Humanities majors don’t fare as badly as portrayed, new earnings report says
People who major in the humanities and social sciences don’t earn as much as their classmates in the physical and natural sciences, math, or engineering, but the gap is not as wide as has been portrayed.
That’s the message of a new reportfrom the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which represents liberal-arts colleges and universities, on the eve of the association’s annual conference.The report, which was also produced by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, refutes what it calls “assaults” on the humanities and social sciences, using Census Bureau data to show that the income gap between humanities and social-science graduates and others narrows over their careers.
Humanities majors may earn an average of $5,000 less than professionals and preprofessionals right out of college, it says, but they make an average of $2,000 more by the time they reach their 40s.
Still, humanities and social-science majors persist at making less over the course of their lives than engineers and people with degrees in the physical and natural sciences and math, the report concedes. They can expect average peak earnings of $66,185, compared to $64,149 for professionals or preprofessionals, $86,550 for workers with degrees in the physical and natural sciences and math, and $97,751 for engineers.
Still, humanities and social-science majors persist at making less over the course of their lives than engineers and people with degrees in the physical and natural sciences and math.
The unemployment rate for humanities and social-science grads is also higher at every age than that of their counterparts in other fields, albeit only four-tenths of a percentage point higher for those in their 40s.
And the report says there is an oversupply of humanities