A little Humor (10 most useless degrees)

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by b4cz28, Jun 13, 2010.

Loading...
  1. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

  2. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    That cracks me up too. Sadly, there are many people who earned degrees in those fields are not so amused....they are probably still shedding tears because they know they wasted money and time on their useless majors.

    A great friend of mine from high school earned a degree in philosophy. Today, all these years later, he still works for his dad surveying land.
     
  3. cjzande

    cjzande New Member

    Okay, can I just ask what may very well be a stupid question? (Which - erm - isn't my actual question....) We have that story here about the girl with the 100K in loans who got a degree in "women's studies and religious studies," and pretty much everyone seems to agree that that's a crazy/dumb thing to get a degree in.

    So... why *do* people get degrees like that? Seriously and jokes aside, what *would* you use a degree in "women's studies" for? Surely there must be something out there, yeah? I dunno. I'm a practical to the point of boring kinda gal, so my thoughts on college are go and get a degree you know you can use, and if you have some great love of poetry, hang out at the public library and attend poetry readings to feed that interest.

    I guess it just seems like there must be *some* legitimate use for these kinds of degrees somewhere - beyond enriching the coffers of colleges and universities. Maybe?
     
  4. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    There seems to be a lot more of these folks in the world of academia than anywhere else. But here's a couple of items to look at.


    http://www.hecb.wa.gov/AuthEval/dpr/documents/WSUBAWomensStudiesLNOI.pdf

    “Graduates of Women's Studies work in a wide range of careers, including social change and nonprofit organizations, where they apply what they've learned in college to real life problems. For example, one of our alumni leads a Microsoft product redesign team, and is also responsible for diversity training of her team. Another runs a battered women’s shelter in Morocco. Others are employed in human resources, social services, marketing, journalism, digital media, the arts, and education. Women's Studies majors are also often interested in law, medicine, criminal justice, and other professional fields that are oriented towards helping people and increasing social justice. Finally, Women's Studies majors and minors often go on to graduate school in interdisciplinary fields such as Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies or Cultural Studies, or in fields where women's studies scholarship is important such as History, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, English, and many other areas”.


    http://www.sos.mo.gov/BlueBook/2009-2010/4_Leg.pdf

    "District 39—BETH LOW
    Capitol office: Room 203-A; phone (573) 751-4485.
    Home address: 5930 Cherry St., Kansas City 64110.
    Email address: [email protected]
    House committees: Elections; General Laws; Family Services;
    Ethics; Judiciary.
    Biography: Born May 13, 1977. Graduate of Jefferson City H.S., 1995;
    B.A., women’s studies, Univ. of Mo.–Columbia,...."
     
  5. cjzande

    cjzande New Member

    Thanks, Kevin. That's actually interesting. I think a degree-course in women's studies would bore me to tears, but it's nice to know some people are getting something out of it. And I guess the girl with the mega-debt could say she's gone on to be employed in "digital media" or "the arts," since she's working as a photographer's assistance. *wince*
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    10. Philosophy - one of the best Bachelors degrees for people planning on attending law school.
    9. Dance - anything in the arts is a hard sell. studio art, theatre, whatever concentration you might earn, it's a very difficult area to break in to.
    8. Leisure Studies - I know someone who earned a degree in LS and then a MBA (hospitality) and now they are the head of a resort in Mexico (Oh yeah, that's right, I'm so down there in Cancun)
    7. Latin - Once upon a time you'd become a high school language teacher but there's a decreasing number of schools even offering Latin courses now.
    6. Communications - I think thee's still some room for communications majors. Forget newspapers, they are dead. Go radio, go internet. If you're a communications major and you're not already blogging then you've missed the boat.
    5. Art History - You've got to either get into Museum Studies (go Oklahoma!) or you've got to get into one of the big NY auction houses. Otherwise, bring your spatula to the interview at BK.
    4. Physical Education - Probably the biggest mistake on the list (says something about the unfit loser who wrote the article) Teaching is obviously the target but Coaching is the way to go if you're ambitious.
    3. Women's Studies - It's not much diffeent than a lot of other liberal arts subjects. Lot's of reading, lot's of writing, critical thinking, etc. By itself it doesn't prepare you for much in the real world but combined with some grad degrees it could lead to some good stuff.
    2. Art Ttherapy - I know some people in the therapy world. They tell me that an ARt Therapist can make some good money . Mostly it's about working with kids. Nice.
    1.
     
  7. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    It's strange that a guy who is pursuing a bachelors degree in religion, at a non-accredited college no less, would even think of starting a thread like this.

    Things that you believe are useless in achieving your own desires aren't necessarily useless to other people in achieving theirs.

    Not everyone finds their fulfillment in life through maximizing their net worth. Money isn't the only value that motivates people. For many of us, acquiring money is simply a custodial function, something that ensures comfort and security while we pursue different and more valuable ends.

    For some people that might be spirituality. Religion is one of the least lucrative fields of university study when it's measured in dollar terms, but just conceivably there's something more to it than that.

    For others, it's the creative arts.

    And again, sometimes it's learning, discovery and understanding. I would have thought that a board that's ostensibly interested in higher educetion would have some small feeling and appreciation for learning, but perhaps not. But the fact remains that scholars and scientists are rarely motivated by dreams of becoming rich and powerful.

    All of these things are what once were referred to as 'callings'. A philosopher can't help but reason. A scientist can't help but discover. Scholars are driven to learn. Artists are called to create.

    If somebody has never felt it for themselves, if they can't get their minds around it, then all of these pursuits will seem worthless, simply a waste of time that could have been better spent making money and scrambling up somebody's organizational chart.

    But for others, however few we might turn out to be, these seemingly useless pursuits are precisely what makes human life most worth living.
     
  8. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member


    Gee, man, it was just a joke. I'll go back to not laughing now, if that's what will make you happy :(
     
  9. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    Originally Posted by BillDayson
    "I would have thought that a board that's ostensibly interested in higher educetion would have some small feeling and appreciation for learning, but perhaps not."


    Bill did you forget where you are?
     
  10. cjzande

    cjzande New Member

    It seems to me that you are presuming that people who choose careers outside "noble" callings are *only* interested in money and power. That's a bit of a leap. Has it occurred to you that it's possible to even an accountant that his degree and career are also "simply a custodial function"?

    My grandmother passed away a few months ago at the age of 97. In her final years she'd literally run out of money. When my grandfather died quite some time ago, I know he believed my grandmother would be fine; after all, she had their savings, his life insurance, and social security. It turned out, it wasn't enough. It was heartbreaking to watch her fret because she'd "become a burden" (Her words, obviously.) to her family, but with her living and medical needs, it came down to relatives to help her each month, or she would've been evicted from her comfortable nursing home.

    Just because a person approaches college with the mindset of, "I am going to get a degree that will help me obtain a better job," does not automatically make him someone who is not interested in artistic or scholarly pursuits. It simply means he recognizes that there is much less opportunity for him in a field like "women's studies" than an MBA, and therefore chooses a route that will hopefully secure his future. (Note: I did not say "no opportunity." Simply "much less.")

    Your "scrambling up someone's organizational chart" is someone else's "I'm going to make sure I'm taken care of, even if I live to be 100, so my children aren't faced with paying my bills."

    You are also, it seems to me, assuming that a person who chooses a mundane degree is not only (apparently) driven only by the almighty dollar, but is also essentially a philistine. Why? Just because he chose a career like business management?

    My favorite opera is Ariadne auf Naxos. My favorite ballet is Peer Gynt. My favorite painter is Rembrandt. I can't really say who my favorite author is, because that seems to fluctuate. Currently I am on an Agatha Christie binge. I sew, embroider, cross-stitch, crochet, sketch, and paint with watercolors. (Good grief. Could I possibly sound more like a hapless Austen heroine?) I love creative writing, and I cook absolutely everything my family eats from scratch. On the bookshelf next to my bed you will find cookbooks, gardening books, a comparative religions textbook, my Bible, an old anthropology textbook, and a stack of learn-to-speak French CDs.

    Excuse me for rambling on. My point is, it is entirely possible (and, I think, quite beneficial) to pursue artistic and scholarly pleasures for one's lifetime. It does not require a degree. You can attend free lectures, concerts, and plays. Visit museums. Make weekly trips to the library. Find *amazing* things all over the internet.

    Please do not keep assuming that just because some people believe college (with it's thousands of dollars in costs) should be, for those of us who are not already financially independent, something approached with an eye on practicality - that we are therefore completely unable to "get our minds" around wanting to learn or create. We do and can. We just aren't necessarily willing to bet our financial futures on it.

    I apologize in advance if I misinterpreted your comments and you meant nothing of the sort. If so, ignore my blatherings.
     
  11. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member


    Three college degrees later, I look at higher education much differently than I used to. There's no way I would ever recommend college to someone who is thinking of majoring in something that doesn't lead to a career. If you just want to learn something for the sake of learning, check out some library books or peruse the Internet. There's a lot of free info out there for the taking.

    Forking over thousands of dollars in tuition just for the personal satisfaction of having that nice, shiny piece of paper in a fancy frame on your wall just isn't worth it.
     
  12. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Like it or not, the world of higher education is self perpetuating. I suspect the biggest job market for people with degrees in women's studies, communication, philosophy, and forensic arborology is in colleges, teaching women's studies, communication, philosophy, and forensic arborology.
     
  13. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    On the other hand, if we look at the entire concept of liberal arts degrees, there's very little practical career preparation *any* liberal arts will give you. Most majors are between 8 and 13 courses out of 40 courses for the average degree.

    I've always thought that the value of the liberal arts degree, whether in religion, philosophy, women's studies, peace studies, or Chinese art, was to teach the student to analyze, dissect, and think critically, as well as to expose him or her to a variety of knowledge in a number of different fields.

    And I think there's data out there showing that a large majority of liberal arts majors (and probably this goes for more career-oriented degrees such as biology and chemistry) are, when surveyed 10 years later, working in a field having nothing to do with their degree. Does that mean the degree is a waste? No. But to me it means that the actual major is probably largely irrelevant.
     
  14. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Engineering majors say "This is how we do this".

    Sociology majors say "This is why we do this".

    Liberal Arts majors say "Would you like fries with that?"

    :D
     
  15. Tom H.

    Tom H. New Member

    Forensic Arborology

    Forensic arborology ..., c'mon, there can't possibly be a field known as "forensic arborology", let alone such a degree program.
     
  16. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    #5 Communications:
    I often see TV weather reporters screw up in their explanations - upon checking their credentials they invariably have communications degrees.
     
  17. eilla05

    eilla05 New Member

    LMAO! That was exactly what I needed today after a crap grade :)
     
  18. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Shout out to Sociology majors everywhere... w00t w00t!!!!! We buy less fries than engineering majors, but tend to be on the more appealing side of the fast-food service counter. ;)

    Of course, the reality is that if one does not become a Sociologist, the best result for a Sociology major is to have some other type of degree or certification to couple it with. Say for example... national certification as an interpreter? :D
     
  19. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    It was disdain, directed at academic subjects that the authors, and seemingly much of Degreeinfo along with them, seem incapable of understanding or appreciating.

    Do whatever you like, Craniac.

    But when people start laughing at others, they shouldn't act all surprised and offended if their victims speak up for themselves.
     
  20. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Where I am? I don't understand the question.

    I'm still interested in how somebody who is studying for a degree in religion at Nations University can be dismissive of subjects like philosophy, art history or Latin.

    Is religion really all that different?

    Presumably many of you Christian guys study Hebrew and Greek. Should those Biblical languages have a higher status in the academic world than Latin?
     

Share This Page