Math versus Liberal Arts Majors in Buisness

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi! As a college student, I’ve been curious about a particular question for quite some time.

In your experience, what would an employer generally prefer with regards to degrees not directly related to the field that the buisness is in. Would they prefer a liberal arts major (English, Philosophy, History, etc) or a Mathematics major? How about a hard science major?

If you are an employer or can roleplay one, what would be your thoughts on hiring a liberal arts major versus a mathematics major or vice versa.

Thank you!

Netbrian

2

As a liberal arts major, I say go with liberal arts over math/science. :slight_smile:

Seriously, though, unless you’re going into programming, engineering, or accounting, most business has more to do with clear communication, organization, interpersonal skills, and people management than mathematics.

Not that math isn’t important. But in the situations where it is important, Business-specific math training is far more useful and relevant, and will still be required, whether the person was a Calc. major or a Poli Sci major.

I and most of my friends work in the media, or in related fields (graphic design, PR, communications, etc.). We’re all liberal arts majors. About half of us are in fields unrelated to our majors (an International Relations major became a TV-commercial producer; a schoolteacher became an editor; an English major became a magazine production and prepress manager; an anthropology major and a theater major became retail business managers; etc.). My one friend in science (microbiology) got a job in his field but left it to pursue bigger money and challenges in the IT field.

So my experience is more limited to the liberal arts side, but I would have to say that ability (esp. communication skills) is more important than training (math, science, history, etc.) in most cases I have seen.

3

We’ve had some awfully good discussions here on the value of liberal arts–they might be worth a search of prior threads.

I work with a math major and know another (neither of whom are working in math-related fields now). I find that I and everyone else is impressed to hear this, because math is thought to be hard on the brain.

As an employer, I’d be immediately attracted to math or science majors because I’d think they were smart, enjoyed challenges, and had patience for detail (proofs and lab experiments, for example). Those are good things in business. My one and only concern would be their writing skills. The math majors I know are excellent writers, as it happens, but I think it would be in any math/science major’s interest to be able to showcase solid writing skills.

Incidentally, one of the bigger reasons I majored in Economics was that I wanted a liberal arts major that people thought was “hard.” I knew plenty of brilliant people who majored in the other popular majors at my school, so I would never slight those fields, but I did worry about bias from outside employers.

More generally, though, employers hire people, not majors. You can be a good well-rounded candidate whether you major in Philosophy or Molecular Biology. I understand a fear that in a huge stack of resumes, some majors might get weeded out without the employer ever looking at the overall package. But not all employers are so short-sighted. Anyway, that’s just for the first post-college job when recruiters are hiring you from campus. After that, I don’t think the major field matters overmuch.

4

Well first of all “business” is not a profession unless you own one. Are you interested in marketing? Sales? Finance? Accounting? IT? A lot of students have this vague idea of going into “business” when they graduate without having a clear understanding of what businesspeople actually do.

Think about what you want to do every day at work. Do you want to write code? Build complicated financial models? Research and review documents? Talk on the phone and lead meetings? (I know, it’s hard to pick just one 'cause it all sounds so exciting). What is your personality like? Are you detail oriented? Creative? A people person? A problem solver?

If you hate math and suck at, there’s no point in majoring in math so you can get a job modeling derivatives.

5

Nobody ever remembers that the actual phrase is “liberal arts and sciences”. Math and the hard sciences are, and should be, part of the liberal arts education.

That out of the way, I’d be more interested in a successful student than one from any particular major. A successful student is one who has taken challenging classes and done reasonably well (solid B, B+ average or better). Written and oral communication skills, and the ability to navigate office politics, are all important as well.

6

My major was Film Studies - minor in History. About as Liberal Artsy as you can get.

My job is IT. Doing statistical analysis.

What you major in is of very little importance in what you do in the real world, unless you are going to work in an applied field (I wouldn’t want an Art History major practicing medicine without an MD, or designing bridges). In something as generic as “business” it doesn’t matter at all - unless you choose to major in “business.”

In my experience, I’ve never gotten a job based off “what I did in college.” My jobs have come from what I did last, who I knew, being flexible and having a whole variety of skills, and where I happened to be standing when the job was available. Your first career job out of college is more likely to come from an internship, a referral from someone you know, a temp job that you have a knack for and the boss thinks you’d make a decent project manager just when he needs one. Not from someone saying “Gee, and I was hoping to fill this position with someone who majored in Anthropology.”

7

I’m firmly in ultrafilter’s camp. I find this discussion rather odd, because at many schools, mathematics is a liberal art. (I could have gotten either a BA or a BS.) On the other hand, Economics is not necessarily a liberal arts degree. That aside, my advice is to study what you enjoy. There is time enough later in life to do things solely for economic considerations. Very few people spend their whole career in the same field as their major. If nothing else, most of us end up being some kind of manager.

Frankly, the economic benefits of liberal arts degrees and other degrees is a matter of perception - but perception is reality. CrankyAsAnOldMan appears to hold one common belief - that most math majors are poor writers. I haven’t found that to be true; I have found that perception to be common. More accurately, many people assume math majors are a form of engineer, which is distinctly not true. Whatever you pick, be aware that it is the perception of the interviewer that matters. I couldn’t believe how hard it was to convince engineers that physicists can actually do things.

I differ from toadspittle in that it is my experience that those earning what I call vocational degrees - art, engineering, park and rec, programmers, journalism - tend to have weaker all around skills then those earning what I call educational degrees - history, physics, archeology. The latter rarely need any job specific training outside of the fields covered by the vocational degrees (exactly how does “business math” differ from elementary math?), while the former degrees are almost required to get started in their particular fields (go ahead, try to design circuits with a math degree). Of course, the field in which particular majors tend to be weak depends on the particular major. Almost all engineers have good math skills, hardly any artists do. On average, neither can write worth a damn. (In my job, I have to deal with engineers and programmers attempting to write. :eek:)

If you don’t know what major to pick, because several interest you, I would start in the major requiring the most courses common to your other choices. Because math and science majors tend to take a strong liberal arts core, owing to the fact that they are/were liberal arts, I would start there. My dad, a biologist, gave me that advice, when I couldn’t pick between biology and physics.

FYI, I majored in both math and physics, and yet graduated with honors in world literature. I am now a combination programming guru and manager.

8

Small nitpick, but as an intense, even obnoxious cheerleader for the liberal arts all my adult life, I’d like to correct this to read that "CrankyAsAnOldMan, when roleplaying as an employer holds the belief that…

I’m just providing Netbrian a taste of the commonly-held perception you cited-- don’t hold that view myself. I do think there are some students who think that majoring in the sciences will get them out of writing, but most good liberal arts programs are going to have all students working on their writing.

9

My turn to nitpick. All good liberal arts programs are going to have all students work on writing. Otherwise, they ain’t “good”.

If only the sciences (including math) were treated the same way.

10

In any field, if I was looking at two candidates who seemed equal to me (that is, to me as distinguished from the hiring team), I would give the extra weight to the math major. As CrankyAsAnOldMan said, I know a math major has hoed a harder row. There might have been a time when I gave the thumbs up to a liberal arts major over a math or science major, but none come to mind.

Am I, with my liberal arts education, a hypocrite for saying this? Absolutely.

11

I would prefer a Math major, since on the average, he’s likely to be more intelligent. Sad, but true.

HOWEVER, I would prefer the skills of an outstanding liberal arts major over those of an outstanding Math major.

12

If I may be so bold as to add my two cents – I graduated with a B.A. in English, and then followed it up 10 years later when I earned my Masters in Information Sciences (now called MIS, or IT, or computer-geeking, whatever).

In my first career, my communication skills from the English degree allowed me to help translate the things Engineers were saying into common speech, and help them get their points across in documentations and reports. This earned me a whopping $20/hour.

In my current career, because I gained the technical ability to do something of greater demand to most companies, I doubled my salary. When they found out I could function at a high level of skill, PLUS be able to communicate with both the management-level employees and the engineer-level employees, and sucessfully translate between the two, it got me steady raises.

So between the two? Go for the higher functionality, and the greater skill, and take a minor in the liberal arts.

The skill level doesn’t mean too much if you can’t relay your findings. And being able to express yourself clearly and grammatically correct doesn’t get you the bucks. The two together function well.

13

I thought math was a liberal art!

Didn’t the original Seven Liberal Arts include Arithmetic and Geometry?

14

I’m with Dangerosa. Unless you’re going into a field that specifically uses your major, it doesn’t really matter. I was a Music History and Voice major (I have a B Mus, not a BA) and am now a Business Systems Analyst in the IT department of a medium/large speaker company. I’ve hired many, many people and have never based a decision on the person’s college major. The fact that they completed college is important, however.

15

EXCELLENT suggestion! Being an engineer with a strong liberal arts background has been tremendously helpful for me. Employers seem to love having an engineer who knows how to write well, for example, and who can interact with customers.

16

It is my direct experience that unless the degree specifically affects the business in question, employers really do not care what your degree’s in. If it’s a degree from an accredited school, that’s generally what counts. I would bet you $100 right now that neither my boss, nor his boss, nor HIS boss could remember what my degree is in, even though every one of those people has read my resume. But I’ll bet you they all remember I have a degree. (My degree is in economics… it has nothing to do with my job.)

Now, if your degree has specific application to the job, that’s a different story. Quite honestly, a pure mathematics degree has specific application to damned few jobs - though the skills are useful in a lot of jobs.

I’m not convinced all jobs would necessarily favour a math major, though. Math is a terrific skill, but a lot of employers - and again I am possessed of direct experience - are skeptical of science and engineering types’ ability to grasp business or interpersonal skills in fields where that stuff is really important. I work in a company with a large stable of product inspectors, environmental auditors, and other positions involving working very closely with customers on matters of some sensitivity, and they’re finding that gearheads often make terrible inspectors/auditors because they don’t grasp business and don’t get along with our customers. EVERY corporate trainer I have ever asked has said they find engineers difficult to train. Not ALL of them are that way, but it’s a remarkably persistent trend. So if you were going for a job like that, or a sales job, or a management job, having a liberal arts degree just might be a better choice.

Long and short; go with what you like. You’re rolling the dice either way.