Ask the Experts: Best Major and Minor in College
Question:
I am considering using psychology as a major and business as a minor in college. Which is best to use as a major and a minor? Also, what are the salary ranges for each career area?
First Answer:
This may seem like an outrageous statement, but when it comes right down to it, it may not really matter what you major in during college.
The most important thing is getting the degree. Exceptions exist, of course — in highly technical and scientific careers fields, for example, an appropriate major is preferred. But for either major-minor combination you have in mind, your potential job prospects are vast.
Consider talking to some professors at the college you’ve chosen. Consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of the business and psychology departments at the college. Your major department is the one in which you’ll spend the most time, so make sure you like that department’s faculty and choice of courses. Think about what you really like doing the most. What are the aspects of your prospective majors that really excite you? What are your strengths? What are you passions? What do you love? You may want to check out this section of Quintessential Careers for resources on choosing a major: http://www.quintcareers.com/student_jobseeker_guide/choosing_college_major.html
As for salary, the majors you mention represent such a broad and massive range of career possibilities as to make predicting salaries nearly impossible. More importantly, if you are choosing a career and a major based on its potential salary, you may be seriously limiting your future happiness. Choose a career and major based on what you love to do — not on how much money you can expect.
— Katharine Hansen, former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for the Web site, Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters.
Second Answer:
Both business and psychology are very broad areas. The answer to you question “What is the best major and minor?” depends on what YOU want to do. Another thing to consider when choosing between these majors is whether or not you plan to get an advanced degree. Bachelor level positions which hire psyhcology majors tend to be lower paying that business positions at the same degree level. Salary ranges for positions in both these areas vary greatly depending on position, size of company, etc. If business is the area that you are looking at career positions in, then I would suggest a major in business. The business world is very competitive and a business degree would put you on the same level as others competing for the same job. If you are interested in a position in the helping/human service field, then consider a major in psychology knowing that to be competitive in this area and to have upward career mobility you will need to get a Master’s Degree.
— Linda Wyatt, Career Center Director, Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Third Answer:
I think the pair you have selected make an excellent combination. Increasingly business is about people and how to improve the interaction between customers, peers and managers while maintaining a balance within their respective lives. Thus, knowledge of the workings of the mind and of business enterprises compliment each other well. But the answer is more complex because each field has varied specific areas of emphasis.
As to which is best to use as a major/minor, this answer is within you and on where you find your greatest satisfaction because only you understand the importance to you of the variables available within each emphasis.
Psychology, as a primary field will require advanced study; Masters level opens some doors such as Industrial-organizational psychology or counseling psychologist. Adding a doctorate offers the full field from private-practice Clinical Psychologist through university-level teaching or psychological research.
Business as a central focus may not required advanced degrees but Masters-prepared individuals hold an increasing number of the upper-level executive positions available. Within the business arena many specialty areas exist that require specific training to be successful. Accounting, Production Systems, Finance, Purchasing all are under the umbrella of Business, yet each is a specialty within itself.
Business tends to focus on things, quotas, goals, bottom-line, production records, best price, and cost-benefit analysis. Psychology focuses on people in the main and the influences of society, personal history, interpersonal interaction hopes and desires: all less concrete though important elements of a balanced life.
Therefore, are you data person, one who enjoys balance sheets and performance figure analysis or an individual who enjoys developing gossamer connections between causes and effect and helping unravel the tangles often found within the tapestry of an individual’s life.
I left salary to the end because while it is important, in my opinion it does not deserve the focus we as a society give it. Find a career that gives you personal satisfaction, a career that compliments your personal values and interests, for within these areas are found life-long fulfillment.
Based on government statistics from 1997, median income of salaried psychologist was $48,000. Lowest 10 percent earned less than $27, 960 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $88,280.
Business earnings figures, using the same source, vary with the area of specialty: Accounting with a low of $37,860 to more than $76,160 annually. General Managers and top executives’ earnings range from $33,000 in the hospitality industries to the rarified multiple millions touted in the media for CEO of major corporations. Industrial Managers earn a median of $56,320 per year, Purchasing Managers, Buyers, and Purchasing Agents have annual salaries with a median of $41,830.
To get a better view of the salaries, check the Occupational Outlook Handbook found at the U.S. Department of Labor web site.
— Robert C. Resch, Career Center, Triton College.
Fourth Answer:
First in all the years I have been counseling students, I consistently advise them to major in a traditional academic discipline rather then business. Business is a skills training major, and many employers are more interested in your critical reasoning, analytical, conceptualization, and writing skills. Those are best developed in a discipline, whether that is psychology, history, economics, or chemistry. This is my opinion; you will hear others, and that is not to say that employers will not recruit on your campus for business majors. But for long-term career potential, I stand by my advice. As the MBA becomes more and more the “entry ticket” to management training programs and business careers, you can add business skills in graduate school.
Second, a major is not a career area. Psychology majors need at least a master’s degree to work as a counselor or researcher; in business with bachelor’s degrees, they work in human resources, advertising, marketing, and sales.. They may also work in educational administration, or social services as caseworkers before pursuing a master’s in social work. Business majors can work in a variety of roles in private industry, in hospitals, or in government, but in my experience that major is less valued than economics or mathematics, majors that students I have counseled have chosen that led to first jobs with the Federal Reserve Bank, for example.
Third, the place to start in your decision process for choosing a major is identifying (1) what you are good at and (2) what you are interested in. You don’t say that you really like working with people, or that you are good at managing projects for the consulting firm where you’ve interned. There is no “best” major, there are only a variety of choices that will produce the best career fit for you personally. You will earn the most money where you are applying both your talent and your heart, because you will outperform people with less talent or motivation. Visit your career placement office and discuss assessing your career interests and skills with a counselor.
— Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City.
