STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) vs. Humanities. The age-old question of which kind of major is better. It seems as if this debate has been going on since the beginning of time, but it truly has only been around for the past few decades.

Humanities majors are constantly bombarded with questions such as: How do you plan on making money with that degree? Are you looking forward to being unemployed? Don’t you want to be successful in the future?

On the other hand, STEM majors are constantly praised for going into fields such as medicine, science, and engineering jobs that tend to bring in lots of money.

Majors such as communication, art, and theatre are often the subject of ridicule from people who are not in these majors. Though these jobs are not known for being the easiest when it comes to making money and getting a job after college, they can be very successful.

This is not to say that STEM majors are lesser than Humanities majors. Jobs in the STEM field are very needed and do deserve the respect that they garner. Instead, we should show the same amount of respect to Humanities majors rather than ridicule them for the career path they have chosen.

Humanities majors are often taught many different “people” skills that can come in handy in the workplace. Skills such as communicating effectively with others, being able to give a presentation and knowing how to negotiate are all traits that Humanities majors tend to pick up.

The BBC reports that “LinkedIn’s research on the most sought-after job skills by employers for 2019 found that the three most-wanted “soft skills” were creativity, persuasion, and collaboration, while one of the five top ‘hard skills’ was people management.” 

Not only do these skills come in handy, but they are usually traits that employers want potential employees to already have, not skills that they want to teach people on the job. People skills can also be hard to teach people in general. 

If we look past the fact the people with degrees in Humanities majors can live happy lives with a stable income, we also need to look at why we need these career paths.

If you’ve ever enjoyed watching a movie, reading a book or listening to music, you should be thankful for the existence of Humanities majors. Right now, as you read this article it is thanks to Humanities majors.

Next time you think of dissing people who are majoring in Humanities, think about the respect that is usually shown towards your major. Now try to do the same to other majors so that we can all focus on paying off our debts that all of these majors have given us.