Worst paying college degreees...

Satya said:
I can't figure out through any degree of introspection or self analysis why I am destroying myself by continuing down the path of this career and it is driving me nuts! Why am I so determined to spend the rest of my life, destitute, under appreciated, and fighting burnout? Just so I can help people? Hell, I could volunteer at a soup kitchen or become a foster parent and still work a better career! Why am I throwing my life away like this? Why am I so passionate about being a social worker?
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Because some part of you knows your life would suck if you did anything else?

I don't know what your decision-making factors are in total, and if monetary return on investment is important to you, then perhaps it is good you are spending a lot of time introspecting about this.

For me, I'm on the flip side of this decision. I made the "good return on investment" decision and became an accountant the first time around. 40 hours a week at a job you find little sense of value or self-expression in can be life-sucking. After work and maybe adding in family obligations, there's not much time to "help people". Sure, you can volunteer, but will you be satisfied giving the few pennies you have leftover from you workweek dollar to charity?

Now, maybe you could find a career that allowed you to help people and still make a bit more? I think we spoke in the past about a joint MSW/JD degree. Is that something you're considering? I mean if you do law that is geared toward those in need, you still probably wouldn't make big bucks, but maybe you'd make a bit more than you otherwise would.

In the end, I think the decision-making perspective has to be widened out a bit further than just cost of degree vs. take-home pay. Work is one of the biggest places you put in your time. It won't matter how much you're making if you're spending all your miserable time in a cubicle making it and you're too depressed and tired to spend any of it.
 
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I don't think the figures for "music, drama, and fine arts" is taking into account the free-lancers. I think they are only calculating based on those hired by institutions. Those figures are way beyond what freelancers tend to make.
 
I'm in a social services field now.. you need a bachelor's degree for my position.. and it pays barely more than minimum wage. Our organization survives entirely off grants and donations, so it's difficult to spread that money out as it does (and should!) go to our clients' needs first.

Odyne put it beautifully:
The two most crucial and important jobs rank the lowest. Tells you why our society the way it is...as well as announces a scary future.
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It definitely goes to show where our society's priorities lie.. and it is certainly not with people.
 
I'm #9, that's not SO bad....heh....heh....
I'M GONNA STARVE :m033:
 
My profession is #13 on the "best" list. You can save the world with math...maybe.
 
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Well I feel like an idiot...

The survey was of undergrad degrees.

I need a survey to compare masters degrees before I can bitch.
 
Awesome. Education, music, and fine arts?
I better marry rich.
 
Its a good thing I'm not going into counseling for the money...but I already knew this before I went into it. This list list says a lot about society's lost sense of compassion. We care more about our pocketbooks than the welfare of children and fellow human beings.
 
If I could change the world, I would flip that list upsidedown. (Or at least shuffle it.)

Edit: There is a bright side. I was a Computer Science major during the dot-com boom. My degree program was full of money-whores. For those of us who were there for love, it was uncomfortable and a little sad. Later as a low-paid graduate student I was surrounded by people who loved math, and it was a wonderful feeling to be a part of that group.
 
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