This was a very interesting read! Though my math skills are abysmal, the "true" reflection of statistics has always been at the core of my educational understanding (my first degrees in social work required statistical study for a lot of the reasons you've outlined above: what they say about society).
I had a double major at Ball State University after an academic advisor pointed out that the counseling psychology major overlapped so significantly with my social work course work that I only had to take two or three additional classes to graduate as a double major. I did it, and ironically, those additional courses I took in the counseling psych department taught me things I leaned back on for years post-grad. I also had a "concentration," and took courses in the BSU criminal justice department. Less success with those courses, lots of white men who wanted to be police officers. In one class, the professor asked the class who had been corporally punished as a child with a show of hands and I was the only student who didn't raise my hand...
That is an interesting way to almost back into a double major. It's funny how separate departments can have so many overlapping electives that you can double major almost by accident sometimes. And it probably made you a better social worker, but it's hard to say that that's due to your bold initiative as a student. If anything, it indicates that, perhaps, they should've been requiring more counseling courses from the jump.
This also makes me wonder whether it's more typical for students to double major when they're in "arts and sciences" (broadly defined) type majors, rather than in more siloed-off majors like music or business or nursing etc. Does this actually make the "liberal arts" majors more resilient to employment disruption? I have no idea, but that would certainly cut against the prevailing narrative.
This was a very interesting read! Though my math skills are abysmal, the "true" reflection of statistics has always been at the core of my educational understanding (my first degrees in social work required statistical study for a lot of the reasons you've outlined above: what they say about society).
I had a double major at Ball State University after an academic advisor pointed out that the counseling psychology major overlapped so significantly with my social work course work that I only had to take two or three additional classes to graduate as a double major. I did it, and ironically, those additional courses I took in the counseling psych department taught me things I leaned back on for years post-grad. I also had a "concentration," and took courses in the BSU criminal justice department. Less success with those courses, lots of white men who wanted to be police officers. In one class, the professor asked the class who had been corporally punished as a child with a show of hands and I was the only student who didn't raise my hand...
Hey, thanks!
That is an interesting way to almost back into a double major. It's funny how separate departments can have so many overlapping electives that you can double major almost by accident sometimes. And it probably made you a better social worker, but it's hard to say that that's due to your bold initiative as a student. If anything, it indicates that, perhaps, they should've been requiring more counseling courses from the jump.
This also makes me wonder whether it's more typical for students to double major when they're in "arts and sciences" (broadly defined) type majors, rather than in more siloed-off majors like music or business or nursing etc. Does this actually make the "liberal arts" majors more resilient to employment disruption? I have no idea, but that would certainly cut against the prevailing narrative.