this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
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[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (2 children)

ironically philosophy majors perform better on graduate school entrance exams like the LSAT and GREs than most other majors, and philosophy graduates tend to be more successful and be better earners than other majors, notably than business major graduates

arugably, philosophy is one of the better majors in terms of outcomes

https://philosophy.unc.edu/undergraduate/the-major/why-major-in-philosophy/

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

This is PURE speculation, but I feel like this could be caused by the only people who feel comfortable getting a philosophy degree being wealthy connected people. I know a lot of people from my high school that have stereotypical "be poor forever" degrees and are doing great - but if you knew them in high school, you'd know that they had millionaire parents. All the poor kids went for safer degrees because they knew they'd need money.

To be clear: I love philosophy and think it is very valuable. But sadly it seems like something that only privileged people or the very passionate take a risk on.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

That could also create a networking situation for even poor ones.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 2 points 8 hours ago

Yeah I agree, there is probably a bias effect here. That may or may not explain all of the difference. The one you've proposed makes sense.

[–] tux7350@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Don't ya think this might be a bit bias? They have a vested interest to sell you a philosophy degree.

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

I used my philosophy of science classwork all the time in my engineering career.

What constitutes proof? What kinds of questions can you answer with data? When do we consider a pattern of behavior to represent the existence of some entity?

Being able to think about these kinds of questions with clarity is really helpful in diagnosing problems in large systems.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 2 points 8 hours ago

What constitutes proof?

Statistical significance.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

I’ve worked with a few philosophy majors in various roles and they were more thoughtful about things. Like they learned how to think, not just what to think.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

yes, though the facts and studies they link to remain true regardless - this is the strongest argument for getting a philosophy degree, it makes sense they present it