But what are you going to do with your life? Arts majors, future plans, and career skills

Abstract

This study investigates findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), comparing career plans and skills across 11 major fields. Responses from over 31,000 graduating seniors across 126 different universities suggest that while arts majors are more likely to have non-traditional career plans, including self-employment, they also have higher confidence in creative thinking skills and report greater coursework emphasis on creativity. However, arts majors were lacking confidence in other areas, including business and financial skills. The implications of these findings for parents, counselors, and artistically gifted high school students in the process of choosing a college will be presented.