I was recently speaking to a friend when the topic of college majors came up. Are some more difficult than others? Do some require more work and man-hours spent bent over the eye-killing machine that is a laptop? And do some degrees actually lead to “better” job opportunities?
I think that every liberal arts, social science and fine arts major has heard from one of their cohorts that their major is easy and that the math, science and engineering disciplines — among others — are more difficult and require more work. Although it is uncertain if this is in any way true, if it were, the question is, why would you pursue a course load that is so overwhelmingly difficult?
The answer usually involves money. The participants believe that these majors will give them the opportunity to get better jobs after college.
But research by Forbes has suggested otherwise.
While it is true that, according to the Huffington Post, nine of the top 10 highest paying jobs are in the medical field, with one in the business and management field, we must ask ourselves if this is the true measure of a “good” job. True, for some, money is the ultimate goal in their career. But for others, happiness or passion for their work is more important. So the real question is, can money buy happiness?
The answer is not a simple one. If you look at the lists of the most stressful jobs in America you will find that stockbroker, architect and corporate executive are among the top 10, according to Business Insider. And according to Psychology Today, the profession with the highest suicide rate for both men and women was, in fact, physician. So while it may be lucrative to be a doctor, it is also potentially hazardous to one’s mental and physical well-being.
According to studies conducted by Forbes, the top 10 most hated jobs include marketing managers, law clerks, technical specialists and directors of sales and marketing, with the most hated job being director of information technology. Ironically, these are also some of the highest-paying jobs out there.
Antithetically, Forbes conducted a study on the 10 happiest jobs as well, and the results were extremely interesting. This top 10 list includes artists, teachers, special education teachers, authors and firefighters, with the happiest job being a member of the clergy. This list makes it obvious that these professions are not lucrative, especially the clergy, who are given a stipend for living, not an actual salary.
And yet, these professions are rated the highest in regard to employee satisfaction.
So what will you choose? Do you want to be wealthy or happy? In a time when more pressure and focus are being put on financial security and less on professional happiness, it is difficult for students to decide which path they will take. Personally, I side with the old adage that “money can’t buy happiness.” Given the choice of making a lot of money or having a job that I enjoy going to every day, it was a pretty easy decision to make.