连哈佛英文专业都要揭不开锅了， 哈。
The Rise of STEM
The decline of liberal-arts majors is a function of the zero-sum nature of degrees: more computer-science majors means fewer English majors. Thus, we should think about this trend less as the decline of liberal arts and more as the rise of STEM. Much of this, too, is driven by women, who were disproportionately likely to pursue humanities degrees, now entering STEM fields at a higher rate.
The cause of this trend remains to be seen. If you look at student surveys, pecuniary factors weigh on their minds when choosing a major, but it’s not the only influence. A survey of Northwestern students, for example, found that parental approval and course enjoyment were the most important factors in major choice. At Harvard, the average English major can expect to make six figures 10 years after graduation, yet the department still teeters on the edge of extinction, with English majors reportedly declining by about 75% by the start of the pandemic.
A decline in liberal-arts degrees is also as much a reflection of changing preferences on the part of admissions officers as it is of changing student preferences. Given the precipitous drops in liberal-arts degrees, however, admissions offers will likely try to counterbalance this trend in the years to come by accepting more liberal-arts students and fewer STEM applicants.
—Aden Barton, Harvard University, economics
