The least recommended college majors

Here are the top 12 majors not recommended by people in the field:

8-12 (Tie): Liberal Arts

• 25% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $36,600

8-12 (Tie): Political Science

• 25% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $41,700

8-12 (Tie): Art History

• 25% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $36,900

8-12 (Tie): Sociology

• 25% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $37,400

8-12 (Tie): Psychology

• 25% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $36,300

6-7 (Tie): Art

• 26% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $36,100

6-7 (Tie): English Language

• 26% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $38,700

5. Journalism

• 27% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $38,100

4. Social Science

• 28% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $37,300

3. Visual Communications

• 29% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $37,300

2. History

• 33% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $39,700

1. Anthropology

• 35% wouldn’t recommend this major
• Starting pay: $36,200

I don’t see anything remarkable; except for journalism, I assumed the same about these majors when I was in college. But obviously, if only 25-35% are unhappy in the job, they are finding other satisfaction besides salary.

Survey was by PayScale and reported in Higher Ed Morning.

I wonder if this was used with gender if it would explain some gender gap in wages.

“In both 1978 and 2005, engineering, physics and mathematics lagged behind many of the humanities departments in attracting women, who tend to flock to fields ranging from art history to English, as well as the “softer” sciences, such as biology and environmental studies.” (2006, The gender gap in majors at Yale)

Then the Harvard Crimson did an article on the differences of majors by genders.  And yes, anthropology was the most female of all the majors, but most of these were listed.

Georgetown University did a study in 2011 of differences in gender and race in selecting a major. The study found that white men are concentrated in the highest-earning majors, including engineering and pharmaceutical sciences, while women gravitate toward the lowest-earning majors like education, art and social work. https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/omooxnult5yvuctf0ftl