7.5: Choosing Your Major

In the United States and Canada, your academic program - usually simply called your “major” - is the academic discipline you commit to as an undergraduate student. Your major is an academic discipline or area in which you specialize such as accounting, chemistry, criminology, archeology, digital arts, or dance. In United States colleges and universities, roughly 2,000 majors are offered, and within each major is a host of core courses and electives. When you successfully complete the required courses in your major, you qualify for a degree (Dillon, 2019).

Where did the term major come from? In 1877, the term first appeared in a Johns Hopkins University catalog. That major required only two years of study. Later, in 1910, Abbott Lawrence Lowell introduced the academic major system to Harvard University during his time as president there. This major required students to complete courses in a specialized discipline and also in other subjects. Variations of this system are now the norm in higher education institutions in the United States and Canada (Dillon, 2019).

Why is your major important? Your major is a defining and organizing feature of your undergraduate degree. Ultimately, your major should provide you with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors you need to fulfill your college goals and objectives. In this section we look at how to select your major and how your college major may correlate with a career. Does your major matter to your career? What happens if you change your major? Does changing your major mean you must change your career?

How to Select Your College Major

Selecting your major is one of the most exciting (and to some students, perhaps one of the most nerve-wracking) tasks you are asked to perform in college. So many decisions are tied to your choice of major. If you have good guidance, patience, and enthusiasm, the process is easier. Two videos, linked below, present lighthearted looks undertaking this task. In the first video, the following five tips are discussed:

1. Seek inspiration.
2. Consider everything.
3. Identify talents and interests.
4. Explore available resources.
5. Explore careers In-depth.

The video below shares the following nine tips and information about choosing a major:

1. Narrow your choices by deciding what you don’t like.
2. Explore careers that might interest you. Ask questions.
3. Use your school’s resources.
4. Ask your teacher, counselor, and family about your strengths.
5. Sixty percent of students change their majors.
6. Your major isn’t going to define your life. But choosing one that interests you will make your college experience much more rewarding.
7. Conduct informational interviews with people in careers that interest you.
8. There’s no pressure to decide now.
9. Take new classes and discover your interests.

Please click on the following link to watch the video “How to Select Your College Major – WiseChoice”: Video How to Select Your Major [youtu.be]

Does Your College Major Matter to Your Career?

There are few questions about college that create more controversy than “does your major really matter to your career?” Many people think yes while others think the major is not so important. Who is right? And who gets to weigh in? Also, how do you measure whether something “matters”—by salary, happiness, personal satisfaction? (Dillon, 2019)

Whether your major truly matters to your career may be difficult to say. One’s college major and ultimate career may not necessarily be correlated. Consider the following facts:

• Fifty to seventy percent of college students change their major at least once during their time in college.
• Most majors lead to a wide variety of opportunities rather than to one specific career, although some majors do indeed lead to specific careers.
• Many students say that the skills they gain in college will be useful on the job no matter what they major in.
• Only half of graduating seniors (from bachelor’s-degree granting colleges) accept a job directly related to their major.
• Career planning for most undergraduates focuses on developing general, transferable skills like speaking, writing, critical thinking, computer literacy, problem-solving, and team building, because these are skills that employers want.
• College graduates often cite the following four factors as being critical to their job and career choices: personal satisfaction, enjoyment, opportunity to use skills and abilities, and personal development.
• Within ten years of graduation, most people work in careers that aren’t related directly to their college majors.
• Many or most jobs that exist today will be very different five years from now.

Talking about financial considerations also is important when choosing a major.

• Any major you choose likely will benefit you because college graduates earn roughly $1 million more than high school graduates, on average, over an entire career.
• Even though humanities and social sciences students may earn less money right after college, they may earn more by the time they reach their peak salary than students who had STEM majors.
• Students who major in the humanities and social science are also more likely to get advanced degrees, which increases annual salary by nearly $20,000 at peak salary.

So where will you stand with regard to these statistics? Is having a good marriage between your major, your skills, job satisfaction, job security, and earnings possible?

The best guidance on choosing a major and connecting that major with a career may be to get good academic and career advice and select a major that reflects your greatest interests. If you don’t like law or medicine, but you major in one of those fields because of a certain salary expectation, you may find yourself later in an unrelated job that brings you greater satisfaction—even if the salary is lower. Knowing this tendency, looking back, wouldn’t spending your time and tuition dollars studying a subject you especially enjoy make more sense? (Dillon, 2019)

Resources for Choosing Your Major

Dr. Marva Collins said “Success doesn’t come to you...you go to it.” That quote really sets the stage for the journey you’re on. Your journey may be a straight line that connects the dots between today and your future, or your journey may resemble a twisted road with curves, bumps, hurdles, and alternate routes (remember the career development theories explained in this text).

To help you navigate your pathway to career success, take advantage of the resources available to you. Your college, your community, and the wider body of higher-education institutions and organizations have many tools to help you with career development. Be sure to take advantage of the following resources:

• College course catalog: Course catalogs typically are rich with information that can spark ideas and inspiration for your major and your career.
• Faculty and advisers at HACC: Many HACC professors are also practitioners in their fields and can share insights with you about related professions.
• Fellow students: Many of your classmates, especially those who share your major, may have had experiences that can inform and enlighten you—for instance, an internship with an employer or a job interview with someone who could be contacted for more information.
• Your family and social communities: Contact friends and family members who can weigh in with their thoughts and experience.
• HACC Career Services: Professionals in career centers have a wealth of information to share with you—they’re also very good at listening and can act as a sounding board for you to try out your ideas.