Math and Science Degrees More Valuable Than Liberal Arts?

Some students spend their college years peering into a microscope or scrutinizing graphs and formulas. Others are more likely to analyze dense prose or write insightful essays. They may earn similar grades, but when it comes time to look for jobs, it often seems the students with a knack for numbers see the bigger payoff.

College students graduating in 2004-05 with a math- or science-related degree are likely to earn significantly higher starting pay than their peers in liberal arts disciplines, according to a February survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

According to the survey, chemical engineering students graduating in 2005 reported snagging job offers with an average salary of about $53,700. Computer science grads reported average offers of around $51,000. Accounting grads got offers of about $43,000 and economics/finance majors' offers averaged roughly $40,700.

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By contrast, liberal arts graduates reported average offers of about $29,100.

This leaves scores of history, philosophy and English majors fuming: Why do math and science degrees seem to be more valuable?

Supply and demand

Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting Group, a firm specializing in management development, says the reason math and science graduates earn more out of college is a simple case of supply and demand: "They're much more immediately applicable in a much smaller supply."

Students earning associate's and bachelor's degrees in liberal arts disciplines far outnumber students studying in mathematic or scientific fields, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics.

Students earning associate's degrees in liberal arts outnumbered electrical engineering technology graduates by a ratio of almost 20-to-one. Of the 10 largest bachelor's degree programs in 2001-02, only two math- or science-heavy majors – biology and accounting – made the list.

The scarcity of math and science students often translates into a greater demand for their skills in the job market. A study of the 10 majors promising the best job outlook turned up just two disciplines – business and marketing – that aren't necessarily quantitatively-based. Accounting, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, economics/finance, computer science, computer engineering, chemical engineering and information sciences and systems rounded out the list.

Future earnings potential

So is all hope lost for liberal arts graduates hoping to earn big money some day?

Absolutely not, experts say. "As companies get bigger and less and less cohesive ... the written word becomes even more important," says Lisa Earle McLeod, columnist and author of Forget Perfect (Penguin/Putnam). "You don't have people in one place working together anymore, so being able to write concisely and directivity for people will become a more valued skill."

One-third of employees at blue-chip companies can't write well, and businesses are spending big money to improve their workers' writing skills, according to a 2004 report by the National Commission on Writing. Employers spend up to $3.1 billion annually on remedial training, the report said.

And although it may take superior writers at a company a while to distinguish themselves, their communication skills can eventually catapult them to top management positions – and top income brackets.

"The jobs that really, really pay the best involve getting large bodies of people to do what you want them to do," McLeod says, pointing to TV producers and CEOs as examples. "And that's all communicating."

Although people with quantitative skills earn more up front, Weiss says, their growth potential is more limited than for those with verbal savvy. "If you want to get rich at a company, you don't go into the financial department," he says. "You go into the sales department."

He says top salespeople's high degree of assertiveness and persuasiveness – and their strong contribution to the company's bottom line – can launch them to higher salaries than even the top executives earn.

Wanted: intellectually diverse employees

Whether they're job seekers or people looking to promote their careers, gaining both quantitative and verbal skills can help everyone get ahead, experts note. "You have to diversify yourself so you're an object of interest for others," Weiss says.

David Teten, CEO of Nitron Advisers, a New York-based independent research firm, says one-in-five people who apply for jobs at his company get rejected for their poor writing skills. But once the good communicators make the cut, he gives them brain-teaser questions to test their quantitative and creative thinking skills.

He says that although the vast majority of U.S. jobs don't require higher math knowledge, numbers are still the language of business. Improving basic math skills can be as simple as figuring your own grocery bill or leaving the calculator in your purse at a restaurant, he says.

"If you make a point of calculating the tip yourself instead of relying on the calculator, you'll build the skill of simple mental mathematics," he says.

Scientists and math whizzes would be also well-served to take a course or two to develop communication skills, McLeod says.

"Being the best scientist or engineer might make you the head of the department, but you have to be a good communicator to be put in charge of large groups of people."