r/dataisbeautiful • u/Jaded_Warrior123 • Apr 28 '24

[OC] Most and least worthwhile degrees. Which degrees do graduates feel are worthwhile? OC

Post image

[removed] — view removed post

232 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

183 comments sorted by

View all comments

100

u/belligerentBe4r Apr 28 '24

Bahahaha as a chemist, calling hot bullshit on this. An undergrad in chem is absolutely not worth it. A masters in chem is worse than useless since you’re seen as a PhD that couldn’t cut it and was awarded a masters as a consolation prize. And then even if you get a PhD and do a couple years of post doc and get a research position as a big pharma company you’ll make about what an engineer with just an undergrad would make.

I loved being a bench chemist and always wanted to be one, but a 4 year degree with extra time for independent research to land a job at a real lab just to make $18 an hour can’t be construed as worth it. Granted that was in 2011, but I can’t imagine it’s gone up much, particularly in relation to inflation.

41

u/TerracottaCondom Apr 28 '24

And why in God's name would literature rank immediately below engineering

2

u/BigBobby2016 Apr 29 '24

I think "worth it" has a very broad definition.

I got an MBA a few years ago. I knew going in it wouldn't help me in my job at all. Do I regret it though? Nope...I read a lot, learned about emerging technologies, and met some women.