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A recent surge in the number of University of Wisconsin students pursuing multiple majors has raised questions among university officials regarding the effectiveness of such actions.
UW students can currently major in an unlimited number of majors, provided they can complete the required courses.
While double majoring has been a common occurrence, the number of students majoring in two to five subjects has risen from 27.7 percent in 2002 to 32.7 percent in 2008.
“If you’re really interested in two very different kinds of subjects, then it’s fine to double major,” said Christopher Lee, assistant dean of student affairs. “But in my opinion, if you’re already a zoology major double majoring in another bio-related class, its probably not going to do much for you.”
Lee also noted students should realize double majoring is not required to be a competitive candidate in the job market.
“There are certainly credentials, like being fluent in Spanish, that can help you, but don’t think it’s the multiplicity of majors,” Lee said. “I can’t imagine an application process where they have two very similar candidates and chose the guy with two majors. Employers choose whom they would rather work with.”
Lee also urged students to take classes they are genuinely interested in. If students are in fact interested in multiple subjects, Lee said he commends them on their double major.
Several decades ago, UW did limit students to a maximum of two majors. As the number of students double majoring climbs, the administration is faced with the possibility of implementing that policy again.
Although Lee said he has considered whether the university should limit the number of majors allowed per person, he has yet to take a stance.
“My opinion on whether or not UW should limit the amount of majors a student can have or make it harder to graduate in certain majors is really not fully formed, but I would hate to see somebody not pursue their interests because we’ve ruled against it,” Lee said.
Gary Sandefur, UW dean of letters and science, said little evidence has shown double majoring in anything other than a foreign language gives students an edge in the job market.
Sandefur added pursuing multiple majors also keeps students in school for longer and causes students to spend more money. It is costly for schools as well.
Sandefur said while he and the university are unsure whether the university should set a limit on the number of majors a student is allowed to pursue, making degrees more difficult and demanding is not the answer.
“I certainly don’t want it to be harder to graduate in a major,” Sandefur said. “What I want is for people to be able to major in the field they want to major in, in a timely manner. That’s our ultimate goal. It’s a matter of whether having a second, third, fourth degree is good for the student or whether it might impede their education.”
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While unrelated majors give quite a bit of question to a person’s real interests in a job interview, I would like to point out that related majors within a school add strength in a person’s academic background, especially in tough times. As a Business School student, I must say that without my four majors I would not stand out among the many candidates for the jobs I have applied to. I feel as if this policy that is talked about in this article would prohibit people like me from standing out among their fellow classmates. I agree that adding another major simply to graduate later is not productive to anybody. However, putting this rule in place would prevent people like me, who graduated in four years with four business majors, from distinguishing themselves. If we are to become this “world class institution” that everyone is proclaiming about Wisconsin, I feel as if this would go against all that we are trying for.
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You should have majored in English instead.
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I agree! Major in things you’re interested in and don’t try so hard to look good because it usually backfires. I knew a kid that majored in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Zoology. Any intelligent person can see that those majors share 90% of the same requirements, he didn’t look good, he looked like a tool.
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As a member of the appointments committee at UWFV I can cite one such situation where multiple majors does provide a competitive edge. In fact I am rather shocked by what seems to me an obvious oversight for those so heavily vested in academia.