Economists Say We Need More English Majors

“English majors are down 25.5 percent since the Great Recession, just as world’s top economists say we need more ‘storytellers'”

A funny thing happened on the way to the digital age.

“A great migration is happening on U.S. college campuses,” writes Heather Long in The Washington Post. “Ever since the fall of 2008, a lot of students have walked out of English and humanities lectures and into STEM classes, especially computer science and engineering.

“English majors are down more than a quarter (25.5 percent) since the Great Recession, according to data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics. It’s the biggest drop for any major tracked by the center in its annual data and is quite startling, given that college enrollment has jumped in the past decade.”

Holy Merriam-Webster, what is going on? Have we collectively decided as a society that our English language is not worth studying? Certainly we understand the need for more STEM majors as life becomes more about science and less about poetry, but is that all?

According to Long, the obvious answer is “that’s where the jobs are.” And in many cases, that’s true. Yet Nobel Prize winner Robert J. Shiller points out the downside to this loss of humanities-based study – and it’s all about marketing.

“The whole premise of Shiller’s book [Narrative Economics] is that stories matter,” Long writes. “What people tell each other can have profound implications on markets — and the overall economy. Examples include the ‘get rich quick’ stories about bitcoin or the ‘anyone can be a homeowner’ stories that helped drive the housing bubble.”

What a fascinating turn of events. A few years back tech companies predicted that artificial intelligence would soon eliminate the need for writers and editors. Now, as brands seek to find the elusive unicorn of viral fame, stories matter more than ever – in fact, economic leadership depends on it.

“I am expected to be, and I am, a storyteller. I tell stories about the future,” said Stefan Ingves, governor of Sweden’s central bank. “We human beings simply love stories about the future. That’s part of my job.”

When your job is to influence public opinion on economic matters, like Ingves, the story is everything. The right story can keep confidence high and consumers spending, Long notes, saying “As the global economy slows to its lowest rate in a decade, worries are high about how much longer the economy can power on.”

So while STEM grads are being snapped up on graduation, the long-term outlet for humanities majors is absolutely solid, while tech-heavy courses of study tend to age quickly.

“Contrary to popular belief, English majors ages 25 to 29 had a lower unemployment rate in 2017 than math and computer science majors,” Long notes. 

“That early STEM pay premium also fades quickly, according to research by David J. Deming and Kadeem L. Noray from Harvard,” she continues. “After about a decade, STEM majors start exiting their job fields as their skills are no longer the latest and greatest. In contrast, many humanities majors work their way to high-earning management positions. By middle age, average pay looks very similar across many majors.”

Communication is crucial as the digital noise becomes a smothering drumbeat. Let’s all hug an English/Humanities major today and thank them for telling the stories that move the world.