The debate around the purpose of higher education has rumbled on for some time now.  On one side, people argue that colleges need to provide the skills to enable people to thrive in the workplace, while on the other, the colleges themselves believe they are providing the skills for life.

New research from Rice University wades into the debate, and suggests that college graduates tend to earn more when they major in fields that are closely tied to jobs.

The researchers used data on Texas residents with bachelor’s degrees from the American Community Survey 5-Year Sample for 2013-2017.  All of those identified were between 25 and 64 years of age.

Linking academia and industry

The researchers were specifically studying the linkage between college and work.  Obviously some majors, such as engineering and architecture, have a clear path into the labor market.  Others, such as social science and history, are more flexible and support entry into a wider range of roles.

The analysis found that graduates who studied college majors, such as engineering, with this clear path into the labor market were both less likely to find themselves without work, and also more likely to earn more money in the jobs they did have.

“Aside from the positive relationship between linkage and earnings, we also found linkage mattered more for women, Black, Hispanic, foreign-born and non-native-English-speaking workers,” the researchers say. “Linkage appeared to close wage gaps between marginalized and privileged populations.”

Small differences

It should be said that these differences are pretty small, with those who complete degrees with relatively weak ties to jobs having a 3.2% chance of being unemployed versus 2.4% for those with strong ties.

What is interesting, however, is that those degrees with strong ties to jobs were especially popular among older, female, Asian, and foreign-born workers.

The researchers believe their findings should prompt education policymakers to examine the choices students appear to be making, and the connection between our degrees and the job market.  Given the erosion of the study-work-retire linear path, it might also be interesting to explore what further education people do throughout their life rather than assume one’s degree sets you on an unalterable path for the remaining 40 years of your working life.  After all, there has equally been data suggesting that STEM students have a career advantage immediately after graduating, but that liberal arts students tend to catch up later on, as their more transferable skillset comes to the fore.