Patreon Exclusive: Why a humanities degree isn't a death sentence
Added 2023-12-18 15:00:12 +0000 UTChey yall, so here's a very "rough and off the cuff" sort of video about why I think getting a humanities/social science degree is not only cool and based, but practical and fulfilling... it's something that's been on my mind and thought it was worth capturing and sharing...
i think when outlining a bit of what i wanted to say i was thinking of the humanities/STEM binary, so i focus a lot on how the humanities increasing importance in what we often think of as "technical" STEM fields. There’s lots of problems with the tech industry but since it’s going to be a big part of tomorrow’s economy it’s relevant to think about when planning a career.
above all, this is more "practical" guidance than anything. as in, it's for people thinking about pursuing careers in fields that seem to be unemployable, and how that is a misconception. but there is room in a different discussion for critiquing the systems that make this possible--like why we value some disciplines over others, why the most lucrative careers end up perpetuating oppressive systems, why our society encourages productivity above all else etc. And of course being critical of the ways oppressive institutions appropriate the language of sociology or critical theory towards capitalist ends. All important stuff, but not the focus of this video.
Hope this is either interesting or entertaining to someone!
Also I discovered how to use the "collections" tab--so you can now find my exclusive content in one place.
Comments
I have a Bmus in Jazz performance. I still play music on the weekly, but have long accepted that it may not have been the most appropriate choice of career. I decided to go to trade school a few years after graduating and now work as an industrial drafter. One of the things my employer said to me after the hiring process was that they were really interested in having an artist in their team to bring in different points of views and ideas (you know...as long as I had no intention of actually following that career path ever again). So, win!
Bobbie Jane Desforges
2024-01-09 23:15:12 +0000 UTCMan, that really resonated with me. I am from germany and we have a stricter way in which degrees are structured, so I could not choose sociology/humanities classes while doing my degree in human biology (stem). My degree did include 3h of ethics... in 3 years of studying. I think its extremely dumb to let a lot of technically smart people loose without any understanding or tools to determine the impact of their work on humans and the society. I understand why- people are supposed to work without questioning the moral worth and societal benefits of the work they do- universities and colleges are a mean to produce well educated workers, not people who stop working when they don't agree with the place the work leads to.
Luisa
2023-12-27 21:13:51 +0000 UTCGoing into my third semester of my history and classical liberal arts degree with a certificate in women’s and gender studies and it’s good to know my program coordinator wasn’t lying about our job prospects
Gali
2023-12-20 23:31:31 +0000 UTCHaven't watched this one yet because it's late lol, I'll watch as soon as I can, but judging by the title this is an extremely important topic for me! (Seriously how do you do it? I feel like every video you've made it's so scarily specific to my hiperfixations lol) I'm an artist (illustrator) living in a place where it's seriously unappreciated and seen as a "life ruining" thing, I constantly hear the same hurtful remarks: "You're going to d1e homeless" or "Your uncle did the same and now he is d3ad!... jk, he's now working as a taxi driver or sm like that, but not as an artist!" It's so discouraging and depressing that even your parents know you are not going to make it so easily. Anyway, it's really nice to hear (or rather, read) exactly the opposite lol, I just want to draw my silly gay things and create awesome, deep and also gay stories! Thank you Alex, for the content I'm sure that a lot of us needed to hear.
Matcha D. 🌸
2023-12-19 08:00:34 +0000 UTCtexas just banned dei and my college and others are having such a hard time navigating that and the needs of the affected students. wish they would consult some sociologists
Bethany Justice
2023-12-19 01:35:40 +0000 UTCTrue! And I also know lots of people who get these degrees and don't end up directly in the field. Lots of people I know have humanities degrees in one subject but then end up in random places like marketing, education, non-profits etc. And though I do not endorse the management consultant lifestyle, I remember hearing a talk where the guy said that the top undergrad major for top business executives was English and History. For many cases like these, the degree isn't a huge factor... it's all about what you do with it. While the STEM path is more straight forward, it is not the only path for sure.
E
2023-12-19 01:21:47 +0000 UTCImpossible? No, but the academic job market is pretty difficult. Though, this depends heavily in your discipline, your skillset, background, and interests. I haven't entered the academic job market, but from my experience working alongside people who have, it seems that if you have a really strong idea (or set of ideas) that strikes a cord with your discipline at the moment, you have a decent chance at success in academia. You can also be strategic about your field of study. While the sociology PhD has pretty bad job prospects, those in Media Studies or Communications may be studying similar ideas but tend to fare better than their sociology peers. So really think about what ideas you want to study and how you can put that into action. I think if you start building your resume early it's totally doable. But you have to really love it. Ask Professors about their research and ask to join their research teams, join any fellowships related to humanities (one national one is MMUF), build a good network, and write a really strong thesis. This should enable you to get into one of the top PhD programs, which is key to getting a tenure track job. But this is the advice of someone who is now a YouTuber lolz. I encourage you to talk to your Professors and even better, talk to some grad students at the university where you end up. Good luck!
E
2023-12-19 01:18:11 +0000 UTCThank you for this. There's so much pressure for people who go into the humanities to be "successful". Both of my majors AND my minor were in humanities subjects (archaeology, history, and English respectively) and while there's more work in these subjects than people might expect, many of the available jobs are not well paid. I'm struggling with measuring myself by the same metrics as the STEM people in my life. This video was a good reminder that success does not have to be linear
archaeogremlin
2023-12-19 01:12:10 +0000 UTCLoved listening to this! I'm a high school senior applying to colleges, and this STEM vs. humanities question has been haunting me for the past year. I want to be a literature major (English or comparative depending on what the college offers; I'd be comparing English and Chinese if I do the latter) to become a professor (I like doing research/writing, teaching, speaking engagements, and summer break!), but apparently the job market for that is super limited/competitive. I'm thinking if I go somewhere that it's easier to double major, I would do computer science and comparative/English lit so that I have more options (including technical writing, which still makes a decent amount of money), but a) that sounds like a lot of work and b) I know that I want to get my PhD either way, and I would have to focus on something I'm passionate about in that case anyway. Do you think it's true that it's basically impossible to find a job in academia as a humanities PhD? I could always teach K-12, but that's a very different process and I prefer the way colleges function in terms of teaching.
Haoyu Dong
2023-12-19 00:24:05 +0000 UTCabsolutely love ur thoughts on this! i was a stem major and wish I had been able to take a soc class in college, but did get some philosophy/psych in. there are so many opportunities that include humanities and stem - in my dept (neuropsych research) we have several newsletters and parent info packets that are designed and sent out, a lot of ux work for online surveys and optimizing internal record systems. Scientists are notoriously poor communicators lol which means so many things you mentioned like bringing learning to schools are cornerstones of education on things like public health and policy (in addition to everything you mentioned). it always seems like humanities students are pushed to dip their toes into stem because of the perceived job market, and I wish it was the same the other way around because it would make everything work a whole lot better - science comm is such a cool area but the science people need to be able to effectively communicate their ideas/findings to their social media/graphic design/public outreach teams and it’s very hit or miss. realizing this is a long comment so - love your hair, not sure why i didn’t subscribe to you here earlier!
ash212
2023-12-18 22:05:21 +0000 UTCHell yeah! And there's even more related disciplines beyond/within sociology and philosophy like critical theory, cultural studies, social theory, literary studies, etc... so much cool stuff out there :D
E
2023-12-18 19:13:19 +0000 UTCin this year i gave sociology a go thanks to u! i've always loved some meta reflection about the world (and queer theory ofc), but not knowing that sociology even is a thing, I've always was been limiting myself to philosophy. can't thank u enough for broading my horizonts and sorry for my broken english
Maysia
2023-12-18 19:08:10 +0000 UTCMe and my BA in studio art: *phew*
Kuro
2023-12-18 15:16:19 +0000 UTCLove the new hair Alex!
Sam Gersal
2023-12-18 15:09:31 +0000 UTC
