- Graduates of Bowie State University, one of America’s 10 oldest historically black universities, put messages on their mortarboard hats during the school’s graduation ceremony. Nursing is among the highest-earning degrees for African-Americans, who are underrepresented in higher-earning majors.
- CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
Graduating from college is supposed to be a surefire path to higher lifetime earnings—but how much higher can often hinge on what one chooses to study.
Although African-Americans are more likely to go to college than in the past, they are overrepresented in majors that lead to lower-paying careers, according to a new report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce that examined their share of bachelor’s degrees in 137 detailed majors.
African-Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, but represent 8% or less in some of the highest-paying majors, such as engineering, pharmacy and computer science. By contrast, they make up 17% or more in the lowest-earning majors, including human services and community organization and social work.
“It’s the right church but the wrong pew,” said Anthony Carnevale, an author of the report and the director of the center, noting that these choices are “still very much a factor” contributing to the racial wage gap.
Even choosing a potentially high-earning major isn’t a guarantee of better wages, Mr. Carnevale added. Other factors, such as social and family networks, channel people with the same degrees in different directions following graduation.
“If you’re an African-American who majors in math, you’re more likely to become a school teacher. If you’re a white male who majors in math, you’re more likely to go on to grad school in business, or to seek out higher education opportunities,” he said.
Consider, he said, a very high-profile example: President Barack Obama, who attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School, and then became a community organizer (and eventually president, of course). Most of the low-paying majors chosen by African-Americans tend to be in “intellectual and caring professions.” The report describes these graduates as “highly educated workers whose earnings tend to not reflect their years of higher education.”
Mr. Carnevale said the appropriate policy response is not to direct people away from vital roles such as schoolteacher and community organizer. Rather, he said, these findings point to the need for better career counseling once students are enrolled in college, in addition to counseling and support to ensure they complete school and graduate.
“We need counseling that tracks students’ interests and values and personality, and guides them towards what they want to do and tells them how to get there,” he said. “And then when they get there, whether or not they can pay back their student loans.”
Related reading:
College Majors Figure Big in Earnings
A New Degree in Architecture, Computers or Health Is Worth More Than Decades of Job Experience
The Most Important Factor in a College Student’s Success
Historically Black Colleges Offer Rewards for Those Who Finish, Study Finds
As Black Entrepreneurship Grew, the Value Gap With White-Owned Businesses Widened
Racial Wealth Gaps: What a Difference 25 Years Doesn’t Make
from Real Time Economics http://ift.tt/1Lf2GPH
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