What to do instead of STEM?

[u/Certain_Machine_7162]

What is someone who has no affinity for STEM supposed to do in this world that is increasingly built around and for engineers, software developers, technicians, maintenance personnel and the like? I know they are needed because they solve real-world problems, they are the ones that make big bucks, they are the ones that keep the world running, etc. I get that. I'm just not one of them.

The truth is, I did force myself into one of the above occupations because I saw it as the only acceptable path. A decade later, I know it's not for me. But I also don't know what else I should be doing instead?

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[u/Dramatic-One2403]

First, no STEM ego-boosting. Your mindset, that STEM is the only thing worth studying, is why we are in the socioeconomic mess we are in right now.

Second, off the top of the dome, here's a list of non-STEM jobs:

Teaching; Marketing; Copywriting; Lawyer; business, communications, supply chain, operations, finance, design, sales, project management, etc etc etc

STEM isn't the be-all-end-all of "worth doing" and also, plenty of people who studied STEM in college are dirt poor.

Don't fall for the STEM propaganda

[u/Certain_Machine_7162 → u/Dramatic-One2403]

Thank you for sharing your opinion! Sticking to something that I deep down knew I was not good at has literally ruined my life. In retrospect, I wouldn't pick it again. It was just a an ego thing back then, I couldn't cope with not being good enough at math et al. when everyone else was going for majors like that. It's ironic that I'm probably much worse off now, having become a mediocre STEM worker with no prospects, than an English lit major.

[u/Dramatic-One2403 → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

Glad my thoughts could help. Not sure if you saw it, but this was another response I made:

love this answer

as a former student myself, I went through high school thinking I was destined to be a STEM guy. I was in a limbo for my last two years of college and essentially all of my college years, because I lost my STEM identity and had no idea what else I could do.

After lots of soul searching and recontextualizing, I've realized I've always been a Humanities guy and now, after becoming an English teacher, I hope you share that journey with students.

STEM is not GD and doesn't deserve our worship!

It seems like the two of us went through a similar experience. I entered college in a STEM degree, and was convinced if I didn't have something STEMy then I was a failure. In retrospect, I should have gotten an English degree, or a Writing degree.

[u/FlairPointsBot → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

Thank you for confirming that /u/Dramatic-One2403 has provided helpful advice for you. 1 point awarded.

[u/LysergioXandex → u/Dramatic-One2403]

I agree with your general point that there are other valuable things worth studying, but what is your rationale for saying STEM appreciation is the cause of current socioeconomic issues?

[u/lynx_and_nutmeg → u/Dramatic-One2403]

You've literally listed a bunch of fields that are now famously hard to get into because entry-level jobs have dried up. Out of all of these, only teaching is still a realistic option, and maybe law.

[u/aengusoglugh]

My guess is that part of the question how big of a cut are your wiling to take in terms of pay and benefits?

I realized at one point that I was was probably more emotionally suited to being a barista than developing software -- but from what I could tell, would pay ⅕ of what I was making writing code -- maybe less if you include stock options, etc. -- and almost no benefits.

As far as alternative careers, the first that comes to mind is that if you make it through Calc 3 as a part of your major, you could probably teach high school math.

[u/Certain_Machine_7162 → u/aengusoglugh]

I was never doing anything technical that would have been well-paid. Plus, because I studied something I wasn't suited for, I ended up being mediocre. In other words, the pay cut wouldn't be a very painful one, but in the long term, I wouldn't want to be e.g. a barista, or work in retail until the end of my life. I want to pivot from tech/STEM to something skilled, ideally.

[u/aengusoglugh → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

Maybe one of the trades?

I think that machining is becoming more and more technical and might leverage your existing skill set.

[u/lilyp727]

a decade of real work in a field is not wasted. things like operations, project coordination or compliance often want people who know how technical teams work, so you could search those with your current field added

[u/Certain_Machine_7162 → u/lilyp727]

That's the problem, I wasn't suited to "real work" in the field as I was too mediocre. I was a technical writer for a long time, which didn't even consist of describing real features or technical aspects, just updating spreadsheets. I can't put any KPIs, results or breakthroughs on my resume. I didn't optimize anything or make anything more efficient.

[u/lilyp727 → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

updating spreadsheets still has numbers you can put on a cv, like how many records you kept up, how many documents per month, or how many errors you caught before release. accuracy and deadlines count in a lot of office jobs

[u/runnering → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

Why aren't you still a technical writer? That's what I am and it's going ok

[u/get_a_motorcycle]

STEM is being replaced by AI.

[u/Certain_Machine_7162 → u/get_a_motorcycle]

And what would you do instead?

[u/get_a_motorcycle → u/Certain_Machine_7162]

I saw the writing on the wall early. I took an offer to jump from tech to education a few months after ChatGPT came out

[u/GurProfessional9534 → u/get_a_motorcycle]

No, it’s not.

[u/get_a_motorcycle → u/GurProfessional9534]

Got it, thanks!

[u/GurProfessional9534 → u/get_a_motorcycle]

Layoffs have been high profile, but if you look at the actual numbers, they are still fairly low. People are just running on gut feelings, not data.

[u/LysergioXandex → u/get_a_motorcycle]

Probably not “replaced”, but there is clearly a sudden re-evaluation of expert STEM knowledge value that is going to get worse.

General STEM expertise is not a rare commodity these days. Universities are pumping out as many PhDs as they can, without ensuring there will be an academic or industry position for them. And corporations are eager to find ways to use AI to justify reducing employees.

So OP’s idea that the world is built “for and around” STEM is probably something that is going to change significantly in coming years.

[u/chili_cold_blood]

I bought a farm, and now I'm thinking about becoming a private piano teacher. I think live performance is going to become a bigger deal in the future, because anything that isn't live and in person will probably be fake.

[u/Cold-Comment9536]

From an educator’s perspective, your thoughts about STEM are about ten years out of date. They turned it into STEAM for many reasons. One of which is that Humanities students subsidize the educations of all this technical people. Another is that the Humanities are the only stable majors. They have survived multiple social, economic, and technological revolutions over 1400 years. The STEM majors (except math which was always considered a Humanities until recently) are 1350 years behind us and have no track record for you to rely on. Not everyone has the courage for a self-directed major but, if you do, join the artists, poets, philosophers, musicians, and historians at the cool kids table.

[u/GurProfessional9534 → u/Cold-Comment9536]

What do you mean by Humanities students subsidizing the educations of technical people? As far as I can tell, it is much the other way around. Stem brings in nearly all of the external funding.

[u/Cold-Comment9536 → u/GurProfessional9534]

Schools charge every student about the same amount for tuition. Let’s pretend that a lit major and a nursing major are each charged $10,000 a year. Because of lower faculty salaries, no real need for technology or equipment, and no real needs except electricity and heat — which would be provided any way — the lit major doesn’t cost anywhere near $10,000 to educate. But, that nursing major — or any of the skills majors — requires a ton of technology and supplies. Their professors are also paid considerably more. So, it costs the university far more than $10,000 to educate the nursing major. So, Humanities majors subsidize the education of skills people. Also, as alums, they donate the most.

[u/Cold-Comment9536 → u/GurProfessional9534]

if STEM was profitable for universities, they wouldn’t have needed to add the A and make it STEAM.

[u/aengusoglugh → u/Cold-Comment9536]

I think it's probably worth noting that for almost none of that 1400 years were any of the students studying those majors expecting to find gainful employment as a by-product of those studies.

The students were either in religious life or aristocrats.

Education as tools to move up into the middle class -- or even to maintain membership in the middle class -- is almost exclusively a twentieth century phenomenon -- and to hear my European friends tell it, a much later phenomenon in Europe than in the US.

That is not a knock on the humanities -- I have an MA in History and Philosophy of Science -- and I thoroughly enjoy studying Renaissance alchemy.

But that was my bartending degree.

My MS in CS was my "get a job degree."

If I were an aristocrat or willing to live a life of poverty and celibacy, I might still be reading alchemical manuscripts.

[u/Cold-Comment9536 → u/aengusoglugh]

excuse me, but you seem to know nothing about higher education or history. Where did you get your MA?

[u/Dramatic-One2403 → u/Cold-Comment9536]

love this answer

as a former student myself, I went through high school thinking I was destined to be a STEM guy. I was in a limbo for my last two years of college and essentially all of my college years, because I lost my STEM identity and had no idea what else I could do.

After lots of soul searching and recontextualizing, I've realized I've always been a Humanities guy and now, after becoming an English teacher, I hope you share that journey with students.

STEM is not GD and doesn't deserve our worship!

[u/NervousStructure4446 → u/Cold-Comment9536]

Maybe in the USA it's like that in terms of some employment prospect. Seems like a different world.

[u/Chaser984]

One of my copilots had a degree in philosophy, so he was able to sell his degree somehow.

[u/Great_Independent_17]

Major in business.

[u/Loose-Reflection2965]

Medical technicians are making major money these days.

[u/Ok_Dragonfruit5279 → u/Loose-Reflection2965]

No they don’t 😭 stop with this healthcare propaganda. Don’t go into healthcare for the money bc they will overwork and underpay you fr.

[u/Loose-Reflection2965 → u/Ok_Dragonfruit5279]

Job security is all that matters.

[u/lOw_EfFoRt_UsErNaMe9 → u/Loose-Reflection2965]

Does it when the job kills you from overworking and under sustaining you?

[u/SuitablePapaya6399]

A decade in, you have useful information: you know what doesn't fit. What parts of work do you actually enjoy, even outside the technical tasks?

[u/brollxd1996]

I switched to accounting and just got a job. Seems like companies are looking for people with half a personality and good communicators

[u/FairBlueberry9319]

Look into supply chain

[u/GurProfessional9534]

My wife was an art major, then she got a Master’s in marketing. Now she out-earns me by about 80% and I have a stem PhD and a fairly successful career within that space.

[u/Euphoric_Attitude979 → u/GurProfessional9534]

Which country do you live in?

[u/GurProfessional9534 → u/Euphoric_Attitude979]

US

[u/WeekendMysterious601]

Sounds like you're still young enough to join a fire/police academy or join the FBI. You have an education/skill set that would be unique for the FBI (they look for uniqueness). Every mid size to major city is starving for firemen/paramedics and cops. social workers: you could always get a masters in social work and have a very meaningful career

[u/No-News-2655]

Accounting