I read the coverage of this academic paper with some amusement. Something not mentioned by the reviewers is that the data set came from just one college. Should that then be applicable everywhere? I don’t know.
Also, the idea of correcting for brightness of students strikes me as misguided. Smart students know to apply themselves to majors that will pay off. Also, the concept that high-paying careers require more hours is also misguided. Most of the graduates in lower earning professions can’t work more hours, even if they want to; there is no demand for that.
The paper was written to deal with how one statistically deals with non-responses in surveying. That it deals with education is a happy accident. I would be careful generalizing from this paper. To me, it is another example of advanced research that is highly intelligent, but may lack common sense.
David, perhaps I’m overreacting to the title of this post, but – wouldn’t it be much better for students to pursue fields that they are good at, and that they enjoy? I’ve met too many people who studied science/business/medicine/law (for the anticipated economic benefit) and subsequently didn’t enjoy their work for years and years. In the worst cases, they became managers and made their colleagues miserable as well….
No, Tom, you are right. I’m just reacting to the news coverage that trumpeted, “See, economically it doesn’t matter what major you choose. Choose any major and your well-being will be equally benefited.”
In money terms, it is not true. That said, yes, we are all happier when we do what we love, so long as it provides adequately for us. Many majors don’t, and I know many students exiting college with a lot of debt, and no economically significant skills to help them get ahead.
Fair enough; I fully agree that it’s foolish to borrow money and end up with little more earning power than you had when you started college. There are probably a lot of people who don’t need a 4-year degree at all. Perhaps a more interesting analysis would be to figure out how much your earning power needs to be increased in order to make college a good idea (in purely economic terms, of course).
This is just another problem that can be chalked up to misguided trade policies and an over reliance on credit. No one should forget the world on a trade scale is massively imbalanced.
America has become the greatest financial risk on earth.