This summer, I met someone on a train in Germany. He was a Ph.D. student studying environmental chemistry, and had recently spent his summer in Munich at some prestigious university doing important research. Since we were both Americans in a foreign country, I tried to engage him in conversation. We discussed our travels and eventually our areas of study. Upon hearing that I was an English major, the conversation became increasingly uncomfortable. At first he laughed when I informed him of my career aspirations, then corrected my pronunciation of “Proust” before pointedly telling me that I would not be able to understand certain scientific terms after I had insisted that he tell me about his research. It took a lot to remain polite.
Maybe I’m just a magnet for these types of people, but this happens often. It comes from older family friends whose eyes glaze over and grow immediately uninterested when I tell them I’m an English major. It comes from previous teachers who tell me I have “so much potential” and “could do absolutely anything I want,” while they try to mask the horror on their faces when I admit my area of study. But most of all, the thinly veiled intolerance and impertinence is most loudly heard from my fellow NC State students.
There is a definite hierarchy of knowledge at our university, as well in many other universities throughout the United States. It usually pits the humanities against the STEM majors, and even within specific colleges there are some deemed top and others below them. When my roommate last year decided to switch her major from chemical engineering to English creative writing, she too received a monsoon of unwelcome criticism.
With the significant decline in the value placed on liberal arts education, I was very undecided coming into college. I debated probably five different majors before I ended up choosing the major that I thought would bring me the most happiness. This indecision even led me to ultimately choose to attend NC State because I like the interdisciplinary approach to education that is advertised so fervently. I believed this would allow me to explore several interests at once. When I arrived on campus, I experienced a lot of heavy-handed condescension. I felt myself shut-out from the STEM world that I remained to be interested in. I had chosen a side, and the middle ground between the two was hard to find. I excitedly vied for articles reporting on scientific research happening on campus, and most of the time the interviewees insisted they know my major so they knew what version of their research I could keep up with. Some, I discovered, would find out I was an English major and immediately make their explanation of their research or area of study even more technical or complicated in order to make me feel inferior or intimidated.
It’s quite transparent that earning potential is equated to worth, and as a woman not in a STEM field, I experience that worth placed on subjects that stress masculine values such as logic and reason while the perceived femininity is undervalued in comparison. I’ve been told before that I have the major of a “good wife.” I’ve been asked if my parents approve, and so on.
College is widely viewed as a marketplace for utility, and while I agree with aspects of this, I have never fully accepted this perspective. I fundamentally disagree with anything that discourages learning. This intellectual “Mean Girls” saga I feel like I live in is alarming. The way it feels to be a non-STEM major on campus needs to be changed for the better.
