College advisors?

[Don Y]

Are there advisors in schools, nowadays, to provide guidance
for kids?

In the past several weeks, I've spoken to a lot of kids "just
graduating" or "in a year or so". Many complain about a BAD
job market.

But, when I drill down into their qualifications, most have
taken "impractical" majors: english lit, psychology, history,
art, etc.

Didn't anyone advise them as to the marketability of these
educations before they invested 4 years of their time/money?

"And, where did you THINK you were going to work? Do you
LOVE kids -- cuz you're likely only qualified to be a teacher..."

[Bill Sloman]

Post by Don Y
Are there advisors in schools, nowadays, to provide guidance
for kids?
In the past several weeks, I've spoken to a lot of kids "just
graduating" or "in a year or so".  Many complain about a BAD
job market.
But, when I drill down into their qualifications, most have
taken "impractical" majors:  english lit, psychology, history,
art, etc.
Didn't anyone advise them as to the marketability of these
educations before they invested 4 years of their time/money?
"And, where did you THINK you were going to work?  Do you
LOVE kids -- cuz you're likely only qualified to be a teacher..."

Psychology can a very marketable major - my wife did a double major in
German and psychology, expecting to end up teaching German in a
secondary school, but discovered psycholinguistics in the process, got a
Ph.D. in that and ended up as a very well paid and world famous (amongst
psycholinguists) professor.

It would have been a clever advisor that foresaw that.

You capacity to "drill down into their qualification" is somewhat suspect.

No advisor would have told me to take up electronics - and my Ph.D.
advisor (unlike Winfield Hill's) certainly didn't. Curuously, the guy
who got his job after he retired had written an electronics paper with me.

Ghiggino, K.P., Phillips, D., and Sloman, A.W. "Nanosecond pulse
stretcher",Journal of Physics E: Scientific Instruments, 12, 686-687 (1979).

Which is to say Ken wrote the first draft of the paper, and I rewrote in
a way that made it publishable (if still trivial).

[Jeroen Belleman]

Post by Don Y
Are there advisors in schools, nowadays, to provide guidance
for kids?
In the past several weeks, I've spoken to a lot of kids "just
graduating" or "in a year or so".  Many complain about a BAD
job market.
But, when I drill down into their qualifications, most have
taken "impractical" majors:  english lit, psychology, history,
art, etc.
Didn't anyone advise them as to the marketability of these
educations before they invested 4 years of their time/money?
"And, where did you THINK you were going to work?  Do you
LOVE kids -- cuz you're likely only qualified to be a teacher..."

Is that new? I don't think so. Graduating in some light-weight
subject has always been perceived as an easy way to get a degree.
STEM degrees are "too hard". And then they find that no one needs
such graduates.

That said, I've had people tell me that mathematics degrees are
only good to get you a teacher's job. Unsurprisingly, those same
people had no idea what mathematics is all about.

Jeroen Belleman

[Don Y]

Post by Jeroen Belleman

Post by Don Y
Are there advisors in schools, nowadays, to provide guidance
for kids?
In the past several weeks, I've spoken to a lot of kids "just
graduating" or "in a year or so".  Many complain about a BAD
job market.
But, when I drill down into their qualifications, most have
taken "impractical" majors:  english lit, psychology, history,
art, etc.
Didn't anyone advise them as to the marketability of these
educations before they invested 4 years of their time/money?
"And, where did you THINK you were going to work?  Do you
LOVE kids -- cuz you're likely only qualified to be a teacher..."

Is that new? I don't think so.

I don't know. My personal experience left me with no choices OTHER
than STEM (engineering school).

OTOH, I can recall advising an undergrad before he had to declare
his "major". He had thought "Computer Science cuz I think I can
make a lot of money, there" "But, do you LIKE that field?" "Well,
no..." "There's an awful lot of years for you to spend NOT liking
something and reliant on it for an income!"

Likewise, a friend approached me, dismayed, as his kid was about
to enroll in a psychology program: "How the hell is he going to
find work, there?" After a brief chat, he ended up going into
an engineering program (that he really wasn't too excited about)
and, once there (after graduation) moving into a succesful
engineering MANAGEMENT position. Hard to see how a psych degree
would have opened those doors...

Post by Jeroen Belleman
Graduating in some light-weight
subject has always been perceived as an easy way to get a degree.
STEM degrees are "too hard". And then they find that no one needs
such graduates.

But there are degree options that don't fall into the basket-weaving
vs. STEM categories. E.g., a CPA is in relatively high demand and
pay. The Law? (ick)

Post by Jeroen Belleman
That said, I've had people tell me that mathematics degrees are
only good to get you a teacher's job. Unsurprisingly, those same
people had no idea what mathematics is all about.

What I wonder is the extent that kids *are* counseled and how
effective that counseling can be -- in light of the school
likely offering those "light weight" programs/majors.

Head of Psych department: "How come you are denigrating MY field?"
Counselor: "How many of YOUR graduates are now working IN that field?"