The idea that there is or needs to be a one-to-one correspondence between "college major" and "career," such that you're going to be a loser/failure if you can't immediately read off a clear job from your major, IS A LIE. Everyone involved knows it's a lie -- except students and parents.

Agreed, but b/c going to college costs money those paying for it (students/parents) want some sort of tangible financial gain from paying to attend. All of the slippery (and imo important) things college teaches(source vetting, values/opinion reconsideration, good citizenship)aren't wanted by "jobs"

The advice I got when choosing was 'no one cares except your first job'

Agreed. And also, I think there's work we can do as profs to help debunk the lie. I've brought English major alumns into a senior capstone class this semester to talk about their jobs. It's been great. However, I think this would be more effective earlier in students' academic careers.

The best software developer I ever worked with had a degree in Psychology. I'm not so shabby myself and my degree is in... uh, dropping-out.

i was a hiring manager for exceptionally well paid tech jobs for about ten years, many straight out of college. the most attention i ever paid to a college major was seeing something really unusual and thinking ‘huh neat that’s cool’ before moving on

I'd like to agree, but looking at my peers who graduated a decade ago, the ones who can afford to buy a house these days either have an engineering degree or significant family help (money or connections). I don't feel like a "failure" but I'm materially worse off.

A lot of parents know it but won't admit it! Just ask them what their majors were! My dad complained about my sister majoring in history until she pointed out that was his degree and he spent his entire career in tech.

The problem is, I (sociology prof) can say that every day as clearly as I can, but the students (and parents) keep demanding the lie. I think the humanities are feeling this even more keenly.

My husband told our son his music degree would guarantee he lived in our basement and worked at burger king for the rest of his life. He had 3 job offers in unrelated fields within 2 weeks of graduating. The skills you learn doing what you love can be utilized in a multitude of ways.

I know a data engineer with a degree in nursing.