Some Advice to College Students: It’s OK to Change Your Major (and Your Career)
Change, nothin' stays the same
– Van Halen
Current and future college students, let me start with a few provocative statements:
You’ll probably change your mind about your major. About 30% of undergraduates changed majors within 3 years of their enrollment, according to a National Center for Education Statistics study. Students who majored in STEM subjects such as sciences and engineering experienced a higher rate of change (~35%), and mathematics majors - a whopping 52% - changed at a rate higher than that of students in all other fields.
You’ll probably change jobs, a lot. American adults average 12 jobs by the time they’re 55.
You’ll probably have multiple careers. In ‘What Color is Your Parachute? For Teens’, Carol Christen shares a Bureau of Labor and Statistics prediction that “your generation will have an average of eighteen jobs in at least two fields spanning a fifty-year career.”
You’ll probably have to re-skill. Two-fifths of the core skills workers have today will be disrupted by technological change (by 2027!) according to the World Economic Forum.
But, let me follow all that up with another, hopefully less-provocative, statement: it’s OK to change. As these facts and figures show, it’s normal and common. There is rarely a singular path to achieving a particular goal or outcome.
Changing Your Major: Steps You Can Consider Taking
Knowing that a change in major might be coming, here are three ways you can be proactive about investigating your career options, and give yourself optionality.
1. Take “snackable bites”
There’s no rule that says you have to stick with a major because you put it down on your college application or because that is the track you are currently on. The Federal Reserve Board looked into the economic health of households. One very interesting side-finding: 38% of adult respondents indicated that they would have chosen a different field of study.
Most of us learn best by doing. So, give yourself the opportunity to try different fields of study, potential job paths (internships), etc… while in college and before launching into a career. You’ll want to be deliberate (college costs money), but also be open and avail yourself of the opportunities that exist while attending college.
There’s one school of thought that says large public universities, many of whom offer 100+ majors and extracurriculars, provide ample opportunities for exploration. Don’t like a major? Enroll in or audit classes that sound like something you might like,or join a club related to your interest as a way to sample a different learning path.
There’s another school of thought that says smaller liberal arts colleges that steer students towards fulfilling many core curriculum requirements outside of their major allow students to gain exposure to a wider array of career fields and potential opportunities. Pay attention to your interest and performance in these courses: they may show strengths that could change your trajectory.
Either way - take advantage of the situation you’re in.
2. Make proactive connections
It’s OK to change your mind. It’s OK if something else (society, relationships, your employer, etc…) changes around you and for you to react to that change. Others have probably experienced change too, and can offer help and guidance.
Talk to friends and see what classes or professors they liked. Talk to a professor you really liked and get their recommendation for other avenues you could explore. Talk to recent graduates to find out what they chose to pursue and why.
You can use LinkedIn as well. Search job postings that sound interesting. Look at the skills and experiences that those roles require, and also look at the skills and experiences of those already in similar roles (at the same company, or similar industry).
Some of what you learn when connecting with others may surprise you. For example, the American Medical Association is clear that there is a wide variety in the majors of medical school entrants. And, LinkedIn shows many jobs for MDs, including non-clinical roles. Meaning, just because you have a certain degree doesn’t mean you can only follow a certain career path.
Reach out to, and get connected with, those who have walked the path you want to walk and learn from their stories.
3. Look at adjacent fields, which can be “change” without “fully changing”
To expand upon a previous point, let’s look at mathematics fields of study and career options.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics data scientists will account for more than half of all new job growth in math occupations in the period 2022 - 2032. Additionally, the bureau notes: “You don’t have to be a mathematician to work in a math occupation. In fact, of the roughly 102,000 new jobs projected in math occupations from 2022 to 2032, most are in occupations other than mathematicians.”
And LinkedIn data reinforces this point: nearly 3 out of 10 members employed in a STEM position do not hold a STEM degree.
Finance uses math. Accounting uses math. Insurance and actuarial analysis uses math. Machine learning and AI uses math. Research methodologies in just about every field use math.
All this to say: your degree will rarely equate to the name of your job.
