrusader3363]

Right. Had I do it again I would have went to Community College, get and Associates and become a Dental Hygienist instead of getting a Bachelor's in English.

[@OutlawAndy]

After reading a lot of the comments here, I think the moral of the story for Mr. Jason Bellini is: If you're going to twist the numbers to make CS majors look bad, CS majors will gladly un-twist them and hand them back 🤓🙌

[@westonfoot]

History Majors have nothing over me. I dropped out of high school and was pan handling for about $5 hour. Average $10,500 year not much vs $140,000 year for History majors. Then I purchased a lottery ticket and won 12 million dollars. What does this tell us? That doping out of high school can make more than a History major.

[@FadeHook23]

lol where did that fake statistic of bio major earning 35K come from lmao. What type of job is a biomedical engineer doing to earn like $15 an hour after taxes?

[@noone6196]

Kaloop Spring biomedical engineering earn a lot. Sometimes up to 100k

[@kaylee660]

I have a bio degree and was making $14 an hour. I went back to become a PA.

[@GreyMann2]

Where were you earning $14/hr as a bio major???

[@wanderingmerde6868]

hate to burst ur bubble but bio majors don't make a lot of money unless they get an advanced degree. two of my coworkers are bio majors and they make ~29K--33K.

[@Defrap22]

@@wanderingmerde6868 BIO ENGINEERING NOT BIO MAJORS. EVERYONE KNOWS BIO MAJORS DONT MAKE MONEY.

[@ssnadera6498]

I got several relatives in india who are electrical engineering graduates unemployed for 5 yrs since graduating, it had to happen, everyone there gets raised to either be a doctor or engineer, othwise the option is to get a telemarketing job with a arts degree or banking job

[@LithningWolf]

The median salary is actually the best thing to look at concerning a job... It basically says that you are an average graduate, you will earn that much. Which is not the case of the average salary that is highly influenced by the range of salaries.

[@ryanmurphy7398]

The reason it says that history majors make so much money is because they are all high school football coaches

[@Gamerz00760]

Its crazy some really simple easy jobs without any education can pay 60-70k like mine in just a warehouse doing basic labor. Then I look back at my previous employer where you do literally everything, work your days/nights and weekends away and make next to nothing. Hope anyone reading this that is in a bad job just gets out of there, easy jobs that pay good can be found, but dont expect it to be easy to get in and get hired. You need the work history, reliability, flexibility, and probably most important a good attitude

[@ThatB055]

WSJ did not do their research properly. I'm in the biomedical engineering field. $35,000 is for a biomedical engineering TECHNOLOGIST, which is a 2 year college Diploma. A Biomedical ENGINEER (One who has a P.Eng) will make a LOT more as they have a BEng or MEng/MASc.

[@mmmmmm6543]

The last sentence almost made no sense to me at all

[@nathanielcarreon5634]

I know a person who just recently graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and he is now employed with the city of la water and power. Very good starting salary with job security. I never doubted his math skills .

[@kesayo]

It's also interesting that the majors with the most 1%-ers are Health and Medical, Zoology, Biology, International Relations and PolySci.

[@jacobhosterman5573]

That history major who went to law school will never tell people they majored in history. They will tell people they went to law school. They are making $140k as a lawyer, not a historian. Engineering is by far the highest paying undergrad degree, impossible to say otherwise.

[@RHGM71]

How many there are 140K/y positions for history PhD out there, and how many 100K/y positions for CS PhD? Kinda important numbers is choosing career path with highest earning odds is what you do.

[@ThangTran-jv7mm]

You need to compare the Computer Science to Law School student vs the History to Law School student to see the ROI of the degree with the law school on top. Nothing stops a computer science student from going to law school as well and doing both computer science and law open doors to career paths like patent attorney. Also, law school is a 3 year degree whereas a masters is about one and a half years. You can easily turn the tables by comparing the Ph.D in CS to the lawyer and see who comes on top.

[@johnstibal2131]

I love Chemistry. I studied chemistry at a local university. Chemistry majors make nothing, Generally, unless they have a PhD. I went into brewing/distilling and I make far more than a typical STEM major. Go into engineering if you're in it for money.

[@monopy8356]

my US history professor told us to not major in history. She holds a Ph. D in history and makes around 60k a year at a research university

[@infamouscrusader3363]

She told you the truth.

[@ayanpandeydpsn-std9005]

Well , there are historians who do love there job even with a atleast a decent salary to keep up. Maybe your professor did not like history in the first place. 😅.

[@alilavasa6840]

computer science majors in US would be earning 200 K a year if your govt had nt decided to flood the market with indian and chinese computer science grads though H 1 B visa program .

[@gwgux]

Bingo!

[@9doggie12]

The 25th percentile for biomedical engineering is 65k what he did was use biomedical technicians which all you need is an associates degree. Their 25th is 35k.

[@AliMalik-yt5ex]

STEM rules all please stop with this B.S. My STEM classes are infinitely harder than any liberal art class I took. So much so that I literally put in an hour of work every week and easily ended up with an A and for my STEM class getting a B+ is a struggle. Doing these difficult classes gives you the ability to learn more things and makes learning difficult things a lot easier.

[@124romero]

Take one class at a design school and you’ll see what a truly rigorous course is like

[@horker_loaf9467]

Being a music major, wanting to be a professor then conduct, my salary can range between 50k and 1.6M. I don’t think it is the degree people care about... but what you choose to do with it.

[@infamouscrusader3363]

Those who can't do teach and you just proved that. If you have a major and all you can do is teach the subject and provides no value outside of Academia, I don't know about you but that is what makes in my opinion, the degree worthless.

[@jameslongstaff2762]

You can also compare a computer science major with law degree with a history major with a law degree and if the computer science major is a patent lawyer (unavailable to non-STEM majors) then the computer science major would make more than the history major.

[@Wooflays]

2:14 onward speaks on a comparison of people with masters in CS against those with any advanced degree (masters, law, doctorate, ...) who were also history major in undergrad; further the comparison is made between the average of top 25% of each population's income, as opposed to the global average. I don't see why those two sets of degrees are relevant to compare, as opposed to masters against masters degrees, or why the average income is restricted to the top 25% as opposed to the global average. The whole bit seems contrived in order to get a result that would constitute as news (since "on average CS major salary greater than history majors" isn't news).

[@011azr]

Why the dislikes? The video maker just wants to point out that STEM major is not everything and you shouldn't be discouraged just because you have a passion for something other than STEM fields.

[@KKuurus]

Okay you go from comparing a B.A. with a B.E. then you jump over to a lawyer vs. what I expect was a M.E.. The Law degree makes a little difference since it generally take 4 years to get after doing the 4 years of pre-law in a normal college or university.

[@gdn5001]

The problem with this guys analysis is that he takes graduate school into account without mentioning the fact that medicine and medical school are technically stem.

[@HollowHill17]

I majored and graduated with bachelors of science in computer information systems and still have not found or landed a career in 2 years after graduating and still going unemployed???....

[@milesrowe2263]

Can you compare this to AS DGREES like relay technicians?

[@colorofmus1s]

Did you get that data from toilet store?

[@abc123fhdi]

These numbers are not accounting for regional differences. What one makes in Texas varies considerably from what the same job makes in the bay area, Los Angeles, or New York.

[@ThangTran-jv7mm]

Wall Street/Investment Banker > Doctors > Lawyers > Software Engineers > Engineers > Science > Liberal Arts > High School, This does not include trade skill jobs which can line between Lawyers and High School.

[@patriotamerican3069]

Health care sectors (Medicine, RN, Sargent) and law professions are the best and most demanding majors from my experience. Chemical engineering is the second base major. IT jobs are very stress full and unstable compare to other majors.

[@alexanderlithonam8164]

This video pretends it's saying more than it is. "If you get a graduate degree your undergrad major doesn't matter as much"... Thanks we already knew that.

[@micahtorres9011]

My aunt works for a big name IT company. There are interns making $0 and or low pay that work at her office. These post college students work here to able to build up there resume. They get free coffee, tea, snacks and fruit but that isn’t worth much.

[@harrybarker4370]

Stop getting triggered. He's saying just because you do STEM doesn't mean you'll definitely earn more. Just because you go to uni/ college doesn't mean you'll earn more

[@blacklyfe5543]

Harry Barker yes it does

[@carterthefarmer]

They didn't mention the bottom statistics for liberal arts salaries because it would go against their point that the gap between lowest and highest is not as big as a STEM degree if your all curious

[@nickjaton1923]

The logic behind this video is flawed. Yes, it is true that you can be successful / unsuccessful with any degree (or no degree) there generally speaking are a lot more opportunities in cs / engineering degrees. Also, there is a big difference between a ph.d and a masters degree. You could also get a medical doctorate after your 4 year degree and make even more money but, that's irrelevant to which undergraduate program is a better investment.

[@karlanovakova220]

The bottom part of history majors working for McDonald is not mentioned - why ?

[@epicprism-unknownyoutuber7383]

Isn't comparing a Doctorate Degree like a Juris Doctorate to a Masters Degree not really put to scale when master's programs can be 1-2 years long when a JD is around 3-4. It would be more comparable to spot the similarity between the salaries of someone with a PHD in the Stem and a JD.

[@slayerzerg]

What this video doesn't tell you is that in these national survey's they can only grab info from college grads willing to release this information. A lot of surveys I find show a significant number of engineers disclose their postgraduation salary while for instance in liberal arts, there's not that many who disclose it, only the ones who ended up doing alright and are content. If the survey involves 3000 engineers disclosing salaries vs 300 liberal arts students disclosing salaries, sample size is a key factor. Moral of the story, STEM majors earn more as a group.

[@waranle961]

I hate my life I'm uneducated 30yr old truck driver .

[@EisernesKreuz24]

+Zak Zak That's rather a bless, truck driver has solid earnings.

[@waranle961]

+EisernesKreuz24 yes if u own your own truck

[@FsimulatorX]

+Zakriya take a computer science course online.

[@waranle961]

***** online school is useless. Nobody respect it

[@FsimulatorX]

Zakriya its not about having the degree. Its about learning the skill sets.

[@kevintsuyoi901]

as long as the number of engineering graduates doesn't increase dramatically, they don't have to worry about their wages being driven down. It is something to think about though.

[@cazgerald9471]

The numbers are increasing dramatically every year if you take India, China and Russia into consideration. Probably won't happen in the US because most people don't have the foundation and/or the discipline for the math.

[@aakashneupnae7373]

Come to Australia, or any part of Australasia, and you'll see massive engineering un/underemployment. It'll come to the US soon, when a STEM degree doesn't get you a job more easily than a commerce or (arts******) degree.

[@rban123]

Cool! an entire video of manipulated and misinterpreted data that i can use for my presentation on manipulated and misinterpreted data! thanks a lot Wall Street Journal!

[@omarsalkamusic]

This is dumb. He is looking at stuff pre-2008. The 2008 financial crisis ended liberal arts as practical.

[@aakashneupnae7373]

I like my liberal arts degree. :)

[@SmashBrosBrawl]

why were pre-2008 liberal art degrees practical?

[@infamouscrusader3363]

@@SmashBrosBrawl They weren't.

[@SmashBrosBrawl]

@@infamouscrusader3363 they were not, but you could get a decent job with one is what he meant. They're practical for getting a job. But now that everyone has a lib art degree, they're the new high school diploma

[@infamouscrusader3363]

@@SmashBrosBrawl The problem with Arts and Humanities degrees is that they are so common today and have low R.O.I. which is why despite having one myself would not recommend today. Overall, those in other subjects like STEM make more overall when compared to those who just have a BA as compared to those with a BS and nothing else.

[@thejils1669]

And add to this dilemma that most kids graduating from high school these days don't even know how to balance a checkbook or realize that, in the grand scheme of things, what needs to be accomplished first to subsist successfully is to make more money than you spend, even if you did take and pass an economics course...somehow the law (?theory) of supply and demand doesn't work that well (or even applies) when n=1...

[@TheMaverickanupam]

For the uninitiated, two learnings from comments (add more if you find)- 1-There are not as many jobs for fields apart from STEM. So, if you are afterward majoring in a different discipline it may be tougher to find a job even though the median salary may be higher. 2-Not all the liberal arts students go on to become lawyers. Therefore, a law degree is not the best choice of option for comparison representing the graduate degree undertaken by liberal arts undergraduates.

[@seargentdickfingers8883]

So what do the bottom quarter of history majors make? It seemed so important to focus on that portion for stem majors. Obviously the top quarter of history will make more than the bottom quarter of Engineering

[@RnBCutz]

Degrees, Degrees, Degrees. Thats all I hear. What about accumulating staggering Debt by taking out Loan after Loan?

[@farhan007]

There is a lot of noise in this data. For example, a significantly larger portion of business majors have parents who are going to pass down immense amounts of capital to them relative to engineering students. Rich kids tend to chose easier majors. Thus, their earning salary when they graduate from their joke business administration degree has probably more to do with the capital they inherited being invested rather than using their business administration degree to use.

[@uhRoid]

This video seems extremely biased, not fully explained, "half-assed". I mean the per cent of people who have liberal arts degrees that do end up going in law, is well below the per cent of people who have computer sci degree and go on to do masters or phd. Not only that, the computer sci masters and phd grads end up with many more job opportunities vs the extremely small group of law grad, which are also a very small part of the liberal arts grads. This video basically showcased the best sports player from one country vs the best sports player from a city in that country. The bias is real! Hold this L, and my dislike!

[@timothywinters2888]

The fundamental idea was based on a history degree, that if taken, and coupled with a law career would land you with a higer paycheque than a STEM degree. Well, in reality, the VAST majority of stem degrees on average, are more worthwhile than pursuing a history program. Overall, STEM is the better choice.

[@EP1CNELSON]

When I finish my BS in CS I would be fine if I started between 35k to 40k.

[@huverdoose]

This guy reminds me of Thomas Middleditch as Ken from Street Fighter.

[@astarlevy4208]

I've done a research on majors degrees Job's market and universities for last couple months. And most people are saying that everyone struggles finding jobs no matter if you're STEM or Liberal Arts. It's the nowadays economy. And a fact there is more college/ university students than ever. More people get educated but there is lesser need for them.

[@yamama3089]

After the video I’m thinking “I’m glad I’m comp sic major” lol

[@ayanpandeydpsn-std9005]

But 😅 the tech market is volatile.

[@fedvgo]

I like how they didn’t mention the bottom 25% pay for the history major like they did the computer science major. Don’t let this video fool you into thinking bad majors are can pay off the same as STEM majors. For most a bad degree is a bad degree.

[@monkeydewokong4017]

What strand of pilot

[@nhj06]

The employment rates of a history graduate compared to a cs graduate is very different. Also most people dont end up earning that top 25%.

[@WhallonJesse]

Learn a trade. Work for 10 years, start a business, profit.

[@stallman655]

HOLD ON! A history major that gets a law degree is NOT the same thing as an engineer getting a Masters in their respective field. To be a fair comparison, it needs to be an engineering student who goes on to law school. This is not that uncommon in the area of intellectual property attorneys. Those attorneys easily make well into 200k and beyond. Maybe this is meant to make history majors feel better??

[@infamouscrusader3363]

It was. This is so those with Non-STEM degrees' pride be stroked just a bit.

[@kaylee660]

STEM? Average bio major makes under $30,000. They should take the S out and say TEM. Walgreens managers makes more than that. PHD holders are struggling. How many adjuncts Biologists and Chemists are making below the poverty level? Secondly, Liberal Arts are the most underpaid. Everyone and their mother have a psychology or sociology degree. Most ends up working as a cashier for $9 hr.

[@blacklyfe5543]

Kay Lee no they shouldn't cause science majors make at least 70k

[@micahtorres9011]

A lot of the lab jobs underpay it’s worker no matter what science major the person has.

[@pranavpillai7778]

Liberal arts degrees are fine if you have practical minors with great experiential learning and/or graduate degrees in practical areas(eg. JD, MBA, medical, etc.)

[@tatejohnson4127]

You guys are missing the entire point of the video. What he is really saying is that the major you pick doesn't exactly determine your job, and that the benefit of a more flexible major(one that teaches how to write vs one that teaches a specific skill) is that a wider range of jobs are within reach. He isn't saying stem major are bad, just that not all liberal arts majors are horrible.

[@scorpiodemon7060]

Glad I'm pursuing engineering tech

[@AlexCassem]

Ok, the CS majors in this video earned that much more only with the addition of a masters, and the history major required an entire PhD to get close to that top 140,000. A masters is +2 years after graduating and a PhD is typically 5-6years after.....

[@lordcastellan4735]

You've conflated history degree with law degree. Literally anyone with a BS or BA can take up a law degree. Additionally a law degree is a doctorate JD to be specific and a master's is not a doctorate. Lastly there are significantly more lawyers than are actually needed hence why they get fired at a whim and are expected to work hours that no other person without an extreme passion for their work would even consider. Your average person works between 40-65 hours per week. Lawyers are commonly expected to work 60-80 hours per week.

[@justtoolit6051]

STEM majors give you job security w/ good pay. Liberal arts majors are NOT better than STEM majors. This is a terrible video with misinformation and a bad understanding of statistics.

[@justtoolit6051]

Listen. Liberal arts majors who go to medical school aren't real liberal arts majors. Good luck being a liberal arts major and not going to a professional school like med school lol. No jobs.

[@justtoolit6051]

Michelle Le Music Well I respect all majors too. I’m not trying to dog on art majors or anything. I’m just saying being a stem major can prove to be more valuable. Are there instances where art majors get good jobs ? Sure. But I’m saying from personal experience that the stem majors will probably come out on top more times than not. And trust me, I go to medical school and no one will get into medical school “just for majoring in english”. It doesn’t work that way. It’s not about the major but about how well you perform and that you show that you want to do medicine when it comes to medical school.

[@ag-bk5wf]

You sound like a surfer dude from Save By The Bell.

[@oswaldojfernandez6807]

This tells us that we only looked at one instance where this is true. How do you go from History to Law? Law is respected and known as a useful degree. Most Art programs have no way of generating money. If someone went to take a Humanities degree, they'd have no shot of finding work.