So, you’re an English major. You’ve decided to brave the worlds of LeGuin and Shakespeare to earn a degree that some believe will lead you down the unsuccessful path of a starving writer, or worse—a teacher.
Coming from a family of mostly STEM majors, I’m a bit of a black sheep. Thankfully, I have the support of my mother, who holds her own B.A. in English, but I still can’t shake some of the obnoxious comments I hear from family, friends and classmates. To avoid confronting these people one-on-one, I’ve compiled a master list of things my English major self is tired of hearing. Maybe you, fellow English major, have had to sit through these arguments as well. If so, my condolences.
1. “Oh, so you want to be a teacher!”
Um… not exactly. There’s a stereotype that all English majors become teachers. And while it’s true that English education is a popular path for English majors, it is by no means the only option. Robert Matz of George Mason University used census data to develop a pie chart of opportunities for those graduating with English degrees. The largest section, “Education, Training and Library,” takes up 22% of the pie—less than a quarter. The remainder of the chart includes a variety of jobs from management and business operations to social services and healthcare. English majors are versatile, something people often forget.
2. Why don’t you major in something useful, like science?”
Have you ever watched Shark Tank? If so, you’ve probably seen billionaire investor Mark Cuban shaking hands and making deals with fresh-faced entrepreneurs. Cuban clearly knows how to follow the money. He’s incredibly intelligent and willing to take risks. Most importantly, Cuban has faith in liberal arts majors. In an interview about the future of the job market, Cuban said, “I personally think there’s going to be a greater demand in ten years for liberal arts majors than there were for programming majors and maybe even engineering, because when the data is all being spit out for you, options are being spit out for you, you need a different perspective in order to have a different view of the data.” Cuban thinks that liberal arts majors are useful. He’s a billionaire. Are you a billionaire? No? Well, maybe you should listen to one.
3. “There are no jobs in English!”
Oh, what a simple Google search can prove. Studies by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found that liberal arts majors in 2010 and 2011 had 9 percent unemployment, which is about the same as computer, math, psychology and social work major unemployment rates. Perhaps the stereotype of English majors becoming teachers is partly to blame, because the number of English undergrads vastly outnumbers the available positions in primary and secondary English education.
4. “Why pay for four years of college just to read? You can get a library card for free.”
Here’s some personal experience for you. As an English major in my junior year of college, I have taken one foreign language class, several newswriting classes, business writing classes and publishing classes. I have written business proposals, media releases, news stories and short stories. Writing is an important skill in any field; whether you’re creating a hundred-page proposal or just writing an email to your superior, you have to string together coherent sentences and get the tone just right. English majors aren’t just sitting around and discussing Beowulf—we’re learning applicable, marketable skills.
English majors are often the butt of jokes. There’s even a song in the musical Avenue Q that poses the question, “What do you do with a B.A. in English?” (Spoiler: the character never finds out). Granted, I love that musical, but they’ve got it all wrong—there’s so much you can do with an English degree, more options than just a poor person sitting in café or a stressed out teacher with bratty students.
Though if you’re going for either of those career choices, be my guest.