Why Should Students Major in Math?

              According to the Minnesota Department of Education, one third of high school seniors failed the mathematics graduation test in 2012. The lack of mathematic knowledge results in the failure of students to graduate. Thus, math becomes one of the stumbling blocks in students’ lives. Since it is always a rigorous and demanding subject, many students, who struggle with math in high school, end to major in non-mathematical fields in college if they are not interested in solving numerical problems. While this is true in many cases, students do not realize how a math major could benefit them in their futures, such as an advantage to pursue another related career and an opportunity to obtain a well-paid job. One question should be considered, why should students major in math?

Occupations Related to Mathematics  Major

First of all, mathematics is a very broad field which allows students to continue studying other related fields. Math is a mandatory subject that all students with different majors are required to take in the first two years of college. Depending on their majors, students have to take different levels of math, such as college algebra, pre-calculus, calculus 1 and 2; especially in STEM fields, anything involved in solving numerical problems needs to be calculus based. For instance, an undergraduate mechanical engineer, in general, has to take linear algebra, differential equations, probability, and statistics. This points out the connection between math and other major that both of these two major’s students have to study the same math courses. The reason why students should major in math because math students have chances to cover those math courses more deeply in their study programs than others do. This advantage help them study another field more easily after graduating. However, most people have mistaken that majoring in math only helps students to pursue careers in scientific, engineering, or technology fields. There is evidence proving the importance of math major in non-scientific fields.  One of them is the involvement of mathematics in law enforcement. According to the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Christopher Brislawn discusses the great contribution to the achievement in processing fingerprint records for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (pg. 1278 – pg. 1283). Not only is mathematics major connected to other fields, it also trains its students to think logically and creatively, which is a necessary skill for many careers. This explains why the mathematics major is known as a broad field in academia. 

Math students are train to think critically 

               Since developing logical and critical thinking skills in mathematics is not easy, students who graduate with a math major have more opportunities to obtain well-paid jobs. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers 2012 survey of average starting salaries for ungraduated majors, 37.7% of the survey participants think that math students have better chances to get paid better than other students. Due to the fact that not many students want to spend many years and money in schools to look for low- or average-paid jobs, this advantage of majoring in math strongly influences their decisions.  Moreover, many companies guarantee higher levels of job satisfaction for those who are interested in math. Based on income, work environment, and career demands, the top three positions, ranked by Jobsrated.com, are mathematician, actuary, and statistician, which are also known as math major’s jobs. That is to conclude, not only does majoring in mathematics provide its learners better financial opportunities, it also creates better chances to enjoy their careers.

               While many proponents think that majoring in math helps students in numerous ways, there are some counterarguments claiming that many students are afraid of studying math. In spite of a high salary and a great provision of job opportunities, many opponents argue that math is one of the most overloading and challenging majors to study. They state the fact that many college students who initially major in math end up transferring their dreams to another major or take more than four years to earn the Bachelor’s degree. This is a very valid point, but some math professors do not agree on it. For one thing, students can ask for tutoring from the Academic Enhancement Center, provided by most colleges and universities, or students can discuss directly with their instructors after class. Moreover, learning math might not be an obstacle if students know how to manage their schedule. A result of failing math possibly comes from a lack of effort, time, or knowledge. Once students know how to improve themselves, as well as utilize their advantages wisely, learning mathematics will not be overwhelming to anyone.

               All in all, despite the challenges that math students encounter in their learning process, majoring in math benefits them by providing more job opportunities and well-paid job positions. There might be some arguments about why we should major in math; students need to consider how beneficial and practical mathematics is in reality. If the following generation is afraid of the rigor and toughness of math, will there be any mathematician in fifty years? How will the world be without math students?