If you want a decent job, fine arts degrees are useless

[Eug]

Well, maybe this is not a big surprise, but here is yet another study (in Canada) that shows a degree in fine arts isn't going to get you very far, at least on average.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ycheque-at-the-end-of-it-all/article14009348/

This question is the missing piece in all the efforts to help young people become more financially literate. Sure, talk to them about budgeting, smart and stupid spending and the toxicity of credit cards in the hands of people with no jobs. But then ask them what kind of job prospects and salary they expect to have after completing their chosen course of study.

A recent report from CIBC World Markets takes an unusually direct approach to answering these questions, and the results are just dismal for almost half of recent graduates. These are the young adults who study psychology, humanities, social sciences and education. The report, using the most recent Statistics Canada data available, shows that many people in these disciplines earn less than the median income in Canada, which is just under $30,000.

With tuition costs rising more than inflation on a regular basis, there’s been talk in recent years about whether a postsecondary education is worth the cost. CIBC finds the unemployment rate for graduates to be 1.7 percentage points below those who have only a high school education, but that’s down from a little over three percentage points in the 1990s.

In consulting Statscan data, CIBC found that a bachelor’s degree gets you an average earnings premium of more than 30 per cent over a high school graduate. Yet after-inflation weekly wages for high school and college grads grew at a rate of 13 per cent over the previous decade, compared with just 8 per cent for holders of bachelor degrees.

The easy conclusion here is that a university education isn’t worth what it used to be. But that’s only true of certain degrees. In fields such as engineering, computer science, commerce and health, graduates are benefiting from huge earnings premiums over high school grads.

In any given year, an engineering grad can expect to earn 117 per cent more than a high school grad on average, while grads in math, computer and physical sciences make 86 per cent more. Fine- and applied-arts students make 12 per cent less, while grads in humanities and social sciences make 23 and 38 per cent more, respectively.

For the graph, lower is better, as it shows the percentage of grads in each field who earn less than the median income.

 

[purbeast0]

water is wet

 

[bignateyk]

They make less than highschool grads? That's rough. I guess most of them are waiting tables hoping to make it big. Highschool grads probably go out and try to get a real career at least.

 

[Eug]

water is wet

Scientists create 'dry water'

The substance resembles powdered sugar and could revolutionise the way chemicals are used.

Each particle of dry water contains a water droplet surrounded by a sandy silica coating. In fact, 95 per cent of dry water is ''wet'' water.

Scientists believe dry water could be used to combat global warming by soaking up and trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Tests show that it is more than three times better at absorbing carbon dioxide than ordinary water.

Dry water may also prove useful for storing methane and expanding the energy source potential of the natural gas.

 

[SpunkyJones]

I did enjoy getting my BS in Psychology though, classes were full of women! Does nothing for my current job, but had a good time.

 

[purbeast0]

Scientists create 'dry water'

The substance resembles powdered sugar and could revolutionise the way chemicals are used.

Each particle of dry water contains a water droplet surrounded by a sandy silica coating. In fact, 95 per cent of dry water is ''wet'' water.

Scientists believe dry water could be used to combat global warming by soaking up and trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Tests show that it is more than three times better at absorbing carbon dioxide than ordinary water.

Dry water may also prove useful for storing methane and expanding the energy source potential of the natural gas.

wtf f u.

dry water is dry.

water is wet.

i stand by this!

 

[Doppel]

I call them toilet paper degrees.

Kids get them because they are easy to get and the kid is lazy and/or been lied to by parents and other guidance counsellors that they should "pursue what they love". In the absence of motivation they pretend that they "love" psychology. And so they get this worthless degree.

Well it isn't that they are worthless, but they are worth far less than other degrees and not worth the time if debt is going to be high after.

Too many parents do their kids an injustice with this. I have a co-worker throwing thousands a his son's education currently in "art therapy. And you believe that? How fucking absurd. But it is true.

 

[Eug]

They make less than highschool grads? That's rough. I guess most of them are waiting tables hoping to make it big. Highschool grads probably go out and try to get a real career at least.

You should get a job as an economist, like this guy:

How can the payoff from studying humanities and social sciences be so puny? Mr. Tal theorizes that a high school grad will be open to a wide range of jobs, whereas holders of a BA may narrow their job search and thus miss out on some opportunities.

 

[Doppel]

You should get a job as an economist, like this guy:

How can the payoff from studying humanities and social sciences be so puny? Mr. Tal theorizes that a high school grad will be open to a wide range of jobs, whereas holders of a BA may narrow their job search and thus miss out on some opportunities.

That is plausible. Kids get a B- on a course about Pavlov's dog and suddenly feel they have something to offer the world beyond making coffee. They soon realize that they don't.

 

[CPA]

I call them toilet paper degrees.

Kids get them because they are easy to get and the kid is lazy and/or been lied to by parents and other guidance counsellors that they should "pursue what they love". In the absence of motivation they pretend that they "love" psychology. And so they get this worthless degree.

Well it isn't that they are worthless, but they are worth far less than other degrees and not worth the time if debt is going to be high after.

Too many parents do their kids an injustice with this. I have a co-worker throwing thousands a his son's education currently in "art therapy. And you believe that? How fucking absurd. But it is true.

Agreed. I'm trying to lead my oldest to engineering or even a trade, like electrician/plumbing/construction. Anything other than a toilet paper degree.

 

[rsutoratosu]

wtf is fine arts ?

 

[rsutoratosu]

Agreed. I'm trying to lead my oldest to engineering or even a trade, like electrician/plumbing/construction. Anything other than a toilet paper degree.

Those classes are only good for picking up party chics

 

[Eug]

wtf is fine arts ?

Google is your friend.

Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities as well as produced or intended primarily for beauty; the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or decorative park bench. There is considerable overlap between the field and that of the decorative arts; to some extent they are alternative terms.

BTW, applied arts degrees generally aren't a good bang-for-your-buck either. That said, Jonathan Ive can be considered in some ways an applied arts guy.

 

[Craig234]

A bit sad our society doesn't support the arts more. Just make it a society of ants.

If so much of our wealth didn't go to a few people, there could be more art funding.

Instead, we have to rely on the philanthropy of those few to sponsor the bits of art they think worthwhile for everyone else.

We can't even fund the basic things like investigative journalism.

We could use a BBC, not the baby versions we have.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I'm pretty sure there is a LONG list of worthless degrees that will get you no where.

 

[sze5003]

Something I already knew. That's why I'm trying to get my younger brother into programming. He's already playing on the pc all day so I made sure to have him take a programming class in his highschool.

Theres kids I started college with in 2006 that are still taking classes not knowing wtf they want to do. I don't know how they are living.

 

[Eug]

A bit sad our society doesn't support the arts more. Just make it a society of ants.

If so much of our wealth didn't go to a few people, there could be more art funding.

Instead, we have to rely on the philanthropy of those few to sponsor the bits of art they think worthwhile for everyone else.

We can't even fund the basic things like investigative journalism.

We could use a BBC, not the baby versions we have.

I don't live in the US. I live in Canada and this study was for Canada.

There are large grants provided by the government for fine arts. We also have the CBC, which is government subsidized, apparently to the tune of $1 billion per year.

Even then, fine arts degrees in Canada have a low yield for future financial success.

 

[Spungo]

They make less than highschool grads? That's rough. I guess most of them are waiting tables hoping to make it big. Highschool grads probably go out and try to get a real career at least.

Makes sense. High school people know that there isn't a magical job at the end of the rainbow. They jump head first into construction and oilfield work.

I'm personally shocked that the easiest degrees pay the least. It's almost like there's some kind of relationship between the rarity of skill and how much that skill is worth.

 

[mmntech]

I call them toilet paper degrees.

Kids get them because they are easy to get and the kid is lazy and/or been lied to by parents and other guidance counsellors that they should "pursue what they love". In the absence of motivation they pretend that they "love" psychology. And so they get this worthless degree.

Well it isn't that they are worthless, but they are worth far less than other degrees and not worth the time if debt is going to be high after.

Too many parents do their kids an injustice with this. I have a co-worker throwing thousands a his son's education currently in "art therapy. And you believe that? How fucking absurd. But it is true.

Humanities degrees easy to get? Ahahahah, hahah, hahah, hahah, ahhh, ha, ha, uhhh, ahahaha, uh. I'm done. Wait, ahaha, okay, now I'm done. :twisted:

There's a lot of hours spent pouring through books and writing fat essays. Yes, I do foolishly have degrees in history and political science. Not saying they're worth anything but they're certainly not bird courses. I did end up going back to college though for practical hands on education. So it supplements my career but is not the basis of it.

 

[Doppel]

Humanities degrees easy to get? Ahahahah, hahah, hahah, hahah, ahhh, ha, ha, uhhh, ahahaha, uh. I'm done. Wait, ahaha, okay, now I'm done. :twisted:

There's a lot of hours spent pouring through books and writing fat essays. Yes, I do foolishly have degrees in history and political science. Not saying they're worth anything but they're certainly not bird courses. I did end up going back to college though for practical hands on education. So it supplements my career but is not the basis of it.

You must be kidding.

It was widely known--not thought, but known--at my college that people who were lazy and/or less intelligent got arts degrees. Was never up for debate.

I once passed a course with a semi-decent grade by going to TWO classes over the entire semester and then pouring over a friend's notes before the final. That is simply impossible for a real course, say in chemistry or calculus.

The core credits needed for a science degree involve calculus vs, say, sociology 101.

 

[sze5003]

I don't think they are easy to get as other degrees. It depends what the interest is. If you don't mind reading stuff and writing tons of essays, expressing your views in all types of ways it can be easy for you. I hated those type of classes. I can write properly but I could never foster any interest in those humanity subjects. What I talked about made sense in class but to me it felt like I was just doing filler material.

 

[purbeast0]

You must be kidding.

It was widely known--not thought, but known--at my college that people who were lazy and/or less intelligent got arts degrees. Was never up for debate.

I once passed a course with a semi-decent grade by going to TWO classes over the entire semester and then pouring over a friend's notes before the final. That is simply impossible for a real course, say in chemistry or calculus.

The core credits needed for a science degree involve calculus vs, say, sociology 101.

yeah it's pretty much a fact. i'm scared to know what he would think about getting a comp sci degree if he thought his degrees were "hard".

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I did enjoy getting my BS in Psychology though, classes were full of women! Does nothing for my current job, but had a good time.

Which is the only reason anyone would take a pysch class. It's college for people who want to go college, but don't want to have to work at it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

No shit...

 

[Brian Stirling]

Scientists create 'dry water'

The substance resembles powdered sugar and could revolutionise the way chemicals are used.

Each particle of dry water contains a water droplet surrounded by a sandy silica coating. In fact, 95 per cent of dry water is ''wet'' water.

Scientists believe dry water could be used to combat global warming by soaking up and trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Tests show that it is more than three times better at absorbing carbon dioxide than ordinary water.

Dry water may also prove useful for storing methane and expanding the energy source potential of the natural gas.

Dry water ... just add water!


Brian