English is on the decline. In the past two decades, the number of students enrolled in an English degree program has dropped by almost 40%. Today, the “it” majors revolve around S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and other degree programs, particularly English, are overlooked due to perceptions that they will not lead to a large paycheck in the future. As an English and Secondary Education major, I have been told numerous times how I will most likely live in a shack, sleep on a hay mattress, and only be able to afford canned foods for the rest of my life. However, English has a high importance, especially in today’s workforce. Here are five reasons why an English degree is highly valuable in today’s world:
1. The Underemployment Factor
I recently read an article from the Wall Street Journal about underemployment rates based on college degrees. Even as an English and Education major myself, I was very surprised to see that English Language and Literature was ranked second among the best outcomes for employment for college graduates. I was even more surprised to see that English was ranked higher than business and biological and biomedical sciences. After reading the article, I sent it to my Dad since I was interested to hear the perspective of someone with various business degrees on this topic.
The legend himself. We enjoy an occasional Dunks run.
Here is the response I received:
“I agree with this, I think it is very difficult to break into the business world with an undergrad degree in that field unless you have a specialty like Accounting or are a highly motivated salesperson. I graduated from UMass Lowell in ’89 with a degree from a certified business school and basically had to start in retail management at a low salary. There were very few opportunities to “break-in” to finance or business. Just like the article says, I was “under-employed”. I then transitioned to Cemetery Management because it paid equal to what I earned in retail.”
Here are some other surprising facts about the salary of someone with an English degree:
- The difference in annual starting salary between an English major and a science major, for instance, is rarely greater than $5,000 per year on average.
- The 75th percentile of English majors make nearly as much as the median business or computer science graduate over their lifetimes.
2. People do not know how to write (scary, but true).
This fact hurts my heart, but it is very true. With the rise of technology over the past few decades and the growing acceptance of texting language, people’s writing skills have dramatically worsened. One of my main reasons for choosing a career in teaching high school English is because there are so many people in this world that do not know how to write properly and effectively. I hope to contribute some people to society that can write comprehensive sentences. In my Dad’s email, he talked about the importance of having a specialty in order to “break-into” a specific career field. There are so many people who do not know rules for proper grammar, so actually knowing them is a specialty in itself. Many employers value those with strong writing skills because they are such a rarity in today’s job market. Some employers have even stated that they are likely to hire those with English degrees since it is an added bonus that they have someone to proofread important emails and letters as well.
3. The world needs people who can communicate ideas in creative ways.
One reason that I chose English as the subject that I want to teach is the amount of creativity that students are allowed to have in the classroom. In math and science, there is typically only one answer (unfortunately, I never usually found that answer on the first try) but in English there are always many different answers to one question. I think that one of the reasons why I enjoy English is because there are almost no wrong answers (as long as there is evidence to back it up). One asset that English majors contribute to their jobs is a sense of creativity. Creativity and originality is a category on about 99% of the grading sheets that I receive in school. Similar to writing skills, creativity is another skill that is lacking in today’s job market. Companies are constantly trying to separate themselves from their competition, which is why employees with creative ideas are always needed.
4. Employers want people with strong persuasion skills and social skills.
It turns out that all of those argumentative essays really do have a purpose. Being able to communicate your ideas in a persuasive way is extremely important and it happens to be another skill missing in today’s world. Forming an argument and providing evidence for that argument is a skill that you will need long after you receive your degree. While you may no longer be writing formal essays, there is a high probability that you will need to argue your case on a certain topic in your career. English also helps to develop strong social skills based on the fact that it involves communicating your thoughts verbally and in writing as well. There is a good chance that you will not be isolated in a cubicle, so it is important to be able to be social and work collaboratively with your coworkers.
5. There are many career options for those with an English degree.
There are many more career options for those with an English degree than people realize. Some of these career options include:
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Journalism (magazines, news reporting)
- Public Relations
- Publishing
- Copywriting
- Education (teaching, administration)
- Being a Lawyer
- Writing (novels, films, television)