I spend a lot of time on Reddit and I’m an engineering major, so naturally I am part of r/EngineeringStudents. Lately, I feel like I’ve witnessed a lot of what I’m going to call “STEM major elitism.” I have also found myself in real life conversations with other engineering majors that solidify my belief that a lot of STEM majors feel some sort of elitism (I say a lot because I don’t want to completely generalize).
There’s no actual reason behind this feeling of elitism. I chose my major because I like math and physics. An English major chooses their major because they like reading and writing. People choose their major based on skills and personal taste. A liberal arts student would not enjoy a STEM class the same way a STEM major would and vice versa.
This feeling of elitism goes both ways. I never really saw it from the other side until I was looking around for examples for this article. STEM majors feel elite because of the extensive work that gets put into labs and technical projects. Liberal arts majors feel elite because of their ability to write papers and the amount of work that goes into them (from what I have seen). Both sides like to put each other down for what they do not complete in their day to day life; however, these sorts of things really are not comparable.
A choice in study does not dictate intellect. In any case, certain subjects may be harder for some students compared to others. If a liberal arts student does not excel in calculus, it does not mean that the STEM student failing a history class is any smarter. There are plenty of differences between math and language that can make it difficult for a math-centered mind to learn language and vice versa.
Realistically, math and language have huge similarities as well. For one, they both follow strict laws. We all know math laws like the basic laws of algebra. Language has laws in terms of grammar. Also, for both subjects, your brain needs to attribute meaning to elements in order to build a learning pattern. Students also practice math and language in order to learn to the point of practical perfection. This can be done through review problems for math and sentence diagramming in language.
I think it’s time to stop looking at the drastic differences between the two and realize that they are equal on pretty much all levels. In the end, you should pursue something because you have a passion for it. Not because you want to feel better than someone else. In the end, your college major does not elicit elitism.
HCXO, Jenna
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