Every student knows the dreaded question grandparents, aunts and uncles love to ask at family gatherings: “What are you going to do with your major?” For some students, their majors answer that question, and a simple “engineer” or “doctor” will suffice.
For students of unconventional majors, future pursuits may seem uncertain.
Christian McDonald, an NC State alum who studied political science, now works in sales at Phreesia, a healthcare tech company. McDonald said he never saw himself in this position.
“I wanted to go to law school and figure out where that was, what law school I wanted to go to, or what I want, which ones I wanted to start applying to,” McDonald said. “And I think eventually, senior year, I don’t know if I was just having too much fun, but I just think I got burned out with school.”
As an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill, Catherine LaChapelle studied political science and women, gender and sexuality studies with the goal of going into law. She then attended NC State and earned her master of science in analytics. Today, she works as a customer engineer at Google. LaChapelle said she switched her focus when she realized she would not enjoy the route she previously envisioned for herself.
“I took a course that was taught in the women’s studies department taught by a professor at the law school, and she was sort of doing the work every day that I had envisioned for myself,” LaChapelle said. “And I guess it was the first time that I really saw someone doing this case law every day, and I just realized that I probably wasn’t going to be super happy in the long run.”
It’s normal for students to change education paths — nearly 35% of STEM undergraduates change majors within three years of declaration — but this doesn’t change the uncertainty that can come with switching into majors with unclear career paths.
Seth Murray, a professor of international studies, said he thinks those in nonlinear majors shouldn’t seek to fit a specific job.
“If you are studying engineering, it seems pretty obvious that you’re training to be an engineer, right?” Murray said. “If you’re studying animal science, it’s a pretty good chance that you’re going to be working in veterinary medicine or something like that. But with fields, and particularly interdisciplinary fields like international studies, what we want are students who are interested in making connections.”
Murray said international studies alumni hold a variety of jobs: One international studies alum works at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and wrote a book. Another works in Melbourne, Australia for Gathering for Open Science Hardware, an organization dedicated to making science hardware more accessible. Another works in Washington, D.C., looking at solutions to climate crises.
Rather than focusing on a specific career goal, Murray said he thinks students in these majors should focus on developing skills.
“The important thing is, what kinds of skills are you developing right now?” Murray said. “How does that make you a better person?”
Murray said it might seem easier to know what your future career is immediately, but ultimately, he thinks these skills are what makes students employable.
LaChapelle said though her work isn’t specific to women, gender and sexuality studies, she still uses skills taught as part of her degree in her job. LaChapelle said the communication skills she learned are essential.
“I think, for me, that sort of skill set is what translates the most into my current career,” LaChapelle said. “And everything’s always changing all the time, right, especially in technology. And so really being able to just figure things out quickly with folks and use that part of the skill set.”
LaChapelle said she thinks exposure to different topics and people is essential to finding the right path.
“Figure out what sort of topics in your education at school really interest you the most, and then maybe work with those professors or existing professionals and see what really sparks your interest once you get up close and personal to it,” LaChapelle said.
McDonald said he thinks degrees shouldn’t bar you from pursuing what you love.
“Try and look at things that interest you, and look at job descriptions, and then tell your story; tell your brand,” McDonald said.
