I'm Changing My College Major Because of the Recession

Students make college major choices for many reasons. Given today's economic climate, I'm not surprised that our current recession is added to the list of influences. While looking over a local town newspaper, I came upon an article covering the area high school's 2009 class of graduates.  As you might expect, the article included comments from graduating students and proud parents along with other graduation event details.  While reading the article, I was struck by a comment made by one soon to be graduate who said that the current recession had led him to change his college major from political science to engineering.  Naturally, the career counselor in me kicked in and, if I had known this student, my curiosity would have led me to ask some questions:

• > What was it that interested you about your original college major choice of political science?
• > What kind of work were you thinking of getting into related to political science and did you ever speak with anyone employed in this area of interest?
• > How do you think those who work in political science careers deal with the instability that comes with unpredictable voting outcomes and job market fluctuations?
• > If you can't answer this last question, how might you get answers from those who are 'in the know'?
• > How long have you considered engineering as a major?
• > What do you know about engineering career options?
• > Have you ever spoken with anyone who works in an engineering related career?
• > Have you ever job shadowed workers in either political science or engineering careers?

I would ask these questions not because I'm opposed to this graduate's decision to shift from a major in political science to engineering.  Rather, my intention would be to see if this decision was made based on accurate information and reflection about personal priorities or based on a knee jerk reaction to current economic conditions.  Job market fluctuations are a reality and, yes, the current job market is a challenging one.  Yet this does not mean students need to forego their career aspirations.
 
If I were coaching this student, my advice would depend on his answers to the questions above.  If this graduate had not reality tested his interests, I would encourage him to make sure his assumptions are accurate.  I would also help him to see that he could, if he chose to, consider scenarios that support exploration of both these interest areas over time.  For example, one option might be to major in engineering while taking as many political science courses as possible (maybe even leading to a minor in political science).  A major in engineering could also be combined with volunteer work related to his political science interests. Bottom line...watch out for knee jerk fear based decisions based on an unusually tight job market.  If employment security is a concern, learn about things you can do to create your own sense of security while doing work that you love.

By Susan Posluszny, OPTIONS for Career & Life Planning LLC