A recent study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce indicates that recent college graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the arts, humanities, and architecture are seeing higher rates of unemployment. The study looked at several college majors (in the graphic below) in terms of unemployment rates as related to experience — either recent college graduates, experienced college graduates, or those with a graduate degree.
College grads with degrees in architecture saw 13.9% unemployment; those with degrees in the arts, 11.1% (another recent study found the unemployment rate for this degree at 16.2%); and those with degrees in humanities, 9.4%.
Among the degrees of recent college graduates with the lowest rates of unemployment were health (5.4%), education (5.4%), and agriculture and natural resources (7%). What’s more, engineering, computer science or business majors earned as much as 50% more over a lifetime than workers with majors in the humanities, arts, education and psychology.
These results were based on 2009 and 2010 data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
The survey results once again spark the debate over whether or not college is “worth it” given the difficulty of finding jobs and the rising amount of debt with which students graduate. While the rate of unemployment overall among recent college graduates is 8.9%, the unemployment rate for those with only a high school diploma was 22,9%; for those who didn’t complete high school, 31.5%.
The study’s four main findings, as listed on the report website, are as follows:
1. Choice of major substantially affects employment prospects and earnings.
2. People who make technology are better off than people who use technology.
3. In general, majors that are linked to occupations have better employment prospects than majors focused on general skills. But, some occupation specific majors, such as Architecture, were hurt by the recession and fared worse than general skills majors.
4. For many, pursuing a graduate degree may be the best option until the economy recovers. But, not all graduate degrees outperform all BA’s on employment.”
Is your major on this list? What do you think of the findings?
