Choosing A Career

From Rob Henderson (bottom of page).

It is a great point, but read it in consideration of the recent post on social capital, which would suggests he might have higher status in some eyes as an office manager even at little more than half the salary. 

College graduates who studied STEM subjects are much more likely to believe they made the right choice, while those who majored in social sciences and humanities second-guess themselves. Nearly half of humanities, arts, and social science majors wish they had chosen a different field of study. (source). On this point, the social scientist Charles Murray has given one of my favorite examples for how a young person can think about career options:

In Real Education, Murray asks you to imagine that a young man has just graduated from high school.

He is trying to decide whether to become an electrician or attend college, get a business degree, and become a white-collar manager. He knows his strengths and weaknesses after taking a rigorous skills test. Something like the ASVAB, a test the military administers to measure the various abilities of potential recruits.

This kid is slightly above average in his linguistic abilities. He’s exactly average in intrapersonal and interpersonal skills (ability to understand himself and others). He is at the 95th percentile in both small motor skills (ability to exert subtle and precise control over one’s bodily movements) and spatial skills (ability to mentally rotate objects).

So he looks up the average income of electricians and managers. He sees that the average income for electricians is about $73K and the income of managers is about $84K. Should he go to college? The kid should ignore these averages. If he wants to become a manager, he will be competing for such positions against people who are much higher than him in linguistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills. Plainly, his competitors would play social chess at a higher level than him. But his fine motor skills and spatial ability are superior to most people, even most electricians. The young man reflects on this, and sees that the 10th percentile of manager incomes is $55K. The 90th percentile of electricians is $104K. Thus, even if he obtains a bachelor’s degree (which isn’t guaranteed, given that 40% of male college students fail to graduate), he’d go on to earn far less than he would as an electrician.

This is a good example because it can be used to approach other questions.

Looking at averages can help. But knowing your unique set of abilities and unusual circumstances, along with broader statistical trends, enable you to make wiser decisions about your major and chosen career.

Also, the up-front cost of college is not entered into the discussion, which would push the monetary consideration even farther in the direction of a trade. And yet people still choose that over the trades, and mate availability may be part of that.