Dear English Major,
I want to start by telling you that you’re going to be alright, you’re going to find a job, and you will have a career. There is a particular reputation surrounding English majors and they make people think certain ways for example; “English majors aren’t gonna be successful,” “They’re lazy,” “Their major is so easy,” “They will make less money than other majors,” and so on. Not only that, but humanities and art majors suffer from this wronged reputation in general. Lots of people have experienced the effects of this reputation in many ways and from many origins. “What do you even do with an English degree?” “Te vas a morir de hambre.” “You should switch to biology.” “You’ll make more money if you were a STEM major.”
My particular experience with this is a constant reminder from most of my family members that I’m never going to get a job. It comes as quite a shock to me since my entire family is really emphatic on how I have to read, watch theatre, listen to music, and watch all the Oscar nominees in order to be “cultured”. However, if I were to tell them that most of the writers, musicians, and artists that work in these fields weren’t STEM majors, they would dismiss it as sheer luck.
“As Jordan Weissman highlights in The Atlantic, English majors aren’t performing as poorly in the job market as the cultural dialogue leads us to believe. In fact, data from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce reports 9.8 percent unemployment for fresh graduates with a degree in English, while economics and political science graduates came in at 10.4 and 11.1 percent. And computer science —the major that all of our concerned family members tell us to consider switching to —comes in nearby at 8.7 percent,” explained Becky Schultz in her article titled, “14 Successful English Majors Who Proved That Their Liberal Arts Degrees Did Serve A Purpose, Mom.“
These statistics may be shocking to all those parents who stopped their kids from pursuing a career in English because of the possible difficulties in the job market, but when you think about it, it’s only logical. A great portion of our economy is run by the entertainment industry and by politics, both of which are home to more than a few English majors.
The truth is, a great deal of the most admired people we know aren’t doctors or engineers; they’re celebrities. Yes, a lot of their big breaks were luck, but sometimes learning how to write a screenplay and produce it in your cinematography class in college could lead to you winning an Oscar, or to directing a play, or a movie, or even a TV show. Sometimes, doubling in English and Marketing could lead to you being Editor-in-Chief in a successful publishing company like Random House, Little Brown, or Penguin. The possibilities are truly endless.
From Jodie Foster to Andrea Jung to Mitt Romney to S. I. Hayawaka to Conan O’Brien (double major in history and English), successful English majors are everywhere. English and the humanities are everywhere, even in politics, TV, teaching, literature, movies, videogames, museums, major companies, etc. Finding a job is almost a certainty when you consider possible extracurriculars like writing for a blog or an online magazine, being active in English and writing student organization, among others. Because a lot of people are still biased when it comes to English majors, you have to show them that no major is better than another.
If you’re still having doubts, here are a few articles that tell you more about successful English majors and careers.
Here’s a page you can follow on Facebook to continue inspiring you to follow your passion!