Claim:
You can Google "the most useless degrees", and you'll find that the list is long. If you search for "the most useful degrees", engineering will likely be at the top, followed by medicine and business administration.
Our technological world needs people who can calculate the length of a hypotenuse. However, young people don’t want to do math—most of them don’t even know what a hypotenuse is. If you show an integral sign to a student, they might faint. Business administration students don’t know the slope of a line on a graph, let alone students in other fields.
Sorry, but the world needs more engineers—not so many art historians and language experts.
Counterclaim:
While it is true that STEM degrees, particularly engineering and medicine, are often ranked among the most "useful" in terms of job prospects, dismissing other fields as "worthless" is an oversimplification. The economy is not solely driven by engineers and doctors—society also needs educators, communicators, analysts, and creative professionals.
Moreover, the issue of youth unemployment is more complex than simply blaming degree choices. Factors such as labor market conditions, automation, economic downturns, and even the rising costs of education contribute significantly. Many STEM graduates also struggle to find jobs if they lack experience or if demand fluctuates in their field.
Rather than discouraging students from pursuing their interests, a better approach would be to reform education systems to better align with job market needs. This includes improving career guidance, integrating practical skills into all degree programs, and promoting interdisciplinary knowledge—because even engineers benefit from good communication skills, and businesses need people who understand human culture, language, and behavior.
I understand where you're coming from—there is certainly a strong demand for engineers, doctors, and other STEM professionals, and many students struggle with math, which can limit their career options. However, I think the issue is more nuanced.
The job market does favor certain degrees over others, but rather than saying some fields are "worthless," it might be more accurate to say that universities need to do a better job of preparing students for the realities of employment. For example, even in the humanities, students could benefit from more practical skills like data analysis, project management, or digital tools to increase their employability.
That being said, I do agree that too many students avoid math-heavy fields, and that’s a problem. But perhaps the solution isn’t just to push everyone into STEM but to make math and logical thinking more approachable from an early age.