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[-] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 31 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

ironically philosophy majors perform better on graduate school entrance exams like the LSAT and GREs than most other majors, and philosophy graduates tend to be more successful and be better earners than other majors, notably than business major graduates

arugably, philosophy is one of the better majors in terms of outcomes

https://philosophy.unc.edu/undergraduate/the-major/why-major-in-philosophy/

[-] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 37 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is PURE speculation, but I feel like this could be caused by the only people who feel comfortable getting a philosophy degree being wealthy connected people. I know a lot of people from my high school that have stereotypical "be poor forever" degrees and are doing great - but if you knew them in high school, you'd know that they had millionaire parents. All the poor kids went for safer degrees because they knew they'd need money.

To be clear: I love philosophy and think it is very valuable. But sadly it seems like something that only privileged people or the very passionate take a risk on.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

That could also create a networking situation for even poor ones.

[-] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I didn't want to say it, but I do think this is a possibility - people like Pete Buttigieg were philosophy majors. However, it's probably a bit of both - being wealthy and connected probably still makes up a minority of philosophy majors, and yet they still outperform on graduate entrance exams generally.

You might be interested in reading The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart for a non-wealthy philosophy major's perspective on business. :-)

[-] Pulptastic@midwest.social 5 points 1 month ago

Yeah I agree, there is probably a bias effect here. That may or may not explain all of the difference. The one you've proposed makes sense.

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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
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