Don't get a degree in sociology, gender studies, history, etc. Avoid 'liberal arts' degrees at all costs!
Getting a business or science/tech degree is much more valuable in the working world. That's not to say you can't get a decent job with a liberal arts degree, but with one of those you may need to get some working experience in addition to that to find a better job. However with a business or science degree, I think it's easier to find a job in that particular field right out of school.
Don't get a degree in sociology, gender studies, history, etc. Avoid 'liberal arts' degrees at all costs!
Getting a business or science/tech degree is much more valuable in the working world. That's not to say you can't get a decent job with a liberal arts degree, but with one of those you may need to get some working experience in addition to that to find a better job. However with a business or science degree, I think it's easier to find a job in that particular field right out of school.
I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. Liberal Arts degrees can be great if you plan on going to graduate school and/or academia. In fact, many people think they actually boost your odds of getting into medical school because they are rare.
But if you want to graduate with an undergrad degree and get a job, yes, you should focus on a degree that gives you applicable skills. It doesn't have to be business or science/tech though. A Public Policy, Political Science, Architecture, Journalism, Foreign Language, and many other majors can be really useful if you are interested in a particular field. Actually, a raw science degree in Biology or Chemistry is probably a bad idea if you want to work out of undergrad, as they are mostly applicable in the research and graduate world.
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The Paper: What you actually learn in college is only part of why it helps you find a good job after finishing it. The other part are arguably more important, is that it shows employers that you can a) learn, and b) see a project through to completion.
This second part is something you shouldn't think, in my view, employers do not think this anymore. The problem is everyone applying to decent jobs these days have a degree, it therefore can't set you apart in this way since all credible candidates have one and it's expected by employers. I think this view was correct 20+ years ago, but the world of today means it's not the case (a PhD might do this since it will show you can do original work largely unguided, in a reasonable timeframe and stick at it as well, but again is the subject useful to the job?). This is why I feel subject is very important these days, just having a degree doesn't mean much anymore, you need to have it in a subject that is useful to the employer (if you're solely doing it for your career, you may do the subject for your own enjoyment of it - just don't expect the world to open up from doing it).
I remember on a TV show I saw about 6 months ago about youth employment where a recent graduate was working at Starbucks moaning that he couldn't get a job and was the world's most over qualified barista. Turned out he did a BA in History, he didn't seem to realise that this subject is not of use in most business areas and therefore he might as well have not had the degree for the jobs he was applying for, it didn't set him out from the crowd. As a result he was overly entitled and arrogant in his interviews and was getting nowhere.
Many, many more people are going to college today than ever before, but the actual graduation rate (at least for the US) is still only ~60%. While having a degree isn't necessarily proof of competency, it usually is very useful as an indicator of trainability.
Also, as your example shows, not all degrees are created equal. Liberal arts degrees tends to be marginally useful at best, but STEM degrees tend to pay for themselves quite quickly (in my biased opinion).
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Topic: What Do You Think of College?
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