"Theatre" ranked among the most useless undergraduate majors

Well, yeah, performance training isn't exactly the most applicable to other things, but people who are majoring in theater aren't doing it for the flexibility. The problem is that all of the majors on that list, in their specificity, make it difficult to get some kind of fall-back job in another industry, which in this economy, is often necessary. None of these are "useless" to employers interviewing for what you were trained to do -- they're useless (broadly) in the sense that they're highly specific. You could easily make the argument for degrees in really broad subjects, though -- I have two of them -- and say that they cover so much that you are "actually" trained for nothing.

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Updated On: 1/19/12 at 03:28 PM

To a degree. If you're smart and savvy enough to know how to spin it, that can definitely help you. But you are also up against how potential employers view your major, too, which may not always be favorably or as transferrable to other kinds of work. It depends a lot on their viewpoint, too.

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Not to be mean (I studied theater; I just have academic degrees), but some people think theater is dumb, and sometimes you need an office job. I'm not saying don't major in theater if that's your calling in life, but you have to be ready for that uphill battle if The Dream doesn't fall into place right away.

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Well, here's the thing. That article sort of presupposes that a degree in theatre automatically means you intend to pursue acting as a profession.

I WILL say that when I was growing up we were told a degree was really important and that the degree itself was more important than what the degree was in. I'm not necessarily sure that's the case, and I say that as someone with a degree in theatre. I'm not saying it has cost me jobs,although I did have an insane job interview once with a woman who wasn't American born and didn't really understand what it means to have a BA in theatre from a liberal arts university. I just don't think it's provided as useful as I might have been led to believe, and I think that holds true for a number of different degrees.

Guys, this is now a BWW HEADLINE.

I think philosophy is definitely one of those "...?" majors, so good for you for doing that. I am in awe of people who study philosophy, truly. My Master's program had a philosophy core and I was one confused camper.

I always heard that, too, PRS, but I think as the economy continues to struggle, it's becoming less and less true because employers have more and and more options when they're hiring, so they can be pickier about who they're bringing in. I graduated from college the year the economy really tanked -- so I look at the class before me, and I sometimes feel like they almost "missed" the recession. But that year, I was surrounded by people who weren't expecting this, and fully planned on graduating with jobs, just like people who work hard and go to good schools were supposed to -- and generally did -- do. But the shift was happening just as we were graduating, so instead, we floated around for a while, struggling to figure out why nobody would hire us. I don't know if being a year or two behind that would have changed what I majored in, though.

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Updated On: 1/19/12 at 04:30 PM

I don't think we should overlook the pressure being exerted by the current cultural moment that is doing its best to devalue education. I mean, there's a doofus given national airtime with the notion that child labor laws are "stupid," at a time when education cuts run rampant and people mock broke students for taking out loans for what they term "stupid" degrees. I don't think these topics coming up now and in these ways is random coicidence.

What is being put down the most is advanced education that helps people sharpen critical thinking skills, which is really what college is all about. And there's a reason the establishment would like it if fewer people learned those skills.

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I got the "don't go to grad school" lecture too from multiple undergrad profs. A lot of it has to do with the fact that a high majority of people going to grad school (especially in the Humanities) do so in the hopes of obtaining an academic job, and the academic job market is really, really bad right now, and has been for the last few years.

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In mid-life I have met many theatre majors who had gone to social work school, become teachers, who went into human resources and went into social services in general.

Of the 6 drama majors in my college class we had a housing person, an actor/data processor, a benefits explainer, a career US Army officer, a phone person and a real estate developer. All of us used our degree to interact with people and to think on our feet. Some of the 6 never used their theatre degree directly after graduation.

The one thing all of the majors (and not just the ones in our class) agreed upon is that we have no problem speaking in front of groups. We are more concerned that our message gets across than with the act of public speaking. All of us are verbal.

Acting sharpens one's perceptions. How many times do we have to make a snap decision about a character using just the info given to us by the playwright? In human resources for instance, you have to be able to listen to everything, not just what the person in front of you is saying. What in academia is referred to as 'critical thinking', I call just plain old thinking. Theatre people can think, analyze, construct and deconstruct.

Theatre also teaches reliability. If you don't make your entrance, who is going to cover your ass?

Finally, we are fun to be around. Jeez, we can be meglamaniacal nutcases, but dull we ain't

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Actually, I hate lists like that. Degrees are not useless, some of the people who get them are. People who are passionate, motivated and have a trajectory or blueprint for their lives make things work. You can do what you love and the money will follow. I know plenty of people with obscure degrees who make it work for them.

This list will just give unmotivated people with those degrees an excuse. Lovely.

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Who comes up with this list? (Not a literal question either.) What sort of mindset?

I know more theatre majors who have very successful careers now (most of them not in theatre). Did the theatre degree help them get there? They're doing REALLY well now. Not in their chosen major, however.

I would love to see how many people in the world are actually making a living and/or having successful careers in the same thing they majored in in college.

That would be the real eye-opener. Most people I know are doing other things. And quite well, I might add. Did their degree help them? I say probably, yes. But "practically speaking," no, it didn't. It shaped who they are, helped them determine, refine, and focus their goals ... and the degree only had as much bearing on their current job as luck (being at the right place at the right time for opportunity to strike).

Education is important. It only increases your options and your chances.

The biggest misconception is that the world works exactly like academia. In school, if you work hard, do everything that's expected of you, and do well, you will be rewarded. You get the "A." You achieve the expected goal.

In the real world, the job does not always go to the person who does the best or works the hardest. It's not a simple, guaranteed equation of "if I do this, then that will happen." Nope. There are always underlying politics involved, on a small scale or a larger one. And you'll never know about it. The job may go to the "pretty girl," or the boss's best friend's son, or the one they "liked" the best as far as personality, or simply the person that a favorite coworker knows really well.

That's the big difference between academia and the real world.

The other misconception is that once you're out of school, you're finished learning new things. Wrong! You will be studying, taking actual classes, seminars, workshops, on-the-job training, or other such forms of "education" for the rest of your life ... if you choose to move ahead. You don't stop learning at 22 or 23. It's a lifelong process of betterment, assuming you do want to improve and advance along the way. That's how and why so many of my "theatre friends" are living successful lives now. They continued to grow beyond structured academia. They kept evolving as people.

But the degree in Art History or Chinese Culture or Botany or Greek and Roman Studies ...

EDIT: By the way, Paul Rudd and Scott Bakula both went to my university in Kansas. They did really well in life. Neither one was a theatre major (I think Bakula majored in Chemistry or Psychology). So it works both ways. Theatre majors can be successful in other areas. And non-theatre majors can be successful in theatre and other entertainment professions. Just more examples of the path not being a direct one.

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Updated On: 1/23/12 at 07:35 AM