A mermaid. A teacher. A veterinarian. What do these things have in common? From ages five to eleven, these were my responses to the infamous question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now, I’m headed into my freshman year of college as an English/Creative Writing major. I remember the day I started telling people I had my heart set on studying English. One person's response really bothered me: “Why don’t you want to be a doctor?”
This unprompted question was the first time I noticed people's general emphasis on careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. This expansive set of jobs has even been given its own catchy acronym: STEM. Careers in STEM are often described as the jobs of the future, having the most booming opportunities of any other field. And it makes sense. As our increasingly technological society advances and our needs in the medical field skyrocket, so too does the demand for such jobs… and the salary that comes with them. But how does this affect students seeking degrees that aren’t in STEM fields?
I am excited to pursue a degree in English, yet there are times that I hear in the voice in the back of my head ask, “Why don’t you want to be a doctor?” I know the answer is because I love reading and writing more than anything else, but people’s reaction to my choice of major often makes me feel as though I am not living up to my full potential. I am usually met with sneers, snorts of derision or confused looks that accompany the question, “What are you going to do with an English degree today?” Frustrated with the lack of mutual enthusiasm for my goals, I discussed my feelings with some friends pursuing non-STEM degrees.
“Fine arts degrees aren’t useless,” assures my coworker Scott Thompson, who is in his 5th year at Wright State University pursuing degrees in music and philosophy. “There’s a reason they’re called the humanities. We are humans, and it is a fundamental aspect of our being to be involved in art, music, and philosophy… What’s the point of living a long time if the world is filled with nothing to appreciate?”
My best friend is headed into her first year as a musical theatre major at Wright State with the dream of being on Broadway. “STEM careers do seem to be emphasized by society. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, though. We always need more engineers and scientists to continue progress in the world, and doctors for obvious reasons. The problem is the way it’s emphasized by society. There’s a certain shaming that happens to people in liberal arts careers. People do make you feel that your career goal is less important. People would often tell me that musical theatre is a good hobby but not a career, or that I was wasting my potential. For a long time I told people I wanted to be a surgeon so people would be proud of my career aspirations. In the end, I’m still going into musical theatre because it’s my passion.”
In addition to the occasional career-shaming, some people experience preferential treatment or increased opportunities for students pursuing STEM degrees.
“Sometimes I feel like they are put on a pedestal. From my experience, people in STEM are considered smarter and more motivated,” states Ceara Gannon, a college freshman.
Then there’s the big S word: scholarships. I remember hunting online and seeing a host of scholarships available for STEM degrees, but the pickings were slimmer and less funded for other majors.
“I know when it came to scholarships and such, locally the only ones I could find were those going into a STEM field,” my roommate Shianne shares with me. “A girl I know and graduated with is actually going into engineering and was given the opportunity to compete in a… competition where she was given several opportunities… and won several other scholarships simply because she was a girl going into engineering, whereas I am struggling to find ways to pay for college simply because art majors are given way less opportunities and money for going into their field of choice.”
To be fair, life isn’t a dream for STEM students either. Opportunities and scholarships can vary based on state, county and school.
“My boyfriend is going into engineering and in the town he’s from STEM has way less significance than it does in the county I’m from,” says Shianne. “There were no scholarships locally he could apply for by simply being an engineering major.”
Additionally, job opportunities in STEM fields require a lot of taxing work if you want to become the best in your field. This could mean selling an arm to afford medical school, fitting numerous co-ops and internships into your schedule to gain experience, and simply being entrusted with the charge of our surgeries, medicines, computers, environmental protection programs, etc.
Even still, other ambitions are not obsolete goals. That Disney-Pixar movie you enjoyed? It was created by a team of animators and artists who spent painstaking amounts of time bringing the movie to life. Those revered chefs at expensive Michelin starred restaurants? I'm willing to bet they spent more time in a kitchen than a calculus class. Every night you've binge-watched Netflix, you've enjoyed the work of actors, actresses, and filmmakers from around the world. Your clothes, shoes, jewelry, purses, hats, and scarves - those were designed by artists. Painters and sculptors produce projects that stir deep emotions in people and convey messages that words are too simple for. Journalists write articles that keep us up to date with current events. Books have the power to take us into other worlds, inspire us and give us new ideas. Who are we to judge that these crafts mean anything less than others?
Perhaps this ideological inequality comes from the way these subjects are enforced in elementary and secondary education. Not only is STEM generally more emphasized, other programs get less funding and fade into the background. There has been talk of changing STEM to STEAM, adding an Arts component to the mix. Last year, Congress passed the Every Child Achieves Act, which officially defined a "well-rounded education" to include arts and music.
There’s a journal in my room with the mantra, “Do what you love and love what you do!” printed across the front. When it comes down to it, I think this is the best advice for any student, whether your dream is to be an astronaut, a dancer, a surgeon or an artist. Don’t let what society says deter you from pursuing what you love to do. Live the life of your dreams, not everyone else’s. I refuse to believe that my career is any less meaningful, impactful or prestigious because it isn’t science- or math-intensive. While being a mermaid might be a fantastical idea, being a writer is most certainly not.
