

The most popular university major in the US leads to the least fulfilling work - gamechangr
http://qz.com/275139/the-most-popular-university-major-in-the-us-leads-to-the-least-fulfilling-work/

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ggchappell
This is, I think, an interesting topic, but there are a few things I find
troubling/puzzling about the article:

(1) It makes a big deal out of small differences.

> While computer scientists may make the most money right out of school,
> business is a more lucrative path in the long run. The 95th percentile of
> business majors (including graduate degrees) in terms of salary make $4.23
> million over a lifetime, compared to $3.93 million for computer science
> majors, according to data collected by The Hamilton Project.

Okay, 7.6% more. Wow. The differences in the "strongly agree" percentages are
a bit higher, but still not that big. I'm wondering whether the latter
differences might be _entirely_ chalked up to cultural differences in the
fields that make people assign different meanings to "strongly agree" and
"deeply interested".

(2) Looking at that 7.6% salary difference again, I have to wonder whether
it's even correct. Part of the point of a business degree (or so I thought) is
that you get a chance at the high levels of corporate leadership, where you
get to make the big bucks. And yet, the _95th percentile_ of business majors
makes barely more than the same percentile of C.S. majors? That doesn't sound
right.

And that 95th percentile makes $4.23 million over their entire lifetime.
Counting the working life as 42 years, that's just a hair over $100,000/year.
Sounds seriously low to me. We're supposed to believe that only 5% of business
majors make more than $100,000/year?

Or maybe business degrees are just a gigantic racket. But somehow I doubt
that, too.

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gamechangr
Your response was pretty well thought out.

I also immediately had a red flag with....

" We're supposed to believe that only 5% of business majors make more than
$100,000 a year"

Totally Agree

