It seems lately that when you answer the question "Oh you're in college? What's your major?" unless you reply with some sort of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) related field people automatically assume you won't find success and are wasting your time. Which is crazy, because STEM majors aren't the only ones out there and majoring in a humanity is just as important; you can be just as successful. Sure, majoring in history, english, philosophy or modern languages won't help you become a doctor, but all of those majors are important and can definitely help you become successful.
1. History, English and Modern Language majors will be the teachers of the future.
Just like there will always be a demand for doctors, engineers, technology innovators and mathematicians, there will always be a demand for teachers. Sure, a teacher may not earn as much as a doctor or an engineer, but a teacher is doing much more than that. A teacher is the one who gives future generations the tools and skills necessary to become a doctor, or an engineer or a teacher. If no one wanted to be a humanities major the future of the world would be dim.
2. History, Philosophy, Journalism and English majors have the possibility of becoming lawyers.
While becoming a lawyer may not seem as noble as becoming a doctor, lawyers still do a lot of good in this world and there will always be a demand for them. (There's a pretty good paycheck involved too if that's what you're looking for.) In fact, according to a study done by LSAC (which you can read more about here) journalism and philosophy majors have a better chance at getting in to law school as opposed to criminal justice and even pre-law majors. Mostly because the skills they learn in their classes help them to score better on the LSATs. A good LSAT score means you can do pretty much anything.
3. You learn how to think critically and analyze texts.
One thing about being a humanities major that is certain is that you're going to spend all of your time doing one thing: reading. Your lectures will be composed of nightly reading assignments followed by an in-depth discussion and analysis of said reading assignment. While it may seem boring or tedious now, you'll be thanking your professors once you graduate. Being able to think critically and analyze texts is important in any career field and no major has more practice at it then a humanities major. Having four years to perfect your thinking and analyzing will definitely get you the job as opposed to the business major you're up against who took one literature class their freshman year.
4. History majors will end up helping to keep the past preserved in the world's museums.
It's no secret that history majors have a love for the innovations of the past and how the world has changed into what it is today. There really is only one place you can truly combine all of those things: a museum. All museums are made possible by past history majors. Some schools even offer a major or minor in public history (My very own Niagara being one of them), so that history majors with the dream of becoming a museum curator can learn how to effectively summarize and present history in a clear and concise fashion. Without history buffs the history of the world will slowly be lost for ever.
5. English Majors and Journalism Majors are going to help books happen.
When people think of writing any kind of material, reading books, text books, manuals, etc., they don't usually think of how the books actually become a physical copy. And we have the past english and journalism majors to thank for that. The field of publishing and editing is a possible career choice for english and journalism majors, and without them there would be no books. If there is no one there to edit, produce and market any kind of reading material then no one would ever get to use it. So kiss your precious textbooks goodbye, STEM majors, without the humanities they will no longer exist!
6. The production of books isn't the only thing that English and Journalism majors are good for...
Think about the last book you read, the last magazine you picked up and the last news article you skimmed. All of those things were made possible by the writer, who was once an English or Journalism major. Without them there would be no reading books, no newspapers and no magazines. If there isn't someone with a passion and skill for writing available to write, then nothing would be worth reading. And really, what's the point of having a stressful STEM job without a book or trashy magazine to help you relax at the end of the day?
7. The possibility of you getting a job isn't a bleak as people think it is.
Many people think that the only way to get a job after graduation is to be a STEM major, which is completely false. Georgetown did a study on the unemployment rate of recent graduates based on majors (which you can read more about here), and the humanities faired pretty well. Across the board humanities majors had a total unemployment rate of 9% which is actually slightly better than the 9.1% unemployment rate computer science and math majors face. So yeah, Aunt Barbra, I will have a job after graduation.
8. Once you graduate you have a wide variety of career options.
One of the downfalls of STEM majors is that once they have their degree and enter the workforce if they hate their career choice there really is nothing they can do about it. Since they have such a specialized degree to be able to move in to any other field is almost impossible. Luckily for us humanities majors we have a ton of options. Don't want to teach? Look in to publishing or writing. Museums not your thing? Head over to law school. There are so many amazing, creative jobs out in the world that humanities majors have the opportunity to pick from. So yeah, your med school degree will get you a job at some hospital, but my English degree can get me a super cool job at BuzzFeed.
9. Right now STEM is popular, meaning us humanities majors stick out.
Like I said before, in recent times there has been an increase in the popularity of the STEM majors, meaning the humanities have taken a huge hit, (You can take it from me, since this last fall I was one of three incoming English majors). While this seems negative, it just means that the people who do choose to be a humanities major stick out from the crowd. In order to make an impression on future employers you must be different and stick out from the millions of others out there looking for a job. And having a philosophy degree as opposed to a business degree is definitely a way to do that. It shows that you're not afraid to take risks to do what you love and any employer would be lucky to have a person like that on their staff.
10. You get to do what you love.
Do you think that every future doctor, engineer or mathematician love what they do? Of course many do, but I'm willing to bet a lot don't! With STEM majors it seems that a lot of them choose their path based on the availability of careers, family pressure and even the size of the paycheck. But is all that worth not being happy? A philosophy major doesn't choose their major because they want to constantly be told they won't ever find a job, they chose it because they're passionate about it and love it. Same goes with any other humanities major. When you're in a humanities major you have to love what you do or every day will be miserable. And you know what they say, get a job doing something you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
STEM majors may be popular and can guarantee you a huge pay check, but humanities majors are so much more than that. Humanities majors allow you to do something creative, something you love and something that can really make a difference in this world.
