Re:The problem with ‘follow your dream’
by lotsofpulp on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:09AM
(#27247241)
The hurdle to get a “business” degree is low, so it is a poor signal of drive/intelligence/network, hence the poor ROI.
That’s why there is such an emphasis on STEM education for those looking to maximize income. The higher the hurdle, the more valuable the hurdle is as a signal to others. Hence the competitiveness of entry at some schools.
Re:The problem with ‘follow your dream’
by the_only_law on Saturday May 22, 2021 @12:35PM
(#27248096)
Even many STEM majors have terrible outcomes. Science? Most of those you’re going to need a PhD and you’re still going to be paid shit. Maybe an industrial R&D scientist with many years (perhaps decades) of experience can make it ok, but that’s a gamble. Technology? This one seems to be the he safest bet, software developers ofc can make nearly unheard amounts of money as a wage worker and IT work seems to pull in an ok amount once you’ve established enough experience. Engineering? Ok I guess, admittedly I’ve been very disappointed by the salaries I’ve seen out of a lot of engineering fields though. Math? Not a particularly valuable field in itself. I doubt there’s any employment for mathematicians outside academia, however I will admit the skill set can be widely applicable and even useful to other industries (including some aforementioned) so I won’t discount it too much.
In order to have negotiating power as an employee there must be scarcity of labor for those skills. Considering that debt is effectively free, any seemingly lucrative field can be quickly inundated with additional supply of skilled labor.
The only way out of this is to have skills which are extremely rare owing to lack of training paths, rapidly changing execution skills, or demand which rapidly outstrips training capacity.
e.g. Software Engineer with experience in the latest X, NeuroSurgeon, Software Engineer with experience on hyperscale services etc.
Internships are pretty much required in this day and age. Almost to where the whole point of college is to intern. Those companies are going to be how you get hire, no one cares that you got a degree - Almost every ambitious person nowadays gets a degree, so the only differentiator is if i can see you work.
The outcome for most who do not go into finance is a rude awakening that most high paid individuals in a business have a technical skill which allows them to produce. There is a very limited market for entry level people managers who lack the skills of employees.
One acquaintance of mine discovered his business degree qualified for a job managing the schedules, incoming deals, and pricing of HVAC technicians at roughly half the income of the HVAC technicians with a comparatively limited career advancement route. Considering that this management position also cost twice the education time the business degree had a highly questionable ROI.